Castles and Wines of Calabria Easy-Walking Tour, Inaugural Journey

How many days in Calabria? People are always amazed when they come upon my tours and realize that the entire program focuses on one lesser-known region. Discerning individuals, however, are rather delighted, not concerned with mass tourism’s raised eyebrow at the idea of a third itinerary in an area used by industry behemoths as a pass-through for their big bus tours traveling to and from Sicily. Really, Is There Anything to See in Calabria? Asssolutamente, sì! With that, I would like to tell you about my third itinerary, Castles and Wines of Calabria Easy-Walking Tour, and its successful inaugural journey this past June.

The comprehensive program is enticing and embraces the entire region. Calabria is a Southern Italian region full of variety, and my tours showcase this great diversity: seaside to mountains, cultural to agricultural, villages to cities, local folk museums to national institutions, ancient history to contemporary society, and more. And by more, I’m placing Calabria’s outstanding food and wine at the top of the list!

While each of my itineraries has a slightly different focus, very little is repeated from one to the other, with the others being the Calabria Cultural Tour and the Traditions and Food of Calabria Tour. One enthusiastic guest even returned for his third tour of Calabria with Karen’s Travel LLC on the maiden Castles and Wines of Calabria Easy-Walking Tour!

ENCHANTING VIEWS AND WINE

We had beautiful weather for our inaugural tour and dove right into the local wine, first with a tasting at an internationally recognized winery and then later at our welcome dinner in our 5-star hotel, home for the first three nights of this Calabrian journey. On our way down the coast from our meeting point in Lamezia Terme, we stopped in Scilla, known for the myth of Scylla and Charybdis, sea monsters invented by the ancients to explain the dangerous currents of the Strait of Messina. A stroll along the seaside and gelato with the castle in our sights, these were our first tastes of Calabria! In the evening, we had gorgeous views of the strait from our dinner table and our rooms…
(Click on a photo in the group to open up the gallery with captions.)

SOUTHERN ITALIAN CITY

A trip to Calabria wouldn’t be complete without seeing the region’s largest city, home to a world-class archeological museum that showcases the famous Riace Bronzes amongst its impressive collection of antiquities. We also had the opportunity to see the ancient tombs in the basement of the museum, rarely open and a real treat! Reggio Calabria‘s city center is also ultra-attractive, a surprise to many. Why wouldn’t it be, situated along the Strait of Messina with a lovely botanical park lining its shores that look out to Sicily?

ANCIENT VILLAGE

Villages are the heart of Calabria, and we visited an immensely interesting hamlet in the Aspromonte Mountains. Our exploration of Greek-speaking Gallicianò featured churches with both Eastern and Western rites, a folk-heritage museum and excellent farm-to-table cuisine inspired by this fascinating culture.

A FILM SETTING

Once a southern abode for the rich and famous as evidenced by its large, beautiful palazzi, Fiumefreddo Bruzio is most often visited as a stop between the Amalfi coast and Taormina. We enjoyed its beautifully faded grandeur and the ruins of its imposing castle on our transfer from Reggio in Calabria’s south to the foothills of the Pollino Mountains in the north of the region. As one of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages (Borghi più belli), Fiumefreddo Bruzio boasts breathtaking views from its many overlooks onto the Tyrrhenian Sea. We discovered the old town’s culinary prowess in the shade of a spectacular bougainvillea tree with a delicious slow-food lunch prepared with products from the restaurateur’s organic garden.

ON THE FARM AND A NEIGHBORING TOWER

Our accommodations for the next three nights of our journey were not only lovely due to the 16^th-century castle where we laid our heads at night, but to the surrounding farm, rolling hills of olive trees, fruit orchards and vineyards, as well as animals. A tractor tour of the property, tastings of local products and gourmet farm-to-table meals (literally!) were highlights. For a bit of history, we visited neighboring San Marco Argentano with its striking medieval tower and surprising Norman crypt.

THE CITRON COAST

Who doesn’t love a boat ride? There’s nothing like the views of Calabria’s dramatic northwest coast from the Tyrrhenian Sea: gorgeous Arco Magno, a natural arch nominated to be a UNESCO site, Isola di Dino or Dino Island, a nature preserve surrounded by aqua-colored water that invited us for a dip, and the storied Crawford Tower.

Swimming in the Tyrrhenian Sea? Check. Seafood lunch at a lido (beach establishment) on a black-sand beach? Check. What more? A visit to the Citron Museum and learning about Calabria’s special plantings in a town named for this unusual citrus fruit, cedro in Italian.

CASTLES AND A LOST CITY

On the next day, a short drive to the northeastern coast brought us to the area of ancient Sybaris, the exact location of which had been lost for thousands of years. We explored remains of the more “modern” Roman cities, built upon Greek ruins in the archeological park, and also visited the museum for further information and artifacts excavated from the area. We dined in a medieval castle, where they were in the midst of filming a movie for Italian television, and then proceeded down the Ionian coast to Corigliano Calabro, where we had a guided tour of the splendid ducal castle, highlights of which included the richly frescoed tower and the chandeliered ballroom.

WINE FIT FOR KINGS AND PHILOSOPHERS

We walked the streets of Crotone, today a provincial capital, once ancient Kroton, haunt of the likes of Pythagoras. We visited the archeological museum, the medieval castle, and lunched in the historic center of the port city. Our winetasting took us to Cirò Marina, to an organic, family winery, where we learned how the winemaking tradition went back to Greater Greece and even before, to the time of the Enotrians. The wine was outstanding, not just by our tastes, but one of their wines had taken a top prize at this year’s Vinitaly, the country’s largest, most prestigious wine event.

RELAX WITH GORGEOUS PANORAMAS

We also took time to breathe the healthy sea air in our beachside accommodations, home for four nights. A dip in the Ionian Sea with the fine red sand of Capo Rizzuto Marine Reserve under our feet or a frolic in the hotel’s large pool. Either way, the views were magnificent. Our local sea-to-table lunch with a panorama of Calabria’s iconic Aragon castle in the Le Castella neighborhood completed the picture. And in fact, a couple was posing for their wedding photos as we dined!

MORE OUTSTANDING ORGANIC FOOD AND WINE

We capped off the Castles and Wines of Calabria Easy-Walking Tour with a visit to an organic, family winery and olive grove, where we enjoyed a very special meal at their Michelin-star restaurant. With one daughter at the helm of the kitchen, another greeting and looking after us, the father leading a tour of the property, it was truly a Calabrian family affair at our final celebratory lunch.

CASTLES AND WINES OF CALABRIA EASY-WALKING TOUR

Our tour experience was local, not in the sense of Italian, but Calabrian. We focused on everything calabrese, from the larger sense of the region to more specifically in terms of a town, a village or someone’s garden. From the grandeur of Calabria’s many castles to life in the smallest of mountain villages, where young people came from coastal municipalities to visit their grandparents on Sunday.

Our group was small, a mix of couples, family members and single travelers. 15 maximum, as with my other programs, allowing for camaraderie, elbow room. We had many laughs and many toasts.

Join us next year on the CASTLES AND WINES OF CALABRIA EASY-WALKING TOUR!

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Check out the itineraries of all my small-group CALABRIA TOURS – the incredible tastes and sights will leave you breathless!

Read all about the fascinating Calabrian region in my book Calabria: The Other Italy, described by Publisher’s Weekly as “an intoxicating blend of humor, joy, and reverence for this area in Italy’s deep south,” and explore Calabria’s northern neighbor in my book Basilicata: Authentic Italy, “recommended to readers who appreciate all things Italian” by the Library Journal.

Follow me on social media: Basilicata Facebook page, Calabria: The Other Italy’s Facebook page, Karen’s Instagram and Karen’s Twitter for beautiful pictures and information.
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CALABRIA: The Other Italy and BASILICATA: Authentic Italy make great gifts!