Calabria was made for meandering journeys. The toe of Italy’s boot is lapped by two seas – Tyrrhenian and Ionian – and a narrow-gauge railway snakes its way along them both.
This is a region of sun-bleached sand lapped by Maldives-worthy water. And it’s embroidered with pastel-coloured fishing villages. It offers all the beauty of Liguria’s Cinque Terre or the Amalfi Coast, but without crowds and with decent places to say from just €60 (£50).
To the Greeks, this was Magna Graecia – Great Greece – which they colonised in 300BC. Since then, everyone has marched through, from the Visigoths to the Byzantines, the Normans to the Aragonese. Today, it’s curious that tourists largely leave this region to Italian holidaymakers.
But not for long – flight search sight Skyscanner has earmarked Calabria as one of its trending destinations for 2025 after seeing an increase in searches of 541 per cent in the first six months of 2024. Ryanair – which already serves the Calabrian city of Lamezia Terme – has recently launched flights from Stansted to Reggio Calabria, right down at the toe of the region.
For now, though, things are much as they were. In the peak summer months, Italians and a handful of Europeans bustle through piazzas and sizzle on beaches. But visit in spring (or autumn) and all is quiet. Locals stroll the streets, accommodation prices drop off a cliff and you’ll never have to reserve a restaurant.
Tropea has buildings in shades of lemon and orange (Photo: Aldo Pavan/Getty)I found the train was the easiest, cheapest and most scenic way to travel.In one leisurely trip, I visited two of Italy’s official “Most Beautiful Villages” – Tropea and Scilla – enjoyed a beach stay at Capovaticano Resort and Spa, excellently priced out of season, and gorged on a hazelnut cream-filled ice cream, known as tartufa di Pizzo, in the charming castle-topped town of Pizzo.
From Lamezia Terme – roughly halfway down the region’s Tyrrhenian coast and around 20km inland – I worked my way south, never travelling more than an hour by train and always sandwiched between sea views and a changing tapestry of citrus groves, vineyards and villages.
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I had mapped out my journey in advance and bought tickets online, so I knew the train times (they are infrequent) and didn’t have to battle with capricious ticket machines at the stations.
On one morning at Pizzo station, the only company I had was a handful of cats and a few desultory crickets until a whistle signalled that a train had deigned to rumble in.
The crumpled carriages enthusiastically pumped out air conditioning, strained up to precipitous villages plugged into the cliffs, then plunged down again to almost touch the Tyrrhenian Sea.
On each journey we were joined by Calabresi and a handful of travellers. A few Americans were retracing their heritage – a reminder that in the early 20th century many left this underdeveloped region to seek a new life on distant shores.
At my first stop, Tropea, teetering buildings in various shades of lemon and terracotta peer over a cliff edge, looking down on a ribbon of white sand below.
The streets are made for wandering, with little independent shops, faded palazzi and piazza restaurants doing brisk business in dishes featuring the town’s famous red onion and the region’s spicy pork sausage, ‘nduja. At the entrance of the Norman cathedral two unexploded Second World War bombs are displayed – a thank you to Tropea’s patron saint, Our Lady of Romania, who is credited with protecting the city from the explosives and myriad earthquakes.
And for sunset views followed by a decadent set menu heavy on the local ingredients (and incredible wines), Da’ Minimi Restaurant (four courses for €75) was a favourite at the palatial Villa Paola hotel.
Just a few minutes south by train, Capo Vaticano is puckered with coves and secret stretches of sand. With warm weather extending well beyond the summer months, I sandwiched my sightseeing with a couple of days luxuriating by the infinity pool and on the sands at Capovaticano Resort & Spa.
Out of season prices are reasonable (April rates start at €157 (£131), more than doubling in July and August) and with express spa treatments from €50 (£42), it was a welcome splash of luxury.
Tropea is reminiscent of the Cinque Terre villages (Photo: Getty)If Hollywood was to create a film set of a faded Italian fishing village, it would do well to look to Scilla and Chianalea. The train dropped me right at the beach, in the shadow of a castle and buildings clinging to the cliff.
Rounding the headland to Chianalea, famous for its swordfish, I found a higgledy-piggledy collection of cobbled lanes, flower-filled balconies and stone houses lapped by the sea.
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As I tucked into fresh calamari and seafood linguine on a platform over the water at Nautilus (mains from €16 or £13), wizened fishermen painted their colourful boats nearby and when I went to check into sea-view Signora Tita B&B, the septuagenarian owner arrived zipping over the cobbles on a Vespa. How else?
My final train journey took me north again, depositing me in Pizzo, a short hop from the airport but retaining a sense of remote beauty. It’s a steep climb to the village itself (although there is an electric minibus and tourist train, too), but Palazzo Paladini rewarded me with a sleek suite where original tiled floors and warped wooden beams take a back seat to the sea views.
The sunsets here are sensational. And the gooey hazelnut and chocolate tartufo even more so. It was the perfect treat to finish a leisurely off-season adventure.
Getting there and aroundRyanair flies from Stansted to Lamezia Terme and Reggio Calabria with one-way fares from £29.
In Calabria, one-way train fares start at €3 (£2.50), bookable through thetrainline.com. Stations advertise taxi numbers on information boards, from €5 (£4).
Staying thereAnanea Tropea Yachting Resort has B&B from €120 (£100).Capovaticano Resort Thalasso Spa has B&B from €157 (£131).Signora Tita B&B, in Scilla, has doubles from €65 (£54).Palazzo Paladini, in Pizzo, has self-catered apartments from €67 (£56).
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