Sleeping
Finding a room should be easy, even in summer, since most visitors pass straight through en route to Sicily.
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
(
347 9459210; www.bbcasablanca.it; Via Arcovito 24; s €50-60, d €70-90;
)
A little gem in Reggio’s heart, this 19th-century
palazzo
has spacious rooms gracefully furnished with romantic white-on-white decor. There’s a self-serve breakfast nook, a small breakfast table in each room and two apartments available. Great choice.
(
0965 2 50 01; www.hotellido.rc.it; Via Tre Settembre 6; s/d €60/100;
)
A pleasant hotel with modern rooms washed in pastel colours with colourful artwork, Sky TV and the possibility of activities, including nearby windsurfing.
Eating & Drinking
La Cantina del Macellaio TRATTORIA $
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
(
0965 2 39 32; www.lacantinadelmacellaio.com; Via Arcovito 26; meals €25;
dinner daily, lunch Sun)
This popular trattoria, recommended by locals, dishes up typical Calabrian cuisine with an emphasis on meat dishes. The wine cellar is extensive and impressive.
(Piazza Indipendenza;
6am-1am)
The most popular gelateria in town is in a green kiosk at the end of the
lungomare
(seafront).
(
0965 4 86 24; Vico Leone 3; meals €30;
lunch daily, dinner Fri-Wed)
Worth the slight trek, Baylik is friendly, and the calamari is so fresh your knife glides through it like butter; the spaghetti with clams is another winner.
(www.caffematteotti.it; Corso Vittorio Emanuele 39;
7am-2am Tue-Sun)
The stylish white tables and chairs on their terrace offer sea views with your
aperitivi
: it’s a prime spot for people-watching.
Information
Walk northeast along Corso Garibaldi for the tourist office, shopping and other services. The corso has long been a de facto pedestrian zone during the ritual passeggiata .
Hospital
(
0965 39 71 11; Via Melacrino)
Police Station
(
0965 41 11 11; Corso Garibaldi 442)
Tourist Information Kiosk
(Viale Genovese Zerbi;
9am-noon & 4-7pm)
There are also kiosks at both the
Airport
(
0965 64 32 91)
and the
Stazione Centrale
(
0965 2 71 20)
.
Getting There & Away
Air
Reggio’s
airport
(REG;
0965 64 05 17; www.aeroportodellostretto.it)
is at Ravagnese, about 5km south.
Boat
Boats for Messina (Sicily) leave from the port (just north of Stazione Lido), where there are three adjacent ferry terminals. In high season there are up to 20 hydrofoils daily; in low season there are as few as two. Some boats continue to the Aeolian Islands.
Services are run by various companies, including
Meridiano
(
0965 81 04 14; www.meridianolines.it)
. Prices for cars are €15 one way and for foot passengers €1.50 to €2.80. The crossing takes 20 minutes.
Bus
Most buses terminate at Piazza Garibaldi, in front of the Stazione Centrale. Several different companies operate to towns in Calabria and beyond. Regional trains are more convenient than bus services to Scilla and Tropea.
ATAM
(
800 43 33 10; www.atam-rc.it)
Serves the Aspromonte Massif, with bus 127 to Gambarie (€1.10, 1½ hours, six daily).
Lirosi
(
0966 5 79 01)
Serves Rome (€48, eight hours, two daily).
Car & Motorcycle
The A3 ends at Reggio, via a series of long tunnels. If you are continuing south, the SS106 hugs the coast round the ‘toe’, then heads north along the Ionian Sea.
Train
Trains stop at
Stazione Centrale
(
0965 89 20 21)
, the main train station at the town’s southern edge, and less frequently at Stazione Lido, near the museum. There are frequent trains to Milan (from €140, 9½ to 11½ hours), Rome (from €70, 7½ hours) and Naples (from €55, 4½ to 5½ hours). Regional services run along the coast to Scilla and Tropea, and also to Catanzaro and less frequently to Cosenza and Bari.
Getting Around
Orange local buses run by ATAM cover most of the city. For the port, take bus 13 or 125 from Piazza Garibaldi outside Stazione Centrale. The Porto–Aeroporto bus, bus 125, runs from the port via Piazza Garibaldi to the airport and vice versa (25 minutes, hourly). Buy your ticket at ATAM offices, tobacconists or news stands.
Southern
Tyrrhenian Coast
North of Reggio, along the coast-hugging Autostrada del Sole (A3), the scenery rocks and rolls to become increasingly beautiful and dramatic, if you ignore the shoddy holiday camps and unattractive developments that sometimes scar the land. Like the northern part of the coast, it’s mostly quiet in winter and packed in summer.
Scilla
pop 5160
In Scilla, cream-, ochre- and earth-coloured houses cling on for dear life to the jagged promontory, ascending in jumbled ranks to the hill’s summit, which is crowned by a castle and, just below, the dazzling white confection of the Chiesa Arcipretale Maria Immacolata . Lively in summer and serene in low season, the town is split in two by the tiny port. The fishing district of Scilla Chianalea, to the north, harbours small hotels and restaurants off narrow lanes, lapped by the sea. It can only be visited on foot.
Scilla’s high point is a rock at the northern end, said to be the lair of Scylla, the mythical six-headed sea monster who drowned sailors as they tried to navigate the Strait of Messina. Swimming and fishing off the town’s glorious white sandy beach is somewhat safer today. Head for Lido Paradiso from where you can squint up at the castle while sunbathing on the sand.
Sights
(
0956 70 42 07; admission €1.50;
8.30am-7.30pm)
An imposing hilltop fortress, the castle has at times been a lighthouse and a monastery. It houses a
luntre,
the original black boat used for swordfishing, and on which the modern-day
passarelle
is based.
Sleeping
(
338 2096727; www.lepiccolegrotte.it; Via Grotte 10; d €90-120;
)
In the picturesque Chianalea district, this B&B is housed in a 19th-century fisher’s house beside steps leading to the crystal-clear sea. Rooms have small balconies facing the cobbled alleyway or the sea.
(
0965 75 48 81; www.lalocandiera.org; Via Zagari 27; d €60-100;
)
Run by the same people who own Le Piccole Grotte, this B&B is just as picturesque with large, comfortable rooms and views over the sea.
Eating & Drinking
(
0965 79 05 85; www.bleudetoi.it; Via Grotte 40; meals €30-35;
Wed-Mon)
Soak up the Chianalea atmosphere at this little restaurant. It has a terrace over the water and excellent seafood dishes, including Scilla’s renowned swordfish.
(Via Porto) On the beach in Scilla town, this popular bar has a Beatles tribute corner (appropriately named The Cavern) and has been going since 1972.
Capo Vaticano
There are spectacular views from this rocky cape, with its beaches, ravines and limestone sea cliffs. Birdwatchers’ spirits should soar. Around 7km south of Tropea, Capo Vaticano has a lighthouse, built in 1885, which is close to a short footpath from where you can see as far as the Aeolian Islands. Capo Vaticano beach is one of the balmiest along this coast.
Tropea
pop 6780
Tropea, a puzzle of lanes and piazzas, is famed for its captivating prettiness, dramatic position and sunsets the colour of amethyst. It sits on the Promontorio di Tropea, which stretches from Nicotera in the south to Pizzo in the north. The coast alternates between dramatic cliffs and icing-sugar-soft sandy beaches, all edged by translucent sea. Unsurprisingly, hundreds of Italian holidaymakers descend here in summer. If you hear English being spoken it is probably from Americans visiting relatives: enormous numbers left the region for America in the early 20th century.
Despite the mooted theory that Hercules founded the town, it seems this area has been settled as far back as Neolithic times. Tropea has been occupied by the Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Anjous and Aragonese, as well as being attacked by Turkish pirates. Perhaps they were after the town’s famous red onions, so sweet they can be turned into marmalade.
Sights
(
6.30-11.30am & 4-7pm)
The beautiful Norman cathedral has two undetonated WWII bombs near the door: it’s believed they didn’t explode due to the protection of the town’s patron saint, Our Lady of Romania. A Byzantine icon (1330) of the Madonna hangs above the altar – she is also credited with protecting the town from the earthquakes that have pumelled the region.
The town overlooks Santa Maria dell’Isola, a medieval church with a Renaissance makeover, which sits on its own island, although centuries of silt have joined it to the mainland.
Sleeping
Donnaciccina
(
0963 6 21 80; www.donnaciccina.com; Via Pelliccia 9; s €40-75, d €80-150;
)
Overlooking the main
corso,
this delightful B&B has retained a tangible sense of history with its carefully selected antiques, canopy beds and terracotta tiled floors. There’s also a self-catering apartment perfectly positioned on the cliff overlooking the sea, and a chatty parrot in reception.
(
0963 60 71 81; www.residenzailbarone.it; Largo Barone; €70-190;
)
This graceful
palazzo
has six suites decorated in masculine neutrals and tobacco browns, with dramatic modern paintings by the owner’s brother adding pizazz to the walls. There’s a computer in each suite and you can eat breakfast on the small roof terrace with views over the old city and out to sea.
Eating
Al Pinturicchio TRADITIONAL ITALIAN $
(
0963 60 34 52; Via Dardona, cnr Largo Duomo; meals €16-22;
dinner)
Recommended by the locals, this restaurant in the old town has a romantic ambience, candlelit tables and a menu of imaginative dishes.
Osteria del Pescatore SEAFOOD $
(
0963 60 30 18; Via del Monte 7; meals €20-25;
dinner Thu-Tue)
Swordfish rates highly on the menu at this simple seafood place tucked away in the backstreets.
Information
CST Tropea
(
0963 6 11 78; www.csttropea.it; Largo San Michele 7;
9am-1pm & 4-7.30pm Sep-Jun, to 10pm Jul & Aug)
Helpful tourist office at the entrance to the old town. Can organize trekking, mountain biking, diving and cultural tours.
Tourist Office
(
0963 6 14 75; Piazza Ercole;
9am-1pm & 4-8pm)
In the old town centre.
Getting There & Away
Trains run to Pizzo (€1.95, 30 minutes, 12 daily), Scilla (€3.70, one hour 20 minutes, every 30 minutes) and Reggio (from €5, two hours, every 30 minutes).
SAV
(
0963 611 29)
buses connect with other towns on the coast.
Pizzo
pop 9240
Stacked high up on a sea cliff, pretty little Pizzo is the place to go for tartufo, a death-by-chocolate ice-cream ball, and to see an extraordinary rock-carved grotto church. It’s a popular and cheerful tourist stop. Piazza della Repubblica is the epicentre, set high above the sea with great views. Settle here at one of the many gelateria terraces for an ice-cream fix.
Pizzo is located just off the major A3 autostrada; the nearest train station, Vibo Valentia-Pizzo, is located 4km south of town. A bus service connects you to Pizzo.
Sights
(admission €2.50;
9am-1pm & 3-7.30pm)
The Chiesa di Piedigrotta is an underground cave full of carved stone statues. It was carved into the tufa rock by Neapolitan shipwreck survivors in the 17th century. Other sculptors added to it and it was eventually turned into a church. Later statues include the less-godly figures of Fidel Castro and John F Kennedy. It’s a bizarre, one-of-a-kind mixture of mysticism, mystery and kitsch. Buy tickets at the restaurant above the cave.
Chiesa Matrice di San Giorgio CHURCH
(Via Marconi) In town, the 16th-century Chiesa Matrice di San Giorgio, with its dressed-up Madonnas, houses the tomb of Joachim Murat, brother of Napoleon and one-time king of Naples. Although he was the architect of enlightened reforms, the locals showed no great concern when Murat was imprisoned and executed here.
(
0963 53 25 23; adult/reduced €2.50/1.50;
9am-1pm & 3pm-midnight Jun-Sep, 9am-1pm & 3-7pm Oct-May)
At the neat little 15th-century Castello Murat, south of Piazza della Repubblica, you can see Murat’s cell. His last days and death by firing squad are graphically illustrated by waxworks.
Sleeping & Eating
(
0963 53 33 37; www.casaarmonia.com; Via Armonia 9; s without bathroom €30-60, d without bathroom €40-75;
)
Run by the charismatic Franco in his 18th-century family home, this B&B has a number of rooms.
Ristorante Pizzeria Don Diego PIZZERIA $
(
0963 06 01 07; www.ristorantedondiegopizzo.com; Via M Salomone 243; mains €20)
Eat at Ristorante Pizzeria Don Diego, with its spectacular sea views and tasty pizzas.
