Must-see attractions in Calabria

  • Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria

    Reggio Calabria

    Over several floors in Southern Italy's finest museum you'll descend through millennia of local history, from Neolithic and Palaeolithic times through…

  • L'Ecomuseo del Pollino

    Calabria

    This excellent museum focuses on the historical, cultural and natural heritage of the park. Highlights include the use of interactive video screens to…

  • Museo Nazionale di Locri Epizephyrii

    Calabria

    Situated 3km south of modern-day Locri, the Greek colony of Locri Epizephyrii was founded in 680 BC, later subsumed by Rome and finally abandoned…

  • Parco Nazionale dell'Aspromonte

    Calabria

    Most Italians think of the Parco Nazionale dell’Aspromonte as a hiding place used by Calabrian kidnappers in the 1970s and ’80s. It’s still rumoured to…

  • Santa Maria dell’Isola

    Tropea

    Tropea's number-one photo opp is Santa Maria dell'Isola, a medieval monastic church given several facelifts over centuries of wear and tear (mainly…

  • Capo Vaticano

    Tropea

    There are spectacular views from this rocky cape, around 7km south of Tropea, with its beaches, ravines and limestone sea cliffs. Birdwatchers' spirits…

  • Parco Nazionale del Pollino

    Calabria

    Italy’s largest national park, the Pollino National Park, straddles Basilicata and Calabria. It acts like a rocky curtain separating the region from the…

  • Santuario di San Francesco di Paola

    Calabria

    Watched over by a crumbling castle, the Santuario di San Francesco di Paola is a curious, empty cave with tremendous significance to the devout. The saint…

  • Chiesetta di Piedigrotta

    Calabria

    The Chiesetta di Piedigrotta is an underground cave full of carved stone statues. It was carved into the tufa rock by Neapolitan shipwreck survivors in…

  • Castello Murat

    Calabria

    This neat little 15th-century castle is named for Joachim Murat, brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte and briefly King of Naples, captured in Pizzo and…

  • Museo Nazionale del Bergamotto

    Reggio Calabria

    Housed in Reggio's former covered market, this museum, which opened in 2018, showcases the interesting 300-year-old history of the region's bergamot…

  • Cathedral

    Calabria

    Gerace has Calabria's largest Romanesque cathedral. Dating from 1045, its three aisles are divided by columns salvaged from classical villas and temples…

  • Fortezza di Le Castella

    Calabria

    Le Castella is named for its impressive 16th-century Aragonese fortress, a vast edifice linked to the mainland by a short causeway, and that once…

  • Cathedral

    Tropea

    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…

  • Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Crotone

    Calabria

    Founded in 710 BC, the powerful city state of Kroton was known for its sobriety and high-performing Olympic athletes. Crotone's museum is located in the…

  • Museo dei Brettii e degli Enotri

    Cosenza

    This archaeological museum displays finds from the Bronze Age Enotri culture, and the Brettii people who founded Cosenza in the 4th century BC. The…

  • Centro Il Nibbio

    Calabria

    Those interested in the ecosystem and wildlife of the Pollino National Park should check out this 'diffuse museum' in the medieval hilltown of Morano…

  • Galleria Nazionale

    Cosenza

    This gallery focuses on southern Italian painting from the 16th century to the present day, including Renaissance-baroque works from the Neapolitan school…

  • Cathedral

    Cosenza

    Cosenza's 12th-century cathedral, devastated by earthquakes, was rebuilt in restrained baroque style in the 18th century. In a chapel off the north aisle…

  • Castello Ruffo

    Calabria

    An imposing fortress surmounting the headland commanding Scilla, this castle has at times been a lighthouse and a monastery. It houses a luntre, the…

  • Isola di Dino

    Calabria

    Visible from the Praia a Mare seafront is an intriguing rocky chunk off the coast, the Isola di Dino. The tourist office has information on the island's…

  • Castle

    Cosenza

    Cosenza's doughty castle, begun by the Saracens, augmented by the Normans and left in disarray by several earthquakes, has benefited from extensive…

  • Museo Demologico

    Calabria

    Housed in part of San Giovanni in Fiore's old abbey (the Abbazia Forense), the Museo Demologico exhibits tools from the town's strong artisan culture…

  • Aragonese Castle

    Reggio Calabria

    Only two towers, restored in 2000, remain of the Aragonese Castle damaged by earthquake and partially demolished in 1922. The site is used for events and…

  • Chiesa Matrice di San Giorgio

    Calabria

    In town, the 16th-century Chiesa Matrice di San Giorgio, with its splendid baroque facade and dressed-up Madonnas, houses the tomb of Joachim Murat, the…

  • Teatro Rendano

    Cosenza

    Built in the late 19th century, the Rendano is a leading Calabrian venue for opera and classical music.