The Sassi of Matera, now a Capital of Culture, have become one of the most crowded destinations in the South: queues, b&bs everywhere, alleyways taken by storm. If you are after the same emotion — carved stone, houses clinging to the rock, ancient silence — these alternatives offer cave cities and tufa villages still off the mass-tourism routes.
Matera in high season: → the alternatives below are far quieter.
A few kilometres from the crowded Sassi of Matera, a cave painted by an anonymous Lombard master guards extraordinary frescoes that almost no one sees.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026
Sperlinga, a village perched on the Nebrodi mountains: a cave castle and a maze of grottoes tell the story of a stone Sicily few travellers reach.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026
In southern Georgia, Vardzia is a medieval monastery carved into the tufa, with hundreds of caves clinging to the mountainside.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026| Destination | Crowding | Recommended months | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| The rock-hewn Sistine Chapel: the Crypt of Original Sin | Very quiet | April, May, June, September and October | Matera |
| Sperlinga, the castle carved from the rock that Sicily forgets | Very quiet | April, May, June, September and October | Enna |
| Vardzia, the cave monastery carved into the Georgian rock | Very quiet | April, May, June, September and October | Aspindza |
Crowding goes from "almost empty" to "very crowded" on our index. Overtourism index