Secret Calabria: 10 Places That Aren't Tropea or Sila

Calabria is one of the most internally diverse regions in Italy: Greek-speaking Aspromonte, forested Sila, the crowded Costa degli Dei, the nearly untouched Riviera dei Cedri, Arbëreshë and Occitan villages. Tourism concentrates on Tropea. Here are ten other directions.

1. Reggio Calabria and the Riace Bronzes

The National Museum of Magna Graecia in Reggio Calabria holds the Riace Bronzes, the two 5th-century BC bronze warriors that alone justify a trip to Calabria. The museum has been renovated and the display is superb. Zero queues compared with the Uffizi.

2. Gerace and the Norman villages of the Locride

Gerace, a medieval hilltop village overlooking the Locride, has a Norman cathedral from 1045, among the largest in the South. Walking its walls you catch the Ionian Sea. Nearby, Roccella Jonica hosts the Jazz Festival, and Stilo is home to the Cattolica (a small 10th-century Byzantine church).

3. Calabrian Grecìa: Bova and the Greek-speaking villages

On the Aspromonte, eight municipalities still speak Calabrian Greek (griko). Bova, their capital, and villages such as Roghudi Vecchio (abandoned after the 1971 flood) and Gallicianò, with its Greek Orthodox church. The fragment of Greece left on the toe of Italy's boot.

4. Camigliatello and Sila off-season

The Sila in summer draws crowds only on weekends. Camigliatello Silano, San Giovanni in Fiore (with the Florense abbey of Joachim of Fiore), and Lake Cecita. Centuries-old beech forests, Sila taleggio, mountain refuges. Autumn brings some of the finest foliage in Italy.

5. The Pollino between Calabria and Basilicata

Pollino National Park is the largest in Italy. The Bosnian pine (its symbol tree, extremely rare in Italy), the Raganello Gorges, and the Arbëreshë villages of Civita, San Paolo Albanese, and Frascineto. Trekking, rafting, culture.

6. The Riviera dei Cedri

The northern Tyrrhenian coast, between Praia a Mare and Diamante, cultivates the only citron in Italy (used for liqueurs and candied peel). Diamante is the capital of mural art (over 200 works on house facades). Belvedere Marittimo, Grisolia, Aieta: perched villages with sweeping views.

7. The Sila Railway and the Calabro-Lucana line

The Sila Railway is a historic narrow-gauge line (Cosenza-Camigliatello-San Giovanni in Fiore) offering steam-locomotive journeys in summer. One of the most poetic ways to cross Calabria.

8. Le Castella and Capo Colonna

Le Castella, an Ionian seaside village with an Aragonese castle on an islet, is one of Calabria's iconic images. Capo Colonna, not far off, holds the only surviving column of the Temple of Hera Lacinia, once the largest in Magna Graecia.

9. Rossano and the Byzantine codices

Rossano (now Corigliano-Rossano) is home to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Achiropita and the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis (a 6th-century Byzantine gospel book, UNESCO heritage). One of the oldest illustrated Christian documents in the world. Diocesan museum.

10. Squillace and the Ionian Coast

Squillace, the city of Cassiodorus, has a Norman castle and the ruins of the Vivarium founded by Cassiodorus himself in the 6th century. The Calabrian Ionian coast from Soverato to Locri is a nearly untouched alternative to the crowded Costa degli Dei.

When should I go?

May-June and September through mid-October for the coast. July-August: heat and crowds on the Costa degli Dei; the Sila stays alive. November-March: quiet interiors and Greek-speaking villages best explored on foot.

How should I plan the trip?

Don't try Calabria in three days. If you have a week, choose one: South (Reggio + Aspromonte + Locride), Center (Sila + Rossano + Ionian Coast), or North (Pollino + Riviera dei Cedri).