Basilicata
Italy's secret instep — Matera's cave city, Lucanian highlands, and a coast where the Ionian shines silver.
Five reasons Basilicata stays with you.
- Matera's Sassi — cave dwellings inhabited for 9,000 years
- An Ionian and a Tyrrhenian coast, both barely touched
- Pollino and Lucanian Dolomites — Italy's wildest highlands
- Aglianico del Vulture — a serious volcanic red
- Cinematic on screen: Bond, Mel Gibson and Pasolini all shot here
Start here if you have a long weekend.
Matera
One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities — a cave-carved UNESCO wonder.
Maratea
A Tyrrhenian secret — 32 km of dramatic coast crowned by the Christ Redeemer.
Pietrapertosa
An eyrie village hanging from the Lucanian Dolomites.
Eat and drink like you mean it.
Our editor's picks — the tables and bottles we'd cross the country for.
Michelin-starred cave dining in the Sassi.
Harbourside seafood at sunset.
Inky volcanic red, the 'Barolo of the South'.
Three rooms with a view.
Three ways to go deeper.
Cisterns, rupestrian churches, family stories.
Fly between two Lucanian Dolomite villages.
Estates on the slopes of Monte Vulture.
Best time to visit · May–June and September–October. Matera is magical in winter too.
Ancient stones and the Sassi of Matera.
A curated edit — what to see, where to eat what the locals eat, and where to sleep with intention.
Matera
One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities — a cave-carved UNESCO wonder.
- — Sasso Caveoso
- — Cripta del Peccato Originale
- — Casa Noha
- Vitantonio LombardoMichelin-starred cave dining.
- Sextantio Le Grotte della CivitaCandlelit cave suites, no TVs, no noise.
Maratea
A Tyrrhenian secret — 32 km of dramatic coast crowned by the Christ Redeemer.
- — Cristo Redentore statue
- — Porto di Maratea
- — Grotta delle Meraviglie
- Za MariucciaHarbourside seafood, sunset table.
- Santavenere HotelCliffside grande dame in pine forest.
Pietrapertosa
An eyrie village hanging from the Lucanian Dolomites.
- — Arabata quarter
- — Volo dell'Angelo zipline
- — Norman castle ruins
- Al Becco della CivettaLucanian tasting in a stone room.
- Le CostellazioniAlbergo diffuso scattered across the village.
Aliano
Carlo Levi's exile village — pale calanchi badlands.
- — Casa Museo Carlo Levi
- — Calanchi viewpoints
- — Levi's grave
- La Locanda della ContessaCountry cooking, generous pours.
- Locanda con gli occhiTiny literary B&B above the calanchi.
Venosa
Birthplace of Horace, ringed by Roman ruins and a Norman abbey.
- — Castello Aragonese
- — Parco Archeologico
- — Abbazia della Trinità
- Il GrifoAglianico del Vulture and slow-cooked lamb.
- Hotel OrazioRestored 17th-c palazzo on the main square.
