dossier

Secrets of Southern Italy

Day 1: Arrive in Naples

We meet you at Naples airport and take you to your hotel in time for dinner. (3hrs).

A path flecked red by cooled magma rock and fringed with greenish tinted ophiolite climbs gently to Timpe delle Murge, where rare pillow lava, layers of cooled magma are “cushioned” against each other. Then through orchids and harebells to the jangle of cowbells we reach the basalt massif of Pietrosasso. We’ll picnic at Catusa spring, then visit San Paolo Albanese, where locals still wear traditional dress, and its museum chronicling Albanian village life.

Day 3: La Falconara Walk 10km/6mi/4hrs
We ascend through beech forest dotted with periwinkles, perhaps glimpsing the rare black woodpecker to Jumenta plateau. The view is spectacular: the Pollino mountain range and as far as Calabria on a clear day. Red kites and falcons fly overhead as we reach limestone-capped Monte Falconara, to picnic. We descend through meadows redolent of wild mint and past wild pear trees, returning in time for a cool drink in the garden before dinner.

Day 4: The Garden of the Gods 12km/7mi/5hr 
Ascending past juniper and sorb we reach the Rueping, the old mountain railway, which transported trunks of the Loricate pine to the sea. Onwards to the call of hoopoes, we reach Porta del Pollino plateau, home of the gods. Gnarled 1,000 year-old Loricate pines grow in clusters over the broad plateau. We’ll picnic under one, and admire the circling views over the park and the Ionian coastline below, before descending through forest once more.

Day 5: Rivello
We drive to Rivello. This 4C hilltop town was founded by quarrelling Lombards and Byzantines. Neither side could agree so the town evolved with the Lombards at the top (we’ll visit the remains of the Lombard castle) and the Byzantines at the bottom. The convent has a lovely 16C fresco of the Last Supper. We also visit Sig Riess, a leather craftsmen who shows us his workshop. Then onto Acquafredda, arriving in time for a swim before dinner.

Day 6: Trecchina 12km/7mi/4hrs
A short drive to the mediaeval town of Trecchina. Climbing gently through chestnut woods bright with violets, then meadows dotted with cyclamens we reach the Sanctuary of Santa Maria and the summit (1089m). We’ll picnic here, admiring costal vistas over the Tyrrhenian coast before descending through Trecchina’s secret courtyards and stone archways to end our walk.

Day 7: Maratea and Castrocucco 9km/6mi/3.5hr 
Through Maratea’s twisting alleys, then onwards through wild olives and holm oaks to Madonna degli Ulivi chapel, overlooking the gulf. From Maratea’s abandoned mediaeval quarter we reach the Statue of the Redeemer, inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s famous monument. We enjoy the bird’s eye view over Maratea’s marina, then walk down to it and lunch in a fish restaurant. In the afternoon you can either follow a sandy path to the beach at Baia Caina or continue exploring the historic centre of Maratea, perhaps taking in some last minute shopping.

Day 8: Return home
We take you the airport in time for your return flight.