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Calabria

May 18 - 25, 2025 (1 Room Available)

So, you’re ready to head to one of Italy’s best-kept secret, Calabria? Calabria is the last of the Italian regions not to have been colonized by mass tourism. Yet it is beautiful, wild, with two seas and 2000 meter high mountains. Calabria is unique and if you haven’t noticed it yet, now is the time to visit. Let this native Calabrese take you there!

Lazy Italian Culinary Adventures is really excited to announce our next adventure to this beautiful, and little explored region! Undiscovered and undisturbed by massive tourism, the week promises organized activities, cooking classes, delicious foods & wine lunches, day trips to vineyards, farm visits, and some afternoon time to hit the hotel’s private beach! Enjoy time with welcoming locals, authentic foods, beautiful scenery and remarkable experiences. Calabria is a border land, an extreme land of hidden villages, each with its own identity. Come discover it with us!

A week not to be missed if you’re craving to see a different Italy.

INCLUSIONS

  • English​ ​speaking​ ​native guides​ ​throughout​ ​your​ ​stay
  • Accommodations for 7 nights in 4 star hotel in central Pizzo
  • Meals include every breakfast the hotel, and daily lunch at various unique destinations.
  • Welcome and Thank You dinners with abundant wine
  • Private ground transportation throughout the week
  •  Hands-on cooking​ ​class​ in Tropea utilizing the best local organic products, with​ ​large lunch following.
  • Tour of Tropea with ample time to shop
  • Day trip to Scilla with amazing seaside lunch
  • Tasting of the famous tartufo di Pizzo
  • Visit to Calabria’s largest dairy farm to learn all about the local sheep’s cheese – Pecorino di Monte Poro.
  • Visit to San Floro to learn about the unique silk tradition
  • Lunch on a mulberry farm
  • Visit to tuna factory to learn about this delicious local specialty
  • Entry into all churches, parks or archaeological sites
  • Visits to top producers of olive oil, tuna, and pecorino cheese
  • Visit to olive oil estate with lunch on location 

NOT INCLUDED

  • Airfare / Flights (Folks should fly into Lamezia Airport). 
  • Transfer from / to airport
  • ​Tips / gratuities for guides, instructors and drivers 
  • Travel Insurance: As of 2023, we will require everyone traveling with us to carry some form of Travel Insurance. Click here for info.  

Day 1 - Welcome to Calabria!

Arrival and Welcome Dinner

Welcome to Calabria!

Check in to your 4* hotel in central Pizzo. Unpack at leisure  and unwind and relax, or perhaps head out to the main piazza and enjoy your first gelato. We will have welcome drinks and antipasti at our hotel before heading out to dinner at our local favorite restaurant. At dinner we will introduce ourselves and discuss the week ahead. 

Day 2 - Visit to Olive Oil Mill with Our Friend Lucia

Meet Our Friend Lucia and Learn all About Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This morning, our driver will meet us at our hotel to transfer us to a nearby olive grove where you’ll meet our friend, Lucia, for a visit to her family’s olive farm. You’ll learn about their commercial production (and awards), and see how they integrate their family’s dairy farm into the oil business. You’ll learn how to tell good olive oil from the fakes, then we enjoy a delicious picnic-style lunch on-site, complete with local specialties, and of course – they’re olive oil. After lunch, we will return to our hotel for some exploring on your own, or if the weather permits, hit the hotel’s private beach. 

Evening to be enjoyed on your own in Pizzo. 

Day 3 - Day Trip to Scilla

Enjoy a Tour of one of Calabria's Cutest Villages, with a Most Memorable Lunch

Today, our driver will meet us at our hotel for a day trip to Scilla where we will visit the castle of Scilla, also known as Castello Ruffo di Calabria. This castle has ancient roots and modern excavations show us that the walls are from the 9th century. In 1060, it became a military fortress and in 1533 was purchased to become a family residence until the 18th century. There is still a large plaque with the family coat of arms right on the entrance portal.

Next, we will enjoy a seafood lunch, with wine, overlooking the beautiful Strait of Messina. Following lunch, you’ll try a famous local specialty, which was originally a ball of homemade hazelnut and chocolate gelato, filled with a solid chocolate core and dusted with cocoa powder. Today, there are “bianco” versions, made with white chocolate gelato, as well as chestnut and pistachio varieties.

Day 4 - Hands-On Cooking Class + Lunch on Location

Day Trip to Tropea for a Hands-On Cooking Class and Tour of one Calabria's Most Famous Towns

This morning, our driver will meet us at our hotel and transfer us to Tropea, where you will have a private multi-course cooking class. You will dive into typical Calabrian cuisine with its rich and flavorful dishes. You will be assisted by an experienced culinary guide with recipes that are strictly taken from tradition. And we will utilize all organic products from the vicinity. At the end of the preparation, we will enjoy all that we’ve prepared! Once finished, you will get to walk off your Calabrian feast by exploring the city of Tropea.

Located on a sandstone promontory, Tropea experienced a period of splendor as an important maritime center and is a jewel with seventeenth and eighteenth century buildings with rich sculpted portals.

The silhouette of the church of S. Maria dell’Isola, (see side image) almost overlooking the waves, makes one of the most famous places in the region magical. After some time on your own to explore Tropea, we return to Pizzo for the evening. 

Day 5 - Visit to Dairy Farm with Lunch on Location

Say Cheese! Today We Will Visit Calabria's Largest Dairy Farm

Today, you’ll visit Calabria’s largest dairy farm where you’ll learn about dairy production, including their famous Pecorino di Monte Poro cheese. This local cheese is made with whole sheep’s milk and is 100% Calabrese. You will also try cured meats, including Calabria’s much loved spicy spreadable sausage, ‘nduja. After having lunch in their repurposed barn, you’ll have the rest of the evening on your own. 

Day 6 - Hands-On Silk Preparation Experience + Visit to Archaeological Park

Today You Will Enjoy a Very Unique Experience Involving Silk!

This morning, we will enjoy an excursion to San Floro with a guided tour and in-depth look into Catanzaro’s ancient silk tradition. Since before the medieval times, Catanzaro has been home to one of the most important silk industries in Europe, once supplying tapestries to the Vatican. You will enjoy a hands-on experience extracting silk. Mid-day we will enjoy a  typical Calabrese lunch on a mulberry orchard.

Next, we will visit Scolacium Archaeological Park, and according to legend, it could have been founded by Ulysses himself on his return home from the Trojan War. Pottery found in the area dates to 6th Century BC and is touted as one of the most significant monuments in Medieval Calabria. Today you’ll see why!  

Day 7 - Tour of Pizzo + Visit to Tuna Factory + Farewell Dinner

Free Morning Before Heading to the Lovely Chiesetta, plus Tuna Factory Visit and Farewell Dinner

You will have some free time in the morning for shopping, beach going, or packing and will have time for lunch on your own.

In the late afternoon, our guide will meet us at our hotel for a visit to the intriguing Chiesetta di Piedigrotta cave church. Legend has it that a shipwreck took place in the 1600s after a violent storm. The sailors prayed to the Madonna di Piedigrotta and vowed that in case of salvation, they would erect a chapel and dedicate it to the Madonna. The ship sank and the sailors swam ashore. They kept their promise and dug a chapel out of the rock.

After exploring the cave church, we will visit a local tuna factory where we will get to see where the processing of tuna is made according to a 106 year tradition. Following our visit, we will wind our way up through the hills above Pizzo for a “Farewell Donner” on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Day 8 - Check-Out

Breakfast at the hotel + Check out

Our time in Calabria has come to an end. Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before checking out.

Price & Details

8 Days / 7 Nights
$5,250 USD Per Person for Double Occupancy in Deluxe Room / Single Supplement $900 USD.

$1,000 USD Non-refundable deposit is required to secure your spot.

Francesca Montillo, Native Italian, Owner and Tour Leader Accompanies all Activities​​. Contact Francesca at francesca@thelazyitalian.com for booking/reservation and further details.

If you would like to reserve a spot for this tour, or have any questions, please use the contact form below and we will send you the necessary booking instructions or additional information.

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