MateraTravel Guide
The ancient cave city of the Sassi, inhabited for thousands of years, pairs its stone dwellings and rupestrian churches with Basilicata's frugal, fiery cuisine of famous bread, crispy peppers and hand-formed pasta.
Is Matera right for you?
Spring and autumn
Mid-range. Comfortable without planning around money, expensive if you stop counting.
We have a full day here planned hour by hour. Longer stays are covered by subject rather than by route.
Spring and autumn
Mid-range
Typical cost profile for visitors
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Naples
Dubrovnik
Kotor
CorfuFinding Matera
Reading Matera
Beyond the Sassi: the best day trips from Matera
Matera sits on the hinge between Basilicata and Puglia, which puts a town of cone-roofed trulli, a Bond bridge, an evacuated ghost town and two different seas all within ninety minutes of the Sassi.
Matera in 24 hours for the time-poor
Matera is small enough to see in a day and vertical enough to punish a badly planned one — here is the hour-by-hour order that works, with what to book ahead, what to skip, and roughly what the day costs.
Sleeping well in Matera, from cave luxury to the town above
Candlelit cave suites, restored palazzi and sensible rooms on the plateau: how to choose your Sasso — and your budget — in Europe's most atmospheric hotel city.
What to Eat in Matera, Dish by Dish
Bread with a protected pedigree, peppers that shatter like glass, and pasta shaped by hand in cave kitchens: the dish-led guide to eating in Italy's ancient stone city.
Matera, framed
What we'd do in Matera
Eat and drink
- Pane di Matera
Start with the city's most famous product: Pane di Matera, the golden, horn-shaped durum-wheat bread with protected IGP status, baked in wood-fired ovens using natural yeast.
Read: What to Eat in Matera, Dish by Dish - Peperoni cruschi
Basilicata's signature: sweet red peppers of the Senise variety, sun-dried and flash-fried until they shatter like glass.
Read: What to Eat in Matera, Dish by Dish - Cavatelli and orecchiette with cime di rapa
Hand-formed durum pasta is the daily staple, dressed simply: cavatelli with tomato and cruschi, or orecchiette with bitter turnip tops, garlic and chili, a dish shared with neighboring Puglia.
Read: What to Eat in Matera, Dish by Dish - Cialledda
The bread comes back as salad: cialledda, stale Matera bread revived with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, oregano and oil, is summer in a bowl.
Read: What to Eat in Matera, Dish by Dish
Where to stay
- Luggage warning
many Sassi addresses are reached only on foot, down uneven steps; most hotels arrange porters — confirm ahead.
Read: Sleeping well in Matera, from cave luxury to the town aboveCheck ratesad · Booking.com
Practical essentials for Italy
Euro (EUR)
Italian; English is spoken in hotels and tourist businesses but thins out quickly in smaller towns
Type C/F/L, 230V 50Hz (Type L is the Italian three-pin)
Frecciarossa and Italo high-speed trains link the major cities in a few hours; in town you buy a local paper ticket such as Rome's €1.50 BIT and validate it as you board.
Service is included and tipping is uncommon — a few euros for genuinely good service is plenty, and the coperto on the bill is a cover charge, not a tip.
Tap water is safe to drink everywhere, although restaurants will normally bring bottled.
Right-hand side; a UK or EU photocard licence is accepted, though hire companies commonly require an International Driving Permit as well.
112 (single European number; the old 113, 115 and 118 route to it)
Country-level guidance, checked against official sources. Currency, fares and entry rules change — confirm anything time-critical before you travel.
