Regions of Italy : Calabria (Hotels)

Calabrian roads can be brutal, and occasionally they are obstructed by police roadblocks. We have avoided planning itineraries in certain inland areas which are virtual strongholds of la 'ndrangheta, the local Mafia, whose main source of revenue is kidnapping the children of wealthy northern industrialists and hiding them in inaccessible caves in the Aspromonte until astronomical ransoms are paid for their release. It should be said that tourists are never the object of this type of crime, and indeed, if you travel to Calabria you will probably never encounter any of these dangers. Still, you must always be prepared for them.

Now that you are forewarned, let us tell you what else you will find in Calabria. Unforgettable vistas across rugged mountains, vast golden wheat fields and crystal clear seas. Ageold olive trees that grow as tall as eucalyptus. Ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Norman ruins, forgotten by time, which suddenly loom over the horizon, beckoning you to your own private rendezvous with history. Shy but hospitable villagers who still wear voluminous black skirts or colorful traditional costumes. Delicious fish, vegetables, cheese, sausage, salami, wild mushrooms and figs.

If you venture inland on those impossibly curvy mountain roads, you'll see abandoned railroad tracks everywhere, and you'll drive past countless roadside fountains dispensing natural mineral water. Take your place in line to fill your plastic bottle, or ask a local woman to teach you how to balance a terra cotta jar of it on your head. Driving through the towns, you'll see old men playing cards at tables in the main squares. Grandmothers sit on their doorsteps knitting, weaving or embroidering. You could spot a group of villagers waiting outside the house of a local santina, a psychic who "sees" the souls of the dead, sweats blood, blesses the farm animals or performs miracles. You may see small children, but you won't see as many of their parents, who periodically emigrate north or abroad to support their parents and offspring. Whenever they can, they return home to add that second storey to the house they're gradually financing. Come with us now on a virtual tour of this strange land, which has been conquered and forgotten by every major culture in the Western world. Should you decide to travel here, the residents will reward you with memories guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Tirreno Hotel Tropea   The Residence Tirreno Hotel Tropea is situated 50 metres above sea level on the outskirts of a small village called Parghelia. The complex benefits from panoramic views of the Tyhhrannian Sea and the coast. The views from the residence allow guests to enjoy some of the Aeolian Islands and sunsets over the volcanic island of Stromboli. The complex is surrounded by tropical gardens on different levels and is split between the hotel, residence and restaurant. The building consists of three floors containing 22 rooms, which are serviced by a lift, have a large balcony with sea views and equipped with modern amenities. Comprising of a restaurant, cocktail bar, large patio area, swimming pool, jacuzzi and sun lounge area, the hotel stands in the centre of the complex. All guests enjoy the facility of the hotel’s private Tropea beach benefiting from sun lounges and umbrellas. In addition, all residents enjoy a free shuttle service to the beach and Tropea.

Hotels Calabria Seaside - Last Minute Hotels Calabria Seaside

Calabria Guide

On travel between the Calabrian mountains, in a great land of wonderful beauty, in a region bounded with two seas of around eight hundred kilometers coast limit, where for this particular configuration, measureless views are present and where "the nature has plot in a magnificent way the lines that talent and human work must follow, or art efforts can improved".

Calabrian land must not only be limited to approach, even if essential, cliffs and beaches but also must look fro the centuries-old roots, the unpolluted and superb environment, traditions and ethnics that has been survived along the time because of generosity of the nature. Closed in the north with the Pollino and Orsomarso important relief, Calabria has a predominantly territory mountainous, large green reserves, and lakes with strong splendor inside Sila, demoted summit to peak into the sea on the Range Coast, very high silver firs and rushing streams on the Serre, the last window on the Meditterranean between the Aspromonte summits.

Eternal clashes, legendary stories of shepherds and brigands about inaccessible paths, a continuous alternate between harmonious relief and vertical summits, unlike places "with fancy and queerness", that fascinate and disconcert, as vegetation and fauna, unexpected and unforeseen, make you think "to be in Scotland" two steps distant from the Mediterranean maquis. A world to explore, where nature is confused with ancient civilization shapes, rediscovering protected centres, churches, monasteries, castles, ancient palaces, traditions, art and folklore, languages and dialect always different; and then lots of amusement occasions for lovers of adventure, of ski, of nature, of hiking, of extreme sport.

The synthesis of a trip that different authors had told with precision and knowledge: as a trip fellow of the XIX century aristocrat, Norman Douglas, author of Old Calabria, maybe the best book written about the region, which narrates the atmosphere of the beginning of 19th century where valleys and Calabrian mountains are described with love and wonder.

Calabria boasts almost 800 km of coast washed by the waters of the Tyrrhenian, of the Straits of Messina and then, on the opposite side, by the Ionian Sea. Castles and watch towers are also characteristic sights along the Tyrrhenian coast, starting from the one built by Charles V at Amantea, a fortress town that was later embellished by the Franciscans who left several traces of their presence, the most outstanding of which is the church of San Bernardino da Siena (1436). On the Ionic strip there were three city states and three ancient civilization: Sibari, Crotone and Locri. They shared the same roots in Magna Graecia, being founded by Greek colonists between the 7th and the 6th century B.C., and for a long time they were in conflict with one another: Kroton won the day over Sybaris, but the succumbed, in the battle of the fair, to Locri Epizephiri. But in the intervals between the battles, with the inevitable intervention of various divinities, there were long periods of plendour in the arts and in philosophy. Pythagoras founded his school at Crotone, while at Locri Zaleucus dictated his laws, creating the first written code of laws in the Western World. The most prestigious gymnasiums of the Olympic athletes of the time were at Sibari and it was here that Strabo dictated the example that historians were to follow: "seventy days were enough to destroy the rich and famous town. In 572 B.C. the people of Croton defeated those of Sibari". In the early 1980s a famous archaeological find became the symbol of Calabria: the Riace Bronzes. They are the two stupendous Greek statues dredged from the sea and exhibited, from the early 1980s, in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria, one of the most important archaeological museums of all the Italian Peninsula. One of the two bronze statues is attributed to Fidia, the master Greek sculptor of the Vth century and famous for the relief of the Parthenon. Since their exposure at the Museo Nazionale hundreds of thousands of visitors arrived in Calabria to discover the marvelous archaeological and historical patrimony of this region.