SECRETS OF SOUTHERN ITALY WALK

This holiday explores La Basilicata, Italy’s most unknown region. Together with our knowledgeable guide, Giuseppe Cosenza, we travel from Pollino National Park to the unspoilt coastline at Maratea. A keen birdwatcher and nature enthusiast, Giuseppe leads us in our varied walking programme throughout the week and when we’re not walking, we learn more about the region’s culture with visits to monasteries and folk museums.

We start the holiday at the Hotel Picchio Nero, in the quaint village of Terranova. With cobbled streets, and poky little shops, it’s how Italy must have been 50 years ago. Our host is the affable Pino. His wife and mother do the cooking and have won numerous awards for their cuisine. We follow mountain paths through birch and silver fir forest to discover falcons soaring over un-crowded limestone peaks and verdant plateaux that are home to the majestic Loricate pine (one of the rarest pines in Europe).

We end the week in Acquafredda, a charming seaside hamlet, outside Maratea. Our hotel here, run by the bubbly Stefania, is an 18C villa sympathetically converted into a 20 roomed hotel. The individually styled rooms have period touches as well as all the mod cons. Dinner is a feast of Southern Italian cuisine served in the elegant dining room. Steps lead down to the beach on the opposite side of the road. Here we explore three tiered Maratea, a former port in Magna Graecia. The town moved up the hill in the 10C to escape Saracen pirates then in the 15C constructed a fortified town lower down, guaranteeing its prosperity.

For more infomation about this holiday, including hotel descriptions, travel options and full holiday itinerary, please see our new 'further details' section.