Slow holidays in Calabria all year long
Spring is a wonderful season to visit, see and experience this part of Calabria, off the beaten track of mass tourism. Being equidistant from the airports of Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme, our gaze is on the blue horizon of the Ionian Sea that offers breath-taking sunsets and evocative views all throughout this season. Nature awakens in all its splendour, with the scents and colours of Calabria pervading all the senses.
In our collaboration with the wonders of nature, each spring we humans celebrate the great traditional and religious feasts in which we hold much faith and experience with the utmost zeal. For example, each of the Borghi degli Angeli celebrates the Easter traditions in a very unique way, every year bringing to life the processions, celebrations and festivities just as our ancestors have done for many centuries. For this reason, many travellers from all over Europe come to visit us for stays of various lengths, driven by the desire to see these unique moments in person.
Tours and Experiences
Things to do in Calabria during Spring
There are many things to do here between April and June. Spring invites you to partake in new experiences outdoors, indeed being the best season for discovering features such as our rivers, trekking along up to the Cascata del Romito and the old power station, or along the Assi river until reaching the Pietra Cupa waterfalls. The more expert mountain bikers can enjoy the various routes that extend from our coast to the Natural Regional Park of Serre with its pathways for trekking and MTB enthusiasts.
If immersing yourself in nature is not your thing, you can instead enjoy the slow and simple life in our villages. Stroll through the alleys, photograph breath-taking views, let yourself be enchanted by the fragrances from the kitchens of our homes or simply stop and savour time spent in the sun in the piazzas, awaiting a tasty meal in one of the excellent farmhouses in our area.
For the beach lovers, rather, this season can be an opportunity to take a stroll along the beach without the noise and crowds of the high season. This is the perfect period for holidays with your 4-legged friends or if you want your children to enjoy a little healthy and unconstrained fun backdropped by the sea.
Spring in Calabria is also the season of new flavours. The cultivated fruit trees and fields start to offer up their gems that abound on the tables in our homes and restaurants, becoming the protagonists of fun and tasty cooking lessons. Aside from being part of a traditional procession, taking a stroll and enjoying a cooking lesson, we strongly recommend a visit to some of our cultural attractions, for example: the Cattolica di Stilo or the archaeological sites of Monasterace and Scolacium.
Attractions
What to eat during this season
As mentioned prior, Spring is the time to stock up on the gifts that the earth offers us. Until May-June, for example, you can find the artichokes with which we prepare excellent preserves in oil and vinegar. The same goes for the asparagus and wild fennel. Or should we perhaps talk about the beans instead? Fresh fava beans are served accompanied by the extraordinary DOP cured meats and pecorino (sheep) cheeses, expertly prepared during the colder months to then be enjoyed from spring onwards.. Even the local wine in this season is at its best. In fact, held in Badolato in the spring is the Catoj Aperti event in which the old and new villagers (the village having been reborn thanks to the arrival of many families from northern Italy and especially from Northern Europe) open their doors to visitors with unparalleled hospitality, thanks to the wholesome food that marks each day.
These special moments, music and culture savoured together are able to warm the heart, inviting you to wander along the alleyways to taste the delicacies offered by local families, together raising your glasses to the joy of a holiday in Calabria that has always pleasantly unexpected aspects that often result in new discoveries and new friendships.
Accommodations
Food
Services
Unmissable events and traditions
Taking a holiday in the spring offers the extraordinary opportunity to experience the Holy Week rituals that fill the entire towns with joy and passion.
In all of our villages, there are numerous processions with locals dressed in traditional garments and period costumes. Thus, don’t be surprised if you encounter locals dressed as Roman centurions whilst wandering along the alleyways in the Badolato village. They proceed without a care in the world, in preparation for the celebrations of the Cumprunta (or Cunfrunta) – the procession held on Easter Sunday during which the statues of Christ and the Madonna unite in the main street of the village to mark the commencement of a great party that brings harmony to the town, in which thousands of people take part. Be sure to have your smartphone or camera handy because… when are you likely to have another chance to be involved in such an event?
The same thrills can also be had in the surrounding towns and cities of the district (such as in La Naca in Davoli). Associations and confraternities spend the entire year preparing for the rituals held during Holy Week. It is clear that these are truly unmissable moments!
In first week of May come the amazing festivities that San Floro dedicates to its patron saint who, as legend has it, rid the town of the 1763 plague epidemic. The inhabitants of this small town in the province of Catanzaro celebrate this occasion with great passion and zeal, offering penance during the processions and religious celebrations held within the main church of the village.