Planning a trip to Italy but don’t want to visit all of the overcrowded tourist spots? Consider this Southern Italy Itinerary! Outside of the United States, Italy is the country that I have spent the most time in and that’s thanks to the trips I’ve gone on with .
With Niche Italy, I for the first time. I visited so many beautiful places across the island and I also met relatives that I didn’t know I had. For my first group trip to Italy, there was no doubt I would be planning the perfect Southern Italy Itinerary with my friends at Niche Italy. I opened it up to my Ready to Stare community as a trip designed by and for plus size queer babes looking to explore Southern Italy!
Travel with Niche Italy
Marco Scapagnini, a Sicilian native, experienced tour operator, and a food and wine journalist, runs Niche Italy. His local connections ensures that Nice Italy tours show you the best regional experiences. Through the eyes of Italians, Niche Italy provides experiences that you would never be able to have with big foreign run tourist companies.
Niche Italy helped me craft a 7-day Southern Italy Itinerary that gives you a local’s look into oft-overlooked cities.
Day 1 – Rome to Calabria
We started our tour in Rome as it is easy for everyone to arrive in Rome from across the United States. This keeps the cost of flying down as well. It also gave us the opportunity to explore some of the in Rome. At the airport, we boarded a private bus and started our trek south.
About an hour and a half past Naples, we made our first stop at, a family run Buffalo mozzarella farm in Paestum. Here the buffalo are treated like royalty as they listen to classical music and get massages any time of day. When the females sense they are full of milk, they are free to roam to the self-milking machine in the courtyard.
Tenuta Vannulo believes happy buffalo = quality mozzarella. We tasted ricotta, fresh mozzarella and gelato all made from the milk produced at the farm and can confirm that their theory rings true.
On site, you can also shop leather goods made from the skins of the males who have reached the natural end of their life. Tenuta Vannulo hired designers from Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana to craft fashion-forward accessories just begging for a place in your suitcase.
After leaving Tenuta Vannulo, we continued our journey to La Rocca di Praia, the 12th century castle where we would be spending the first two nights of our trip.
Upon our arrival at the castle, the sounds of accordion music rang out their the air. The staff at the castle greeted us with dancing, music, and aperitifs. This was a true Calabrian welcome. We truly felt like royalty!
The castle is a Niche Italy special connection – it’s in Marco’s family so the best way to stay there is to book through Niche Italy. We settled in at the castle exploring the amazing view of the beachside town, Praie a Mare, in the distance.
For dinner, we took a 30-minute bus ride to Maratea, a beautiful medieval Mediterranean village. We dinned on fresh seafood at the restaurant 1999 as we overlooked the Tyrrhenian Sea from our table.
The staff was thrilled to have us as this is not a place often frequented by Americans. From the wine that kept flowing to the decadent seafood, this was a meal not to forget!
Day 2 – Praia a Mare
After a delicious homemade breakfast at the castle, we boarded the bus and headed for the beach! We spent some time taking in the sun at Praia a Mare. Like other beaches I’ve visited in Italy, Praia a Mare had beach chair rentals available but it was not overcrowded with tourists or overpriced.
Next, we boarded a boat for a tour of the area by sea. Much like the extremely popular , Praia a Mare also has a blue grotto, or Grotta Azzurra.
I’ve visited both and would gladly skip the crowds at Capri to visit Praia a Mare’s blue grotto instead! If Capri is on your Southern Italy Itinerary, I invite you to consider Praia a Mare.
After the boat ride, we enjoyed an homemade lunch at the castle in the garden overlooking the beach below. After some down time, it was our turn to get into the kitchen.
We learned how to make the Calabrian speciality –fusilli in the castle’s ancient kitchen. The secret to rolling this handmade pasta? An old umbrella!
As we enjoyed the fruits of our labor in the kitchen, limoncello flowed. After dinner, we danced under the stars to accordion music. This was a night that none of us will ever forget!
Day 3 – Matera
The next day, it was time to say arrivederci to Calabria and head to another region in Southern Italy, Basilicata. As the most mountainous region in Southern Italy, Basilicata’s beauty lies above the sea.
We arrived in Matera, a city with a deep ancient history. In 1993, Matera became an UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 2019, the city earned the title as an European Capital of Culture.
Our first stop was where we learned how to bake the bread of Matera. We even got to utilize their ancient ovens to make bread of our own before snaking on flatbreads and wine.
After checking in at the , we explored this Southern Italian city by tuktuk. These small three-wheel vehicles weaved in and out of the ancient street with ease.
This tour provided our first look at the caves of Matera where cave dwelling people called the Sassi lived impoverished and without running water or any modern amenities until 1952. Now, the city uses the preserved caves as an educational tool to promote historical tourism, arts and culture. But more on that later!
For dinner, we enjoyed fresh made pasta and some of that famous Matera bread at . Located inside a cave, you can’t help but feel like you are experiencing a piece of history. We stopped for gelato before retiring back to our hotel.
The gorgeous jewelry I wore to dinner is from jewelry designer, who was one of the traveler’s on this group trip!
Day 4 – Matera
After enjoying a full breakfast at the hotel, we set out to learn more about the cave-dwelling people of Matera. is a multimedia demonstration that provides the harrowing history of the Sassi.
You travel from room to room watching films describing the circumstances that lead to these individuals living impoverished in caves well into the 20th century. While this is not necessarily easy to stomach, it’s an important part of history to learn and understand especially as someone who comes from impoverished Italian ancestors.
Next, we explored – a museum inside the caves housing original Salvatore Dalà pieces. Our whole group was shocked to find a dedicated museum to the iconic surrealist artist in this small town in Southern Italy.
The museum provided a look at some amazing pieces of art in a setting only Matera could provide. Plus don’t get my started on the views of the caves from the top “floor” of the museum!
The rest of the day left for exploring the local shops. We even got impromptu tattoos. That evening we dined at Osteria San Francesco. The city’s quiet stoned streets made it easy to walk around and take in the city’s charm by night.
Day 5 – Ostuni
After leaving Matera, we were on our way to our third region in our Southern Italy itinerary – Puglia! If you picture Italy as a boot, Puglia is located in the heel – meaning you can essentially have a coastline on either side.
For our time this region, we stayed in Puglia’s White City Ostuni. This picturesque small town known for it’s sprawling white-washed buildings. As a fashion girlie, I was excited for all of the outfits that would pop against this backdrop.
We started our day in Ostuni with lunch and a cooking demonstration at Osteria Le Monacelle. Here, we learned to make orecchiette pasta and let me tell you, it’s as challenging as it may look! The finished product was totally worth it!
Next we explored the historic streets of Ostuni taking in the art at local churches. Of course, I took this opportunity to support the local economy and grabbed a bunch of handmade jewelry and souvenirs.
We checked in at Ostuni Palace Hotel – a highly rated stay that lived up to its grandiose name. The white exterior matched the aesthetic of Puglia’s White City and check out the view right across the street from the hotel.
For dinner, we took a bus to Polignano a Mare. This city sits on the Adriatic Sea and offers some of the most gorgeous views of the water. I could seriously watch the waves crash there all day.
We stopped for the caffè speciale‘ at Il Super Mago Del Gelo before walking the streets of Polignano a Mare. For dinner, we ate at Osteria Nobildonna with the owner of Niche Italy, Marco Scapagnini. Here we enjoyed the best local wine and even got to met the owner of the restaurant as we enjoyed local seafood.
This vibrant seaside town is also home to Domenico Modugno, the famous Italian crooner. Dean Martin made Modugno’s song, “Nel blu dipinto de blu” famous in the states as “Volare.”
This is a song many of us Italian Americans grew up with in the home so I am no stranger to the lyrics of the song which hang in lights overhead in the streets of Polignano a Mare. As we walked back to the bus, our voices rang out with the lyrics of this iconic Italian song.
Day 6 –Alberobello
For our last full day of our Southern Italy, we headed to Alberobello. You’ve probably seen these iconic cone-shaped buildings on your wanderlust travel feed on Instagram. Perhaps what you didn’t know is that this dreamy travel destination located in Southern Italy!
Alberobello is an UNESCO heritage site. During a walking tour of this historic town, we got to learn about the history of the trulli, the conic shaped houses.
We toured the local churches to observe the frescos. As we casually walked through the streets of Alberobello, we stopped into local shops finding handmade ceramics, leather goods and more.
For lunch, we dined inside one of these trulli at . Here we enjoyed fresh mozzarella, scamorza cheese and an assortment of fresh meats.
Of all the places we visited on our Southern Italy Itinerary, Alberobello was by far the most crowded. Staying in Ostuni meant that we got to enjoy nearby Alberobello without having to deal with the crowds for our entire time in the region.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a beach so that we could say that we dipped our toes in both the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic Sea on this trip.
Day 7 – Bari to Home
I certainly did not want our Southern Italy trip to end but by day 7, we had reached the end of our time there. Rather than making the long journey back to Rome by bus, we headed to nearby capital of Puglia – Bari. Here we boarded a plane back to Rome and then back to the U.S.
If you are looking for plus size group travel to Italy, I will be offering two more trips with Niche Italy in 2023. Please reach out to me at readytostare at gmail dot com for more information!
And if you are looking to plan your own trip to Italy, please consider Niche Italy and let them know that Ready to Stare sent you!