Reggio di Calabria, Tropea, & Scilla (including the fishing village of Chianalea) - (Calabria, Italy): Jaw dropping beaches & dramatic hanging villages
Next morning, we wake up early again and after a 2.5 hour train ride, we catch our 30 minute ferry from Sicily to Calabria. We walk from the port to our very well located, nice and bright, fully renovated apartment (36 euros), leave our backpacks and check out the town. Reggio is the capital of Calabria and it’s a pleasant seaside place, with a nice coastline, a lot of history (it used to be know as The Magna Grécia) and it has a feel of a much smaller city. Two major earthquakes, in 1783 and 1908, are responsible for the fact that Reggio’s architecture appears rather modern with respect to it's long history. Reggio is definitely a great and chilled base to explore this region. Next morning we catch a train (around 90 minutes) to Tropea.
What can we say about Tropea???... it’s the freaking most beautiful seaside town we’ve ever seen and yes, I know, we’ve been to heaps of them. When we get to the many strategically placed lookouts, all we hear is OMG or WTF, yes, it’s that gorgeous, absolutely stunning, running out of adjectives here. There’s (always) a beautiful cathedral, a majestic city hanging from the rocks, and the amazing Benedictine Sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Isola. To say that the sanctuary is magnificent would be sheer understatement, and it’s not hard to understand why it’s one of Tropea’s most photographed attractions. The sanctuary rises up on a high, rocky outcrop surrounded by the beach and the sparkling Tropea sea. No doubt that the crystalline waters and white sand are Tropea’s calling card, we are absolutely enchanted by this place we walk around for hours, grabbing a sandwich in order not to stop the sightseeing. Eventually we make our way back to the train station to catch a train to yet another gorgeous seaside village, this time, Scilla (pronounced sheella).
It’s a stunningly-located fishing village and is a town of three parts: the beach resort of Marina Grande, the castle and centre of the town San Giorgio and finally the fishermen's district, Chianalea. Marina Grande is a gorgeous seaside town beautifully framed by the castle and the town built on a big rock overlooking the sea, the views from the beach are also absolutely amazing. Chianalea is an ancient fishermen's settlement with an atmosphere all of it’s own. The cramped houses here are built right against the sea, with waves washing up to their walls and little fishing boats dotting the small quaint bay. Chianalea is listed as one of the 'Borghi più belli d'Italia' - 'most beautiful villages in Italy' and you can explore it by just wandering around the cobbled lanes or by strolling out to see the boats in the harbour below the castle, highly recommended. We take the train back to Reggio, have a couple of slices of the local square pizza, one of them with Nduja in order to try the local spicy sausage, and crash for the day as we are having a very long day tomorrow.
