Basilicata

Basilicata — also called Lucania, on the arch of Italy's boot. For two centuries the story was emigration; now people are choosing to come back. Stay in a 16th-century masseria, knead Pane di Matera with hands that have done it for generations, walk the streets of the ghost town of Craco.

Our Basilicata tours

Dispatches from Basilicata

Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Wednesday, April 15, 2026 Reflections after the spring tour ends.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Monday, April 13, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Monday, April 13, 2026 Day 8 — the ghost town of Craco, last day of the spring tour.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Saturday, April 11, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Saturday, April 11, 2026 Day 6 — wine at Elena Fucci on the slopes of Vulture.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Friday, April 10, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Friday, April 10, 2026 Day 5 — olive oil at Mantenera, Lucanian Calanchi.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Thursday, April 9, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Thursday, April 9, 2026 Day 4 — Castelmezzano, the Lucanian Dolomites.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Wednesday, April 8, 2026 Day 3 — kneading Pane di Matera at Il Forno di Gennaro.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Monday, April 6, 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 — Monday, April 6, 2026 Day 1 — Pisticci, Torre Fiore, Adele's family roots.
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026
Trip Log - Basilicata, April 2026 Day-by-day notes from a spring tour scouting makers across Basilicata.
Matera, from an Italian.
Matera, from an Italian. Giuditta visited Matera for the first time on a research trip for the Basilicata tour. As an Italian seeing this town for the first time, she was honestly speechless.
A Passion for Olive Oil
A Passion for Olive Oil On Andrea at Mantenera and the Lucanian olive grove that found him.
Basilicata moodboard
Basilicata moodboard First impressions, mood, and the feeling of a region ready to be discovered.
Pisticci
Pisticci Pisticci is my family's home town — a journey through personal memory, ancient history, and the white houses of Basilicata.
Craco Lives Within Us
Craco Lives Within Us A personal reflection on leaving Craco, carrying its traditions to Canada, and the enduring spirit of a town that lives on through its people.

People & places we love in Basilicata

Azienda Agricola Elena Fucci
Azienda Agricola Elena Fucci Basilicata Her family was about to sell the vineyard. Elena said no — and turned six hectares on an extinct volcano into one of Italy's great wines.
Azienda Agricola Mantenera
Azienda Agricola Mantenera Basilicata Andrea was riding his motorbike across Italy looking for a place to start over. A country road led him to an ancient olive grove with a Vendesi sign. Some of the trees are 350 years old. He stayed.
Castelgrande
Castelgrande Basilicata A tiny mountain village of 740 people with a National Geographic food feature, a saffron initiative, and a Montreal diaspora.
Castelmezzano
Castelmezzano Basilicata You enter through a tunnel carved into the rock face. When you come out the other side, a medieval village is clinging to sandstone pinnacles above you. One of Italy's Most Beautiful Villages.
Dimore dell'Idris
Dimore dell'Idris Basilicata An albergo diffuso — a hotel of rooms carved into the raw rock. You sleep like the ancient Materani, with a first-class upgrade.
Gelateria Caruso
Gelateria Caruso Basilicata Pina Caruso's family has been making gelato since 1956. Her signature Acheruntino — milk cream with vin cotto, toasted almonds, and Matera bread — won first place at the Gelato Festival World Masters.
Ghost Town of Craco
Ghost Town of Craco Basilicata Craco survived nine centuries of invasions, plagues, brigands, and natural landslides — only to be destroyed by leaking water pipes. Now a ghost town at the heart of the Calanchi badlands.
Il Forno di Gennaro
Il Forno di Gennaro Basilicata A family bakery in Matera since 1890. Knead, shape, and bake your own Pane di Matera with Patrizia, Sabrina, and master baker Enzo.
Il Vulture
Il Vulture Basilicata An extinct volcano in northern Basilicata. Its ancient lava flows produce Aglianico del Vulture — one of Italy's great red wines.
Lucanian Calanchi
Lucanian Calanchi Basilicata The defining landscape of inner Basilicata — bare clay gullies, razor-thin ridges, the unstable clay that betrayed Craco.
Lucanian Dolomites
Lucanian Dolomites Basilicata Sandstone spires that glow amber at dusk. Two medieval villages — Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa — cling to the cliffs.
Maratea
Maratea Basilicata A town on the Gulf of Policastro, with turquoise Tyrrhenian waters, volcanic black sand beaches, and a Cristo Redentore.
Masseria Torre Fiore
Masseria Torre Fiore Basilicata A 16th-century masseria in Pisticci, restored by the Giannone family — Lucani who emigrated to Toronto and came back to build something. Your home base on the Basilicata tour.
Matera
Matera Basilicata People have lived in these caves for almost 10,000 years. Sleep in a hotel cut into the Sassi rock and bake the ancient Pane de Matera with local bakers.
Palazzo San Gervasio
Palazzo San Gervasio Basilicata Named after Frederick II's 13th-century hunting palace. A city surrounded by wheat, tomatoes, Aglianico vines, peppers and olive trees.
Pisticci
Pisticci Basilicata Pisticci — the White City — is at the heart of our Basilicata tour. Adele Newton's parents emigrated from here. Founded 3,000 years ago, still standing.
Policoro
Policoro Basilicata The last day of the tour. After a week of mountains and hill towns, lunch overlooking the Ionian sea.
Potenza
Potenza Basilicata Italy's highest regional capital at 819 metres, overlooking the Basento Valley. A city of staircases, medieval churches, and the National Archaeological Museum.
San Fele
San Fele Basilicata A stone village perched between two mountains. Population crashed from 10,000 to 3,000 through emigration. Danny DeVito's grandparents left from here.

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