A Local’s Guide to Visiting Matera, Italy
Before we begin, I need your imagination.
Imagine a vast area made up of gentle hills covered in golden wheat. Picture the wind rustling through the soft grain and a bright blue sky overhead. As you gaze forward, all of a sudden you arrive at a point where the earth cracks, revealing a deep rocky gorge. At its bottom, a small river slowly snakes through, surrounded by high rock walls dotted with small natural caves.
Right here on the edge of a canyon, almost 10,000 years ago a group of neolithic people decided to settle. They used the natural caves, expanded them, and painstakingly carved new ones in a process that, over thousands of years, created the incredible stone city of Matera.
Benvenuti!
For more ideas on travel in the region, check out my Puglia regional guide and this one-week Puglia itinerary.
If you could use some one-on-one help planning your itinerary, schedule a Puglia travel consultation with me!
More Basilicata/Puglia travel info:
Table of Contents
Introduction to the city
When to visit
How to get there
How long to spend
Where to stay
What to see & do
Where to eat
Introduction to the city
Matera is a city of about 60,000 people in the Basilicata region of Italy. Although often included in itineraries for Puglia, Basilicata is a different region and Matera is not in Puglia. Nonetheless, it’s only an hour from places like Bari and Alberobello, so it makes sense to include it in a trip to Puglia.
There are nearly 5,000 caves here where people lived continuously for 9,000+ years up until the 1950s.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Italian government decided to relocate almost 15,000 people due to unsanitary conditions where people even still lived with their animals. For many decades, the poverty and absurd condition of life in Matera were a matter of national shame and embarrassment. Today’s stunning, elegant Matera was a very different place for residents until fairly recently.
When you first look at Matera, you might find yourself thinking that you don’t see any caves, but only beautiful little stone houses all built one on top of another. Give yourself some time to explore and enter a house.
Once inside, you’ll realize that almost every building in town masks the entrance to a cave. These newer dwellings have pushed out from the caves, renovated, etc., but they all still are comprised in part by a cave.
Once carving deeper into the rock became too challenging, and after civilization brought the art of carving stone blocks for building, the locals managed to start closing off their caves, first with just a wall and entrance door. Later, that wall was expanded, creating more rooms and more elaborate buildings that pushed out beyond the cave.
The town is marked by a main promontory which divides the city into two parts, two separate “valleys”. This promontory is easily recognizable by the big (and beautiful) cathedral on top of it. It overlooks the ravine below and divides the city’s two valleys, which were originally created by two separate creeks that today have been intubated and flow under the only street that runs the entire length of town.
The valleys that make up Matera are called “Sassi”, (Italian for “stones”) and, to move around within town you have just two options: follow the path of the former creeks (now paved over) or wind your way up and down countless steep, winding staircases that allow you to literally walk on top of the city’s houses.
The historic part of Matera was completely emptied by the Italian government in the 1950’s and 60’s and it was left for decades in complete abandon, becoming practically an open garbage dump. Even today, residents do not live in the historic sassi area of town.
The renovation and restoration of the gorgeous city that you’ll see today only began in the 1990s when Matera was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Even then, change was slow and it was not truly until its appointment as a “European Capital of Culture” in 2019 that big investment began to flow in, turning Matera into an outright tourist attraction.
Walking in the Sassi area now, especially at dusk, is like walking in a fairy tale ghost town where the empty houses have been filled with shops, restaurants, hotels, and little museums. It is impossibly charming.
When to visit Matera
A town made by caves carved down into a canyon… Unless you’re a rafting fanatic, you probably don’t want to be here with torrential rains! In other words, don’t come in the heart of winter when it can be cold, rainy, and rather grey.
The best time of year to visit Matera is spring (March to June) or fall (September to December). In both periods you might get a rainy day or two and occasional overcast weather, but in general both the temperature and the weather are good and you avoid the insufferable July and August heat.
Summer - July and August - is the busiest time of year for Matera. It is also when hordes of stressed-out Italians are traveling the peninsula, mostly with their brains switched off, and with their very non-German attitudes towards things line lines/cues, and their adorable, “lively” screaming children in tow.
While Matera did not used to get many international visitors, that is very quickly starting to change and summer is getting much busier. The crowds are still nothing close to what you’ll see in places like Florence, Siena, Venice, Rome, etc., but it does get crowded.
Cover the must-see sights while also exploring a local side to the city on a walking tour with local resident and guide Paolo!
How to get to Matera
Let’s be honest, getting to Matera is a bit of a pain!
There is no airport here, train service is extremely limited (and the trains that do come are slow), and even bus connections, while ok, are long. Matera is just not really near anywhere else. That’s part of the magic of the place!
If you’re coming from elsewhere in Italy, the easiest way to get to Matera is to fly to Bari’s airport in neighboring Puglia and then take a car or bus to Matera. Bari also has good train connections with Rome and other parts of Italy.
Matera is about 65 kms (about 40 miles) from Bari, and you can can get there in a little under an hour by car. Direct shuttle buses leave from Bari airport for Matera every day, so if you don’t want to rent a car, you’ll still have no problem getting to town.
If you take the train to Bari and then want to take a bus to Matera, that’s easy too. Buses from Bari train station to Matera take about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and they depart frequently throughout the day.
Most departures are in the afternoon or evening though, with only a few leaving in the morning. Most buses depart from Bari Centrale train station, but some leave from the port. Tickets cost from 5 to 15 euros. You can book with Flixbus, busmiccolis, and itabus.
Still, I’d recommend renting a car for two reasons:
The drive to Matera is quite nice and stopping in the town of Altamura is always very pleasant
The countryside outside of Matera is beautiful and having a car will let you explore a bit more of the Basilicata region, where you’ll barely encounter another tourist.
How long to spend in Matera
You need at least two days to properly visit Matera, and three if you want to see a bit of the surrounding region.
Matera has no airport, basically no real train service, and is not particularly close to anywhere you’re likely to be, so most visitors don’t arrive here on their first day until mid-morning or early afternoon.
Assuming you arrive in the afternoon, you’ll be able to see a bit in your first few hours of exploration, but you will definitely at least need the next morning to properly tour the old town and enter some of the churches and museums.
Much of the pleasure of a visit to Matera is just aimlessly wandering the city, so you’ll want a second evening to meander lazily through town, sip coffee, have a cocktail, and hang out amongst locals, getting a real feel for the place.
A third day will allow you to go for some hiking either in the canyon below town or nearby, or to visit some other interesting places in the surrounding area.
Where to stay in Matera
Matera is a very small city, so as long as you stay fairly central you’re never going to be far away from anywhere else in town. But it is extremely hilly, so short distances can be more work than they seem. Your main choice is whether you want to stay in the historic sassi area on the low side of town or in the more modern area higher up.
When planning where to stay in Matera, an important thing to take in consideration is what means of transportation you will be using to get here. If you arrive by train, bus, or private transfer, you don’t need to think anymore and you can certainly choose a hotel in the historic center, perhaps even a cave hotel!
However, if you’ll be driving and coming with a car rental, you’re best off choosing a hotel on the high part of town, in the modern side. If you choose to stay in the historic core, make sure to ask your hotel where you can park your car and how you can get to their property from there.
Another consideration is related to the hotel itself; sleeping in a cave is definitely a unique experience, but there are downsides that you have to consider such as the lack of natural light, poor ventilation, and high humidity in the air.
In small hotels and holiday houses that don’t have their rooms constantly occupied, you might smell moldy air and it may feel quite damp inside.
If you are staying only one night, the fun of staying in a cave hotel almost certainly outweighs these considerations. But if you’re staying for two nights or more, consider whether these things might start to bother you.
A third consideration is related to what kind of traveler you are!
The old town of Matera has been abandoned for such a long time that it is still unusual to see locals enjoying a walk in the “Sassi” area. In the higher part of town and the new area, you’ll find many locals, whereas the lower sassi area will be busy in the day with tourists and people working, but very quiet at night.
The upper section of town is much less pretty, but it is where locals live and hang out and it will be lively both day and night.
In short, if you want to be close to the sights, tour, and experience how life was in the old part of Matera, then look for a hotel in the historic, lower sassi area. If you want to be close by, but are more interested in people-watching and you like to go out where locals go, then you’re better off staying in the modern section of town or the upper sassi area.
Hotels:
Sant’Angelo Resort, which has probably the best location in Matera, is a 5-star property with luxurious sassi/cave-style rooms ($300+).
Palazzo Gattini is a lovely 20-room hotel right in the Sassi area of Matera. Rooms are elegant and spacious, and they have a spa and rooftop bar. Keep in mind that it is not a cave hotel ($250).
Sextantio Le Grotte is another cave-style hotel with beautiful touches and a fabulous location ($150-300).
Palazzo Viceconte is a delightfully restored palazzo with exceedingly chic style in the old town ($150-300).
Livingstone B&B is a cute little bed and breakfast with comfortable rooms in the new town. Parking on street is easy, you’ll have fewer stairs to walk, and you’re just a stone’s throw from the old town ($120).
What to see and do in Matera
1. Explore the sassi with me (Paolo), your expert local guide!
Matera is small and compact, and despite the winding alleys and stairs you can certainly explore it on your own with a little planning. However, part of what makes this such an interesting place to visit is the almost unbelievable history here and the stories of thousands of years of constant inhabitation.
If you want to really grasp the history, and see some spots you’d never find on your own, you should plan on hiring a guide. You don’t need a full-day tour, but I think my 2-3 hour walking tour is great.
Before or after any tour, go for a walk and get lost: literally! At the end of the day you won’t be really lost because every staircase eventually gets you to the bottom of the sassi (where there’s only one street) or to the top where all the locals and the baroque churches are.
2. Tour around with a tuk tuk
If all the steps in Matera sound like more work than you want, but you still want to see as much as possible, then a tour with a three wheeler is definitely something cool and fun to do.
3. Enter a cave-house museum
There are several caves houses that have been converted into museums, the most popular of which is in Vico Solitario (which can get very crowded). Which museum you should choose doesn’t matter terribly as they are all built with the same concept of refurbishing a cave with original tools and period decorations/furniture to give visitors a realistic look at what every day life was like for people in these extreme living conditions.
4. Learn about rainwater collection and visit a cistern or “palombaro”
Matera is unique for the stunning and clever system that the locals developed to collect, filter, and store rainwater by using their rooftops and gutters to channel water down to cisterns where it was purified and then passed on to other houses and buildings.
There are several places where you can admire all these engineering skills… perhaps also in your hotel.
There are also huge water reservoirs created in more recent times where rainwater was stored for public use; some of them are open to visit and they are called “palombari”.
One place where you can see this in detail is La raccolta delle acque.
5. Go hiking in the Murgia Materana canyon
By bike, car, or taxi you can get over to the opposite side of the canyon from Matera from where you have a host of good hiking trails from which you have splendid views of the ravine and the Sassi area of the city. Go in the morning for the best light!
6. Visit a Rupestrian cave church
There are several churches around Matera that have been literally carved out of the rocks. They are open to the public and usually cost just a few euros. Inside, you can admire the artwork and marvel at the sheer effort to carve such things out of a rock wall. Many have beautiful frescoes left by the monks that lived in them.
A unique place among all the churches (my favorites are Santa Lucia Alle Malve, San Giovanni in Monterrone, and San Nicola dei Greci), is San Pietro Barisano which, aside from being large and very well done, also preserves houses a “putridarium”.
A putridarium was an underground crypt where bodies were prepared for burial and kept until decomposition was complete. The process for how they did this is rather "eyebrow-raising”, I’ll leave it to you to research further! Suffice to say it is creepy!
7. Check out Cripta del Peccato Originale
Just a little ways out of town is the Cripta del Peccato Originale church which offers a truly special experience. The church, from the 8th century, was carved out of the side of a cliff overlooking a gulley and has stunning frescoes.
From the parking area it’s a lovely short hike in. It’s located on a private farm and you need to arrange to visit in advance as visitor numbers are tightly controlled.
8. Go to a bakery!
Matera is well known in Italy for its durum-wheat bread! All visitors should head to a good local bakery and try some of the Materana specialties.
Local tour agencies also organize tours where you can see some of the oldest wood-fired ovens and try to make the unique shape of Matera bread.
Get out of the city and see Puglia's gorgeous Itria valley towns like Alberobello, Ostuni, and Cisternino with local guide Paolo!
Best restaurants in and around Matera
All the following places are in an order that goes from the simplest informal place to the higher end restaurant
1. Paoluccio
In Matera, bread is part of the culture and if you stick around for a couple of days you’re sure to notice in how many recipes bread is the key ingredient. Therefore, going to a bakery is a must-do!
My favorite places (at least the one closer to the city center) are two. Paoluccio is a trip back into the 50s. Even if it is in the main Via del Corso, it has refused to adapt to the times, and it makes no effort to look modern or fashionable. Instead, they continue to put all their focus on making very good local breads as well as a simple but just outrageously good focaccia.
When you go to try their focaccia, don’t get tempted by all the options, you must try the one with tomato sauce!
2. Caffè Tripoli
Caffè Tripoli is my other favorite spot for baked goods. It is one of the tiniest cafès I have ever been to (using the restrooms here is part of the experience), but the quality of everything they make is beyond your imagination.
Maurizio, the owner, inherited the place from his father and continues to run it with his mom, who bakes unbelievable delicacies. Maurizio is completely devoted to researching the best ingredients and products, and that is what you’ll find here.
Pastries, aperitivo, gelato, sandwiches… every moment of the day is a good time to stop by here and see what’s available.
It’s also really easy to find because it is right in the main square.
3. I Vizi Degli Angeli
The best gelato and “granita” in town is made in a small place in Piazza Pascoli called I Vizi Degli Angeli. Fresh ingredients and the old fashioned way of keeping it in a special freezer make this gelato a product of the highest quality!
4. La Latteria
La Latteria has another nice story to tell; Emanuele, the owner, inherited his father’s “salumeria” (let’s translate it like “grocery store”, but with a focus on cured meats and local cheeses) and slowly he has turned it into a little bistro where you can taste great local products and dishes. It also has a lot of light options great for a light lunch.
5. Abbondanza Lucana
If you are looking for a proper restaurant then I highly recommend a meal at Abbondanza Lucana where you can get a taste of local tradition. The name of the place means abundance… so please don’t go there to order a salad!
6. La Gatta Buia
For a dinner in a nice location, with a great wine list, and with an elegant atmosphere, I suggest you to go to La Gatta Buia where not only the food itself, but also the whole experience will leave you with nice memories of your time in Matera.
7. Dimora Ulmo
For gourmet food with an incredible view, I would choose a beautiful noble “Palazzo” called Dimora Ulmo. It is a very elegant location and it is a great way to celebrate a special occasion or simply to complete your experience of Matera in an outstanding way!
Chat with Puglia expert Paolo!
