Extend your summer in Southern Italy

UPDATE: It’s mid-November and you can still swim in Pizzo! This year the summer is endless! And we extend our golden season offer (see below), special rates are now available until December 2018!

Enjoy empty beaches in and around Pizzo on the Costa degli dei

Buongiorno,

We hope you had a wonderful and joyful summer. How about extending your summer in Southern Italy? Enjoy the dolce vita in one of our beautifully restored apartments in Pizzo Calabro (Vibo Valentia), just 25 min drive from the international airport of Lamezia Terme (SUF).

We offer discounts on our standard rates during some selected October weeks.

Learn Kitesurfing in Gizzeria (30 km from Pizzo)

Travel tips: 

Learn kitesurfing in Gizzeria, just 30 km from Pizzo, at Hang Loose Beach where the latest kitesurfing world championship in July 2018 took place. Here you can find instructors (English and Italian speaking) or just rent your gear. (photo above)

Combine your stay in Pizzo with a visit to the famous 'sassi' of Matera (photo below) in Basilicata, the UNESCO world heritage site since 1993 and the next European Capital of Culture in 2019 ! Matera is only 300 km (3h20 drive) from Pizzo and 65 km (1h drive) from the Bari airport in Puglia. Matera worth to stay two nights See my latest blog post about a trip to Matera.

Matera (300 km from Pizzo)

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Grazie mille & saluti cordiali
Susan

Pizzo Apartment availability around Easter 2018

It's getting warmer ... and you are dreaming of a cool place to go?

Easter is around the corner! And spring is here since March 1 according to the meteorologists, and latest next week on March 21 according to the astronomical calendar. Have you made up your mind yet where to spent your Easter Holidays? Or your own personal little Spring Break?! Come to the sun, come to Southern Italy, come to Calabria, come to Pizzo! Pizzo is the best place to explore Calabria and its spicy food and Ciro wines.

Please contact us directly if you are interested.

You can also find us on airbnb, homeaway (fewo, abritel) and tripadvisor (holidayletting) where you can check also our availability for other holiday periods.

We are looking forward to welcome you in Pizzo,

warm regards, saluti cordiali

Susan & Palazzo Pizzo Team

(photo source: Dolce Gabbana campaign 2011)

Want to read more? Maybe about staying in Pizzo in April including Easter procedures, or all posts about spring in Calabria, direct flights to Lamezia or what to do in Pizzo.

It's Spring!

It's spring and time to update the blog. Our first guest have arrived in Pizzo and the next are on the way. It's almost Easter and tourists are heading South for some sunshine. The weather in Calabria was already very pleasant, then we had was some rain, and now it's sunny again. But surprisingly it is warmer in the North than in the South - and so we had to switch the heating on again.

Dear travellers, always pack a sweater or fleece jacket when going to the sea side. Even in summer there can be a fresh breeze, especially in the evenings in the main piazza of Pizzo. There are easily 10 degrees Celsius difference during the day, and a temperature of 20 C in spring with a fresh breeze from the sea can feel like only 15 C. It's best to check the forecast and be prepared to dress like a (spring)onion in layers. However, while some wear a jacket, others already sunbath at the beach and in a few days time you will observe the first brave swimmers.

Happy Spring Holidays & lots of sunshine!

Pizzo and Vibo Marina on Sunday, 25th March 2017 - Looks lovely, it's Springtime, but Jacket still needed!

For some more spring impressions of earlier years read Summer feelings in April (April 2013) or simply click on the APRIL or SPRING tag (scroll down, click NEXT to see all posts).

Beach goers sunbathing and in the water at Pizzo Marina city beach, April 1st, 2017 (no joke!) 

Photo credit: All photos by Carmela, March 27 and April 1, 2017 - mille grazie for sharing first spring impressions from Pizzo  :-)

The Spirit of Summer 2016

This summer was different from past summers. Where do I start? 

(photo credit: Yann)

I could start writing about our road trip through Italy #onthewaytoPizzo ...  or say we felt it was overall less hot than last summer... I have thousand of photos on my phone and almost as many memories in my head.... It was a great summer! The food, the sea ... always fantastic in Southern Italy.

For us, above all, it was a very busy summer! Our guests beat all records. We had non-stop guests from all over the world. We had double occupancies and check-out and -in on the same day... in our own house! We loved it!! Family and friends getting together in one big house. That was the purpose of it all. 

My favorite moments that I enjoyed with all guests was the aperitivo on our balcony. One, two glasses of Aperol Spritz, some ice cubes and watching the sun going down, disappearing in the sea and the sky a canvas for vespertine spectacles of nature. 

When I browsed through all the photos of this summer, I came across the photo above - that one of our lovely guest had posted to our Facebook page - and I felt it all over again. The spirit of our summer 2016. The photo has it alI: summer, sun, beach, the crystal clear sea that stands in such a beautiful complementary colour contrast to the Aperol Spritz, which I only drink in Southern Italy because it doesn't taste anywhere better. Relaxing & refreshing after a hot day at the sea. And the hand crafted wrought iron balcony railing, that I designed after an old pattern for our new project which turns out to be lovely, no, gorgeous! (more about it soon)  Last but not least, it's a guest's photo. It shows what makes me most happy: guests see the beauty of this place, this little spot in the South of Italy which is almost paradise. It makes me happy to see that our guests feel the same. Double happiness.

We didn't launch a photo contest for guest or so yet. It could be an idea for next year! This photo (above) for sure is a winner. Other great photos by lovely guests can be found in my album "Great shots by lovely Guests" on Facebook. If you have been staying with us, feel free to upload yours! I love to see photos of Pizzo. I am constantly checking #pizzocalabro on instagram as I miss it already. For us summer 2016 is over. For most Italians summer ends right the week after Ferragosto. But Pizzo only gets better again after the crowd has left! In fact, with the ice cream and tartufo varieties of Pizzo the summer never ends!

So I hope you had, are still having or going to have a lovely summer holiday! In Pizzo Calabro or somewhere else with lots of sunshine and some refreshing aperitivo.       

more soon....

The recipe for Aperol Spritz is easy:

• 1/3 Aperol  
• 1/3 sparkling water
• 1/3 Prosecco
• .... add ice cubes and a slice of lemon

cin cin !

Splendid December Greetings from Pizzo

Where in Europe do we find the month of December so sunny and beautiful? In Calabria, in the South of Italy. Calabria is a very green region which usually means rain in December and January. But not so much this year. Pizzitani are lucky with a splendid December. I wish I could enjoy Natale and le Buone Feste in Pizzo.  

December 7, 2015 (photo credit: Alfonso Salutato) 

The sea so beautiful and calm that one would like to take out the boat and go fishing or sunbath at the beach. 

View from our new roof top terrace (photo credit: Alfonso Salutato) 

But it wouldn't be Christmas without the festive Christmas lighting in the Piazza Della Repubblica!

La Piazza di Pizzo, Natale 2015 (photo credit: Il blog di Gianluca Callipo)

And since temperatures are still reaching almost 20 degrees Celsius during the day all bars in the piazza are well frequented.

Talking bars - which means always gelateria too - the Gelateria & Bar Ercole will celebrate its 50th anniversary on December 22nd! Auguri!

The piazza in December 2015 (photo credit: Giuseppe Pagnotta) 

What I like about Pizzo and other Calabrian villages are the many religious processions that are celebrate within the village community. The nocturnal processions are especially festive. On December 8, there is the procession of the Madonna Immaculata.

Questo video mostra la uscita serale della Madonna Immacolata per le vie del centro storico di Pizzo - this video shows the exit of the Madonna from the church in the evening and the beginning of the procession through the alleys of the centro storico of Pizzo. (There are more videos on YouTube).

With these impressions from a festive Pizzo, I wish my readers a Merry Christmas and all the best for a wonderful New Year.

Our new project illuminated from the inside in December 2015 (photo credit: Angelo)

Buon Natale & Buone Feste!