Fly directly to Calabria from many cities worldwide

Pizzo, old village center in Calabria (photo by S. Crosetto)

Whenever we are suggesting a holiday in Pizzo to our friends I realized how lucky we are in Pizzo (aka Pizzo Calabro or Pizzo di Calabria) being located so close to the international airport of Lamezia Terme (SUF).

Lamezia airport brings thousands of passengers every year to Calabria in Southern Italy from around the world. There are business men among tourist on the daily Alitalia flights from Rome or Milan, but most tourists come with budget airlines which fly directly into Lamezia Terme (SUF) once or twice weekly from allover Europe and even overseas.

I was impressed to find out from how many cities you can fly directly to Calabria, and of course vice versa, to where you can fly directly from Calabria. I am happy to share my list. Check with your airline during which months and which days direct flights are available. (Let me know, if I missed any city or airline).

Direct Flights to Lamezia Terme (SUF) :

Country	City	Airline
Austria	Vienna Salzburg	Austrian Airlines Niki
Belgium	Brussels (CRL)	Ryanair / Jetairfly
Czech Republic	Brno (BRQ) Prague (PRG) Ostrava (OSR)	SmartWing SmartWing / Czech Airlines SmartWing
France	Paris Orly (ORY)	Easyjet
Germany	Berlin Tegel (TXL) Koeln Bonn (CGN) Düsseldorf (DUS) Frankfurt Hahn (HHN) Hanover (HAJ) Leipzig München (MUC) Stuttgart (STR) Weeze (NRN)	Airberlin / Alitalia Eurowings Airberlin / Eurowings Ryanair Eurowings Airberlin Airberlin / Lufthansa Eurowings Ryanair
Italy	Bari Bologna (BLQ) Bergamo (BGY) Milano Malpensa (MXP) Milano Linate (LIN) Torino (TRN) Treviso Pisa (PSA) Roma (FCO) Venice Treviso (TSF) Verona	Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Easyjet / Neos Alitalia Alitalia Ryanair Ryanair Blu-Express/Ryanair/Vueling/Alitalia Ryanair Neos
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Luxair
Netherlands	Amsterdam (AMS)	Transavia
Russia	Moscow Kazun Ufa	Nordwind Nordwind Nordwind
Spain	Barcelona (BCN)	Vueling
Sweden	Goeteborg Stockholm	Solresor Solresor
Switzerland	Zürich (ZRH)	Airberlin / SWISS/Edelweiss / Alitalia
United Kingdom	London Stansted (STN)	Ryanair
Canada	Toronto (YYZ)	Airtransat

Pizzo is located just 25 km from Lamezia Terme airport, and can be reached by rented car or taxi in less than 30 minutes drive.

Tropea is located further down the coast, 60 km from the airport and about 1h 15min drive.

The central train station in Lamezia Terme is about 1 km from the International Airport. There is a shuttle bus to the station. Some people with light luggage even walk along the road, but you could also hire a taxi. However, if your destination is Pizzo, we would recommend to take a taxi directly to Pizzo or pre-book a pick-up service (both around 40 Euro one-way to Pizzo). Pizzo is a great place to start to explore la bella Calabria.

At the airport you will find different car rental services. You can pre-book a car online or book one at the airport. If you plan to drive into historic old towns, we recommend to rent a SMALL car as the alleys are very narrow.

Please note, if you plan to just spend a relaxing holiday in centro storico di Pizzo, the old town center, no car is required for your holiday as restaurants, bars, shops, tourist sights and the beach are in walking distance.

Other airports in Southern Italy: Reggio di Calabria, Catania (Sicily) and Naples.

update June 2015:

After daily checking Lamezia airport's website for arrival and departure, I update the list above accordingly. There are surprisingly many more direct flights than initially listed!

update February 2016:

Lufthansa's budget airline Germanwings is rebranding as Eurowings since fall 2015.

update June 2019:

Budget airlines come and go, there is no more Airberlin, and new airlines fly to Lamezia. Maybe wikipedia can cope with the many updates: check out Lamezia airport on wikipedia here.

Places of Interest

The Doric column of Hera's sanctuary on Capo Lacinio, Crotone

The Doric column of Hera's sanctuary on Capo Lacinio, Crotone

We want your stay at Palazzo Pizzo Residence to be most enjoyable!

Whether you want to relax or explore Pizzo and nearby places of interest in Calabria, we are happy to give you our personal advise. We have compiled a little guide book about Pizzo for our guest, but most of it you can read in my introduction 

Pizzo Guide

 - and here:

What to do in PIZZO

- read our

introduction "Pizzo Guide"

- watch

some videos

about Pizzo and the area

- visit Castello Aragonese Murat

- visit some churches in Pizzo, we have 10!

- visit the most unusual church, Chiesa di Piedigrotta (take the Ape taxi or car)

- join a guided Pizzo walking tours with Anna from

Dolce Vita di Pizzo

 (April, June-September) or just discover the alleys by yourself

- take a cooking class with Giovanna (upon appointment)

- improve your Italian, take language lessons with Carmen (depending on availability)

- boat trip,

gozzo

type, departure Vibo Marina to Piedigrotta Beach and back (depending on weather)

- visit some artists in their studio

- jog or power walk around the village and along the beaches

Where are the BEACHES

-

Pizzo Marina

(with several little beaches, but nearest from the residence within just 10 minutes walk is the beach below the

castello

; not serviced (bring our umbrella and beach towel), two sweet water showers and nearby bars and pizzerie).

-

Pizzo Piedigrotta

(to reach within 3 minutes by car or Ape Taxi, flat water, nice for little kids, can be combined with a visit of the Church Piedigrotta, a curiosity of Pizzo).

-

Pizzo Marinella

(by car, 8 min., for beach walkers, more tourists than locals)

-

Vibo Marina, Proserpina

(by car 8 min, serviced with sun chairs, umbrellas and music...)

-

Vibo Marina, La Vela

(by car 10 min, serviced, behind the harbour, deeper water, waves)

-

Briatico, Punto Safo

(by car, 15-20 min., waves, old ruin of the

torre di Briatico

)

-

Sant' Irene

(by car, 20-25 min, follow the sign 'Briatico' and then 'Sant' Irene')

-

Paradiso del Sub

, Zambrone (by car, 23-30 min, plus hiking, worth to see, park at train station)

-

Tropea

, (by car 35 min) below the city, crowded in summer but nice back drop

-

Capo Vaticano

, (by car 50 min) very crowded in summer, but worth to see

LOCAL MARKETS

(

see location and time

)

Pizzo on Thursdays above via Nazionale

Vibo Marina on Mondays

Vibo Valentia on Saturdays

DAY TRIPS

- Tropea

- Scilla :

A day trip to Scilla

- Seminara : Read "

A fish from Seminara

"; see

link

 for photos on our FB site

- Gerace

- Soverato

- Serra San Bruno

- Reggio Calabria (take the train)

- Stilo

- Rossano, Ciro, Le Castella

Eolie Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli):

There are day trips to the island of Stromboli via ferry from Vibo Marina (the port is 4km, 7 min drive from Pizzo) starting at 7.30am and back at around 8.00pm.

The first stop might be at Vulcano (or Panarea depending on the itinerary). After that you will land in Lipari, where you are free to explore the picturesque little town and have time for lunch. In the afternoon you will continue to the island of Stromboli. Here you can discover the village and the black vulcano beach.

There are also tours starting in Tropea. The transfer by boat is about 1h shorter as it is located closer to the island. On Thursdays there is a "Stromboli by night" tour.

You would need to spend the night on Stromboli if you want to hike the vulcano. Guided climbing tours usually start at 5pm and you are back around midnight at your accommodation in Stromboli. The ferry round trips to Stromboli can be interrupted for 1 or 2 nights (ask the operator when buying your ticket to reconfirm). Please note, the ferries run only when weather conditions allow. On clear days you can see Stromboli from our residence in Pizzo.

Sila National Park

Aspromonte National Park

MORE ACTIVITIES

when it's raining:

visit a museum, read a book

for historians and archaeologists:

museum in Vibo Valentia and Reggio Calabria

for artists and gallery lovers:

Pizzo attracts artists, find the studio of Antonio La Gamba (Papa Parking), Antonio Montesanti's EOS Ceramica (in piazza), Francesca Procoppio's Studiolo Home Gallery (main road)

for kids:

visit artists in their studio and get creative (see above)

WINTER:

Skiing in Calabria

Winter in Calabria

(blog post)

Ski Etna

DISTANCES :

from:

Pizzo Calabro (VV)

to:

• Lamezia International Airport (26 km, 30 min)

• Vibo Marina port (4 km, 7 min)

• Vibo Valentia (12 km, 20 min)

• Briatico, Punto Safo Beach (about 15 km, 20 min)

• Tropea (28 km, 32 min)

• Capo Vaticano (about 40 km, 50 min)

• Serra San Bruno (42 km, 45 min)

• Catanzaro (via A3, SS280 60 km, 50 min)

• Seminara (via A3 65 km, 50 min)

• Scilla (via A3 83 km, 60 min)

• Soverato (via SS182 65 km, 1h15)

• Reggio Calabria airport (via A3, 104 km, 1h15)

• Stilo (via SS110, 79 km, 1h23 min)

• Gerace (SS18, SS11 90 km, 1h30)

• Gambarie (Aspromonte National Park), (A3/E45, 96 km, 1h30) <-- skiing! *

• Camigliatello Silano (Sila National Park), (A3/E45, 123 km, 1h33) <-- skiing!*

• Messina, Sicily (via A3 and ferry 105 km, about 2h)

• Taormina / Etna, Sicily (via A3 and ferry about 155 km, 2h 1/2 - 3h)

• Catania, Sicily airport (via A3/E45 and A18/E45, 196 km, about 3 h, including ferry)

• STROMBOLI, Eolie Islands (80 km, up to 12h, see Day Trips above)

• Amalfi, Positano (via A3 365 km, about 4h) - or take the fast train to Salerno (2 1/1h only!)

• Napoli airport (via A3 405 km, about 4h)

GUIDEBOOK

With your booking you will receive a little "Guidebook" compiled by us for your stay in Pizzo. You will find our and guests' recommendations for bars, restaurants, beaches, day trips as well as important phone number, detailed directions and more.

Winter in Calabria

Camigliatello in La Sila National Park, Calabria

So far this blog was all about renovating and decorating a Beach House.

Now, we did it. Okay, it still needs some improvements and probably constant re-renovation work - but mainly we are done. And we are really happy with the result.

Strangely, when I saw the latest interior magazine AD during our skiing holidays in Europe, with lots of snow outside, and all these cozy homes and restaurants in the mountains with wooden fires inside ... I started dreaming ...

Sounds crazy, I know. - Shouldn't I focus on our beach house?

But then I remembered, that Calabria has not only 800 km of coast line to offer. Calabria is quiet hilly and has mountains up to 2,000 meters high above sea level. And when it snows, you can ski! Yes, there are a few ski lifts!

The most important "ski resorts" in Calabria are Camigliatello and Villaggio Palumbo in La Sila and Gambarie in Aspromonte. Both mountainous regions are National Parks.
 

Pizzo --> Sila  app. 120 km and 1,5h drive (via Google Map)

La Sila is about 120 km North of Pizzo and the Aspromonte about 100 km South.  We could reach a ski resort from Pizzo in aobut 1,5 hours drive ! 

From the sea to the mountains in no time. The highest mountain in Sila, Botte Donato (1,928 m) is covered with snow right now. Information about snow levels at Camigliatello via Skiinfo. There are two ski lifts only, but this will do for us when in Calabria in winter!

This is an excellent reason to push forward the installation of a chimney in our beach house. We could drink hot teas and wine in front of the wooden fire after a day skiing up in the mountains. :-)

And I really enjoyed this magazine, especially the featured home of Aerin Lauder in Aspen.


AD German Edition Dec/Jan 2012



Living room of Aerin Lauder's Aspen home

Wishing you all the best for 2012!

I thought this is funny: Palazzo Pizzo Team on skiing holiday

the interior, finance and construction team of Palazzo Pizzo (from left)

We took a week off and met in Switzerland for a skiing holiday with family and friends. In this picture above you see from left: me, myself, my husband CC and his father Angelo, our major help at Palazzo Pizzo.

I thought it is a very funny picture, not only because we were all wearing helmets, like construction workers, but also you can tell who is in love with GREEN bathrooms, who's idea was the RED bathroom and who painted the entrance hall in APRICOT. Can you ?!

And if you ever happen to go to Klosters, don't miss the Berghaus Alpenroesli, it is such a beautiful and romantic spot for lunch or dinner:

two pictures above via Alpenroesli

However, now we are all back at work. Angelo drove down to Pizzo and I am awaiting updates soon. I will keep you posted, a presto.

Sicilian traditional tiles as main design theme for new contemporary resort: Verdura Golf & Spa Resort

Southern Italy, especially Capri and Sicily, is famous for its beautiful ornamented tiles with bright mediterranean colours. Handpainted maioliche have their origin in Mallorca (Spain) and have inspired Italian crafters from Vietri near Naples to Caltagirone in Sicily.

It is kind of obvious to use mediterranean tiles (piastrelle) when renovating or remodelling a house in the South of Italy. Even when building a contemporary house or hotel, one should consider to catch the atmosphere of the location by using local traditional material and patterns in some way.

In a rough Southeastern Sicilian landscape the new Verdura Golf & Spa resort combines contemporary architecture and design with local Sicilian culture and tradition. Interior designer Olga Polizzi found a simple way to retain old customs by interpretating patterns of Sicilian maioliche (tiles) in a modern way throughout the resort :

patterns of piastrelle are remixed in the casual dining area (above and below):

The giant tiles are handmade by a workshop in Caltagirone.

They pick up a local motif of the 18th century that became the decorative theme of the entire resort.

In the lobby, cushion covers and lamp shades pick up parts of the tile's pattern.

Even the webside of the resort is using the theme on its pictures (see above pic left side) like a watermarking.

In the rooms the theme is on bed covers, cushions and lampshades.

On some walls the design of the tiles is stenciled. However, with very restraint colours, like a watermark, to not be too much for the visitors eyes.

I think it is a very clever idea. I might 'copy' this method for some wall decoration in our house. I could re-use some pattern of the few old tiles we inherited with the house. Although they have more a Greek influenced geometrical design than a floral elaboration. Or I am just painting the above red giant extract of a maiolica with acrylic coulour on a wooden board for one of the rooms.
*  

Source: all photos via Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Sciacca, Sicily
owned by Rocco Forte Collection
featured in AD Edizione Italia, March 2010

Project by Flavio Albanese
Interior Design by Olga Polizzi