Basilicata: Matera, ghost towns and the Lucanian Dolomites

Route description

After Matera’s Sassi, drive round to the Murgia Timone viewpoint on the other side of the ravine, where cave churches dot the plateau. Then head south-west through clay badlands to Craco, abandoned after a landslide and visitable only on guided tours.

Join the SS407 Basentana up the Basento valley, then climb to Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa, two villages wedged into the sandstone spires of the Lucanian Dolomites. The Volo dell’Angelo zip line connects them in summer, and a footpath with a Tibetan bridge links them on foot.

The access roads are steep with sharp bends and parking is tight, so larger motorhomes should use the car parks below each village. Continue north past Potenza to the Vulture, an extinct volcano whose crater holds the two Monticchio lakes.

Melfi’s Norman castle houses a museum of ancient finds, and Venosa, birthplace of the poet Horace, has Roman ruins and an unfinished abbey church. Try the local Aglianico del Vulture red wine; spring and autumn avoid both the heat and the winter snow on the hills.