Photograph: The coast and beach below Maratea by gian luca bucci, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Maratea is a small town of around 5,000 people in the province of Potenza, and it is the only comune in the whole region of Basilicata with a coast on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Squeezed between Campania to the north and Calabria to the south, it has roughly 32 kilometres of rocky shoreline, more than twenty beaches, a fishing harbour, and an old town that was deliberately built where the sea could not see it. It is known as the Pearl of the Tyrrhenian, and it is one of the villages listed among the Borghi piu belli d'Italia.
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The photograph shows the coast below the town on a clear summer day: steep wooded slopes running straight down into deep blue water, a scatter of houses, a road and the railway cut into the hillside, a grey pebble beach with umbrellas and a hotel above it, and the coast and mountains receding beyond a small headland. No source tells us which of Maratea's coves this is, so we do not name it. What one frame cannot show is most of what you came for: the old town, the Borgo, tucked behind the mountain; the large white statue of Christ the Redeemer on the summit of Monte San Biagio; the harbour at Porto; and the sea caves cut into this whole stretch of cliff.
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What Is Here
Maratea is not one place but a scatter of villages spread across mountain and shore. The old town sits on the northern slopes of Monte San Biagio. Above it, on the summit, are the basilica and the ruins of the Castello, the original fortified settlement. Below, strung along the coast road, are the seaside frazioni: Acquafredda and Cersuta to the north, Fiumicello and Porto in the middle, Marina and Castrocucco to the south. Further up the hills sit Massa, Santa Caterina and Brefaro.
The landscape is the point. The mountains come down to the water in steep cliffs, and the slopes are covered in oak, pine, holm oak, carob, rosemary and wild fennel. Fennel is probably where the town's name comes from, from the Greek word for the plant. The coastline is broken into inlets, caves, rocks and shoals, and the beaches are mostly pebble rather than sand, which the photograph makes clear.
The Old Town Hidden From the Sea
The Borgo was placed where pirates could not find it. In the early Middle Ages, with Saracen raiders sacking towns along this coast, the people of Maratea moved up to the high ground of Monte San Biagio and built the Castello. When that grew too crowded, around the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a new settlement was founded behind the mountain, on its sheltered side, so that it could not be seen from the sea. That is the old town you walk today.
Maratea has been described as the town with 44 churches, for the number of churches and chapels spread across its villages. In the Borgo, the principal church is Santa Maria Maggiore, built in 1505, which looks over Piazza Buraglia. The church of San Vito is said to be the oldest in the old town, dating to the ninth century. Expect steep lanes, steps and small squares.
Monte San Biagio and the Statue of Christ
The summit of Monte San Biagio holds three things worth the climb. The first is the Basilica of San Biagio, the town's main church, which keeps the relics of Saint Blaise, the patron saint; by tradition they arrived by ship in the eighth century. The second is the ruined Castello around it, the walls of which the French ordered pulled down after a three-day siege that ended on 10 December 1806. The settlement up here is now uninhabited.
The third is the statue of Christ the Redeemer, a large white figure with open arms standing right in front of the basilica. It was made by the Florentine sculptor Bruno Innocenti and completed in 1965. The idea came from Count Stefano Rivetti di Val Cervo, the industrialist who brought factories and hotels to Maratea in the 1950s, after he flew over the Corcovado statue in Rio de Janeiro. It stands straight on the rock with no pedestal, and, unusually, the body is turned towards the basilica and the inland valley rather than out to sea. There was never an inauguration ceremony, because by the time it was finished the town and its patron had fallen out over local politics.
Behind the statue a viewing terrace looks over most of Maratea's coastline, and the summit falls away steeply towards the harbour far below. A road climbs to the top. If you walk instead, expect a steep climb with little shade, and note that the old path between the Castello and the Borgo is the one the silver statue of the saint is carried down in procession each May.
The Coast, the Caves and the Harbour
Somewhere along the coast below the town, the rock is full of holes. The regional cave register lists 132 caves in Maratea's territory, on land and at sea. The marine caves are part of what makes a small boat trip along the cliffs worth taking. The one cave you can walk into is the Grotta di Marina, also called the Cave of Wonders, a small natural cave with stalactites and stalagmites that opens beneath the coast road near Marina. It was found in 1929 by the men building that road.
The harbour sits roughly at the centre of the coastline, at Porto. It is a small tourist and fishing port, built from 1962 onwards, with room for up to 200 boats, and the village of Porto rises around it like an amphitheatre. Further south, about 500 metres off the shore, is the little island of Santo Janni, barely more than a rock, where divers have found dozens of ancient anchors on the seabed; they are now displayed in the local museum.
Each frazione has its own character. Acquafredda, whose name means cold water, takes it from a freshwater spring that rises in the sea off one of its beaches, colder than the sea around it. Marina has many beaches and the cave. Along the cliffs you will also see coastal watchtowers: six were built between 1566 and 1595 to watch for raiders, and some still stand on the rock above the coast road.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
When to Go
Maratea has a mild climate, with hot, humid summers and winters that are generally mild but very rainy. Using the 1961 to 1990 averages, the hottest months, July and August, reach an average high of around 28 degrees, with August nights averaging about 18. In January the average high is 12 degrees and the low 5.4. The seaside villages are slightly milder than the old town, which is colder in winter on its mountainside.
For swimming, June to September is the season, and August is the busiest. For walking up to the statue, exploring the old town and the coast road, late spring and early autumn are the most comfortable. The patron saint's festival fills a full week in May, from the first Saturday to the second Sunday, when the silver statue of San Biagio is carried in procession between the Castello and the Borgo. Winter is quiet, green and wet; pack for rain.
Getting There and Around
Maratea sits on the Tyrrhenian railway that runs down the coast of southern Italy, with three stations in the comune: the main station near the harbour, Acquafredda and Marina. The railway arrived in 1894 and still runs along the cliffs, as the photograph shows. By road, the SS18 coast road links the seaside villages and runs north to Sapri in Campania and south to Tortora in Calabria. The nearest airports are Salerno, about 139 kilometres away, Naples at around 211 and Lamezia Terme at around 217.
The villages are spread out and the gradients are serious, so plan on a car, local buses or taxis between the coast and the old town.
Is Maratea Safe for Women Travelers
Italy carries no advised-against area anywhere, the phrase "advise against" appears nowhere on the FCDO's landing or safety pages for the country, and neither page names Maratea, Basilicata or Potenza.
US State Department travel advisory: the Italy advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Italy. Its guidance concentrates on petty theft in crowded tourist areas and on the ZTL, the limited traffic zones in historic centres that catch drivers out with automatic fines months after the trip.
The FCDO describes Italian crime levels as generally low, with bag-snatching and pickpocketing concentrated in city centres and at major tourist attractions, and warns against taking drinks from strangers or leaving drinks unattended, because victims of spiked drinks have been robbed and sometimes assaulted. Italian law also requires you to carry photo ID at all times.
The sea is the hazard most likely to matter. The FCDO notes that people drown in the sea in Italy every year, that some beaches have strong undercurrents and hidden rocks, and that you should not dive into unknown water. A red flag means you must not enter the water, and where there are no lifeguards, flags or signs the advice is to take extra care and get local knowledge. On a rocky coast like this one, jumping from rocks into water you have not checked is exactly the risk the FCDO describes.
Wildfire is the summer hazard on land. The FCDO says wildfires are a risk during the extended summer months, that they are dangerous and unpredictable, and that you should take care in woodland and report any fire to the emergency services. The slopes above Maratea are thickly wooded and the coast road runs through them, so check local alerts in a hot, dry spell.
Many parts of Italy lie on a major seismic fault line and the FCDO notes that minor tremors and earthquakes happen regularly. Learn what to do before, during and after one. Maratea itself is classified as a zone of medium to high seismic risk.
The Maratea Packing List
Pack for a mountain that ends in the sea. You will spend your days between a pebble beach and steep stone lanes, with strong sun on the water and a fresher air on the summit.
A merino wool base layer is the foundation. On a hot coast that sounds backwards, but a light merino top moves moisture away from your skin instead of holding it the way cotton does, it does not smell after a sweaty climb, and it is the layer you want on a boat when the wind picks up off the open sea.
Over it, a long sun hoodie for boat trips and the beach, where there is little shade, and a wide brim sun hat for the exposed viewing terrace on the summit. Because winters here are mild but very rainy, an off-season visit calls for a packable rain jacket. A fleece mid-layer would also help on a winter evening in the old town, but it is left unlinked here because this post has reached its limit of affiliate links and the rain jacket does more work on this coast.
Footwear matters more than it looks. The old town is stepped and steep, the walk to the summit is long and rough, and the beaches are pebble. Shoes with real grip and a closed toe are right for the lanes and the mountain. For the beach, pebbles and rock make water shoes worth packing, but our register's only water-shoe entry is marked as contested, so none is linked here.
A quick dry travel towel packs far smaller than a beach towel and dries before you climb back up from the cove. And a waterproof dry bag keeps your phone and cash safe on a boat trip to the sea caves.
Sunscreen and sunglasses are both needed and neither is linked, because our affiliate register carries no sunscreen and no eyewear entry at all. Glare off the sea and pale rock is strong.
Essential Resources for Women in Maratea
Emergency numbers: 112 is the single European emergency number and the FCDO lists it for police in Italy; 118 is the ambulance; 115 is the fire service.
Hospital: dial 118 for an ambulance, which will take you to the nearest public emergency department, the pronto soccorso. The town's own hospital site has been reorganised, with several departments moved to the hospital at Lagonegro inland, so do not assume it offers full emergency care. Confirm the nearest emergency department with your accommodation on the day you arrive.
Official health authority: the Ministero della Salute, the Italian health ministry, covers the national guidance, which is the right level for a town of this size.
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Rome.
Official tourism authority: ENIT, the Italian national tourist board, covers the national picture. For boat trips, beach establishments and the road to the summit, local sources in town are the current ones rather than anything printed here.
US State Department travel advisory: the Italy advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Italy is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as an Italian resident. That means the same ticket, the co-payment Italians make, rather than nothing, and it does not cover repatriation, so travel insurance sits on top of it. Italian public hospitals are good and the emergency department, the pronto soccorso, treats anyone who arrives. Pharmacies, farmacie, are marked with a green cross, are staffed by pharmacists who can advise and dispense for minor problems, and post a rota for nights and Sundays on the door. Tap water is drinkable across the country, including from the public fountains that are common in Italian towns.
Solo women safety assessment: Maratea is a calm, low-risk place to travel on your own. It is a small resort, the FCDO names nothing in Basilicata, and the villages are quiet rather than rowdy. The things to manage are physical rather than personal: getting between widely spread villages without a car, steep and narrow roads after dark, rocks and water on a coast with few sandy beaches, and wildfire in high summer. Tell someone your plans if you walk up Monte San Biagio alone, and a few phrases of Italian go a long way here.
Reading On
North along the same sea, the Amalfi Coast packing list covers the better-known cliffs of Campania, with Salerno and Ravello nearby, and Naples is the city at the top of the railway line. South down the coast, Tropea is the next clifftop town with a post in this library; Calabria as a whole has none yet and is named here in prose rather than linked. Inland, Matera is Basilicata's other great destination, on the far side of the region, and across the peninsula the Puglia packing list covers the Adriatic. The Italy travel guide for women is the hub, and the travel packing guide covers the system this list is built on.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
For why a hot Tyrrhenian summer argues for merino rather than cotton, see our guide to the best merino wool base layers for women, and the full range is in the Roman Trail collection.
