The Costa degli Dei

This is the best-known stretch of coast in Calabria, and for once the fame is justified by the geology: here the pale sandstone cliff drops straight to the water, and the beaches lie at the bottom, wedged between headlands. The colour that comes out of it, white sand and water turning from green to blue within a few metres, is why the coast is called what it is.

Tropea

Tropea stands on a rock terrace some seventy metres above the beach, and the view everyone knows is the one from the belvedere: below, the former island with the church of Santa Maria dell'Isola on it. The old town is small and crowded in summer; early morning is when you can walk it properly.

Capo Vaticano

The headland closes the coast south of Tropea and is a succession of coves reached down flights of steps, some of them long. From the point, on clear days, you can see the Aeolian Islands and Stromboli. It is the part of the province with the most campsites, almost all terraced into the slope.

Early in the morning, or late in the evening. In between you stay in the water.

How to visit Tropea in August

What to allow for

This is the busiest coast in the region between mid-July and the end of August: places fill up, parking is scarce and the coast road is narrow. Anyone who can choose should come in June or September, when the sea is the same and everything else is easier.