Experiences
© Raffaele Gaetano
Living our experiences means having a different point of view on Calabria. Authentic and true. There are realities that give value to the territory. And behind each of these realities there are people and communities. They are people who recognize the beauty of their own countries and make the choice, often not easy, to stay or to return. They are welcoming communities, sometimes with complex stories behind them, but determined and proud of their land. We fell in love with it! Visit them too and live the experiences that we present to you to get to know them better. And keep them. Together with us. On a journey that aims to present and tell another treasure to be discovered and brought to light.
And, if you want, you can contribute to the project with just one euro more than the cost of the experience LET'S GET ROOTS – Travel For Good – 1ALBEROxSANFERDINANDO
Gymnastics on the beach
at sunrise or sunset
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Description of the service
With a qualified teacher you will exercise on the immense beach of San Ferdinando while enjoying a breathtaking view with the Aeolian Islands in the background.
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Details
Duration: 1 hour
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 15
Meeting point: waterfront of San Ferdinando (RC), central roundabout
What to bring: beach towel, bottle of water
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: lovers of the outdoors and sports
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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Nature walk
through the San Ferdinando pine forest and its waterfront loop trail
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Description of the service
with a local guide you will discover unspoilt paths and unique viewpoints while enjoying photographing them or simply enjoying them.
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Details
Duration: 2 1/2 hours
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 15
Meeting point: waterfront of S. Ferdinando (RC), central roundabout
What to bring: comfortable shoes, light backpack, hat and bottle of water
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: photography and nature lovers
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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Physical activity workshops (dance and psychomotricity) for children on the beach
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Description of the service
With a qualified teacher, children can do dance and psychomotricity at the beach in San Ferdinando.
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Details
Duration: 1 hour
Cost: €15.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 15
Meeting point: waterfront of San Ferdinando (RC), central roundabout
What to bring the kids: beach towel, bottle of water
Availability: from 15 July to 7 September; twice a week (every Wednesday and Friday)
Ideal for: children (parental authorisation required)
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
Beekeeper for a day
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Description of the service
Calabria is home to some of the most excellent honey production. You will have the experience of tasting organic honey at km0, see a beekeeper at work, and discover all the secrets of bees, their language, their importance for the ecosystem, and the plants necessary for their well-being. You will also be able to visit the first holistic apiary in southern Italy and enjoy beehumming and apiaromatherapy, a wellness path of scents and sounds. It will be an immersive experience in nature and in the world of bees with respect to a profession such as that of the beekeeper, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly rare.
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Details
Duration: 2 hour
Cost: € 30.00 (adults), € 7.00 (children up to the age of 12; children up to the age of 3 go free)
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 15
What's included: introduction to the magical world of bees; live bee viewing in total safety from inside the holistic apiary; beehumming and apiaromatherapy in the holistic apiary; multi-sensory barefoot path in the medicinal garden made up of plants that contribute to the wellbeing of bees and humans; visit to the workshop with an explanation of how honey and other beekeeping products are made; tasting of the various types of honey produced by the farm combined with local cheeses and cold cuts along with a glass of local wine. In addition, those who wish can have an immersive experience with a virtual visor while watching a 360° video shot inside the beehive.
Meeting point: Brattirò (VV) , (the address will be communicated with the booking)
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: who wants to know the fantastic world of bees
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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Artisan perfumer for a day
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Description of the service
Calabria is a land of intense fragrances and delicate olfactory harmonies that encapsulate the wonders of an ancient land that welcomed heroes and inspired poets. Its flowers, its citrus fruits, its plants. At the beginning of the 20th century, the world perfume industry sent the great noses to Calabria. You will be welcomed into the oldest perfume factory in Calabria, you will discover and smell the splendid Calabrian fragrances (bergamot, cedar, broom, orange blossom, jasmine), used as the base for the world's most famous perfumes, and you will be able to create the perfume of your dreams yourself.
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What's included:
- factory visit;
- explanation of how a perfume is created;
- perfume perception and olfactory-sensory analysis;
- creating your own perfume;
- walk in San Giorgio Morgeto (RC).
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Details
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: €45.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 10
Meeting points: San Giorgio Morgeto (RC) (the address will be communicated with the booking)
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: those who want to surprise themselves with unusual experiences
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 48h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
Visiting the Master Basketmaker
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Description of the service
The art of weaving is one of the oldest works of creative genius of humanity and baskets have always accompanied the history of man. It is worth hearing from the last remaining basket maker in the Aspromonte area who weaves baskets and baskets with poplar and chestnut wood and who will reveal all the ancestral secrets of ancient crafts that still resist in the modern world.
What's included:
- visit to the master basket maker's workshop;
- explanation of the weaving techniques and the phases necessary for the creation of a basket;
- history of baskets used in the past;
- walk in San Giorgio Morgeto (RC).
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Details
Duration: 2 hour and 1/2
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 15
Meeting point: San Giorgio Morgeto (RC) (the address will be communicated with the booking)
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: those interested in discovering ancient crafts
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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Visiting the wool mill
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Description of the service
The textile tradition in Calabria is millenary. It dates back to the 15th century. BC and has been enriched, over time, by multiple cultural influences deriving from the numerous migrations and dominations that this land has known over the centuries. You will visit the oldest textile factory in Calabria, its proto-industrial museum and the project it carries forward: an ancient knowledge as a value from which to start again to arrive at an excellent production based on experimentation and research. You will have the opportunity to hear the story of the native Calabrian sheep breed (the Gentile, merino type, now extinct) and see how a yarn is born by following all the various steps. It will be a unique privilege that will put you in direct contact with the history and traditions of Calabria.
What's included:
- visit to the woolen mill and the company museum;
- explanation of the processing techniques and steps required to create a pure wool yarn.
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Details
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 20
Meeting point: Soveria Mannelli (CZ) (the address will be communicated with the booking)
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: lovers of history, culture and local crafts
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
Experience the ancient tradition of swordfish hunting
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Description of the service
Fishing in these places has ancient roots dating back to the 2nd century BC. The sounds of the boats leaving port, the voices of the fishermen on the boat, the shouts to hoist the net with the fish onto the boat, the hands adjusting the nets. If the time of year and the season are right, you will accompany authentic fishermen in their daily work and discover the traditions of swordfish fishing from a real spatara (a typical boat used for swordfish fishing), the colours, scents, sounds and tastes of the sea. In any case, you will experience a night as a real fisherman and discover the legends and anecdotes that link the sea to this land from the very voices of the sailors and the many secrets of this trade together with those for whom the sea and this activity is their reason for living. It will be a new and entertaining experience that will take you far away from your daily routine and that you will find hard to forget.
Translated with DeepL
What's included:
- preparatory meeting the evening before;
- swordfish hunt on a typical felucca with the local crew the following day
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Details
Duration: 4-5 hours
Cost: € 98.00
Number of people:min. 2 - max. 4
Meeting point: Bagnara Calabra (RC) or Scilla (RC) (the address will be communicated the evening before the experience is offered)
What to bring: comfortable clothes, hat, waxed jacket, small backpack, water
Availability: April to October; frequency 2 times a month
Ideal for: sea and fishing enthusiasts who don't want to miss out on the adrenaline rush
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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Discovering the best
Calabrian cured meats
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Description of the service
Calabria can boast one of the oldest pork butchery traditions in Italy and has no less than three D.O.P. (Soppressata di Calabria, Salsiccia di Calabria and Capocollo Calabrese) and the highly prized Prosciutto di Maiale Nero di Calabria, produced from the meat of the indigenous Calabrian black pig reared in the wild and fed on natural products. Also very characteristic are two other typical Calabrian sausages: 'nduja di Spilinga and jelly. You will be welcomed into one of the oldest (more than 80 years of history!) and most renowned artisan charcuterie factories in Calabria, you will visit it and see first-hand how traditional Calabrian charcuterie products are made.
What's included:
- visit to the salumificio;
- explanation of how a cured meat product is made and the techniques used;
- aperitif tasting with a glass of wine and artisan cured meats from the salumificio;
- walk in San Giorgio Morgeto (RC)
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Details
Duration: 2 hours
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 20
Meeting point: San Giorgio Morgeto (RC) (the address will be communicated with the booking)
Availability:all the year; every Thursday and Friday
Ideal for: lovers of genuine flavors
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
A walk among the ancient olive trees
...and if the time is right olive picking
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Description of the service
Oil, food that unites the whole Mediterranean and which is the basis of the Mediterranean Diet, intangible heritage of Unesco, identified in 1957 precisely in Calabria, and precisely in these places. One of the oldest agricultural estates in Calabria with an adjoining peasant village will be the setting for this beautiful experience in contact with Calabrian nature in which to taste the oils produced with the olive varieties of the area in a unique sensory journey. And if it's the right time, you will live an ancient experience of the Calabrian tradition: the olive harvest in secular olive groves surrounded by trees and uncontaminated landscapes; among other things, you will be able to learn more about the history of this practice and learn about the olive varieties of the area, once they have been harvested.
What's included:
- visit to the agricultural estate with a walk among the tall secular olive groves;
- olive harvest workshop (if it's the right time);
- tasting of the various types of oil with slices of typical bread and local cheeses with explanation of the variety of cultivars present in the area and the properties of the extra virgin olive oil obtained from them.
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Details
Duration: 1 hour and 1/2
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 20
Meeting point: (the address will be communicated with the booking)
What to bring: comfortable shoes, light backpack, hat and bottle of water
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: those who want to understand something more about oil by combining the pleasure of a nature walk
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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Eccentric wanderings
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Description of the service
A game for everyone that makes room for unusual things between order and chaos, rules and creativity.
What's included:
- explanation of the rules of the game;
- game.
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Details
Duration: 1 hour
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 10
Meeting point: (the address will be communicated with the booking)
What to bring: comfortable shoes, light backpack, hat and bottle of water
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: those who love to get lost and be surprised
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
Learn the art of wool weaving
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Description of the service
You will have the opportunity to learn this ancient art directly from the skilled weavers of the oldest textile factory in Calabria. Choose the laboratory that you like best.
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The workshops are organized as follows
- specialist of technical-practical learning on weaving:
cost € 600 for a group of up to 5 people
- print on fabric:
cost €20 per person; duration about 2h;
- weaving tutorial (wooden loom for older children, su
cardboard for the little ones):
cost €15 per person; duration about 2h.
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A certificate will be issued at the end.
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Details
Meeting points: Soveria Mannelli (CZ) (the address will be communicated with the booking)
Availability: all the year
Ideal for: those who always want to put themselves to the test
Conditions: last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
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At the potter's wheel with the Master Potter
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Description of the service
Seminara ceramics are world-famous and even enchanted Picasso. Its origins go back many centuries and many of the shapes produced have their roots in the Magna-Greek era (apotropaic masks, 'babaluti', urchin-shaped jars, 'gabbacumpari'). You will meet the last ceramist descendant of one of the oldest families of 'pignatari' (potters), who preserves intact the memory of Seminara's ancient ceramic tradition. In his workshop, you will be able to touch and shape clay on the potter's wheel, making small traditional Seminara artefacts together with him. He will be able to pass on to you his knowledge and the secrets of Seminara ceramics.
What's included:
- visit to the workshop;
- history of the artisan tradition of Seminara ceramics and examination of various types of typical artefacts;
- work at the potter's wheel under the supervision of the master potter; explanation of firing methods and visit to the ancient kiln.
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Details
Duration:about 1 hour
Cost: €25.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 10
Meeting point: Seminara (RC) (address will be communicated with the booking)
What to bring: comfortable clothes, water
Availability: from June to 15 August; every Saturday and Sunday
Ideal for: those who love working with their hands and adore traditional handicrafts
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
Exclusive lunch (or dinner) on board a gulet in search of the Fata Morgana
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Description of the service
The Strait of Messina is the stretch of water separating the Calabrian and Sicilian coasts. A place of extraordinary beauty that myth has made immortal! You can experience its immense charm by skirting the cliff of Scilla and enjoying an exclusive lunch (or dinner) aboard a caique with Charybdis in front. And if you are lucky, you will be totally captivated by the spell of the Fata Morgana, an extraordinary and rare spectacle of nature that can only occur here and only on the Calabrian shore: an immense mirage that makes the two shores seem to be united by erasing the s
What's included:
- tour by caique from the port of Scilla to Marina Grande;
- lunch (or dinner) with starter and main course (or starter and first course) on board the caique.
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Details
Duration: 2 hours and 1/2
Cost: €70.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 10
Meeting point: Scilla (RC) (address will be communicated when booking)
What to bring: comfortable shoes
Availability: from April to October; frequency: once a week
Ideal for: those in search of uniqueness, emotion and wonder
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
On Ulysses' route: from Bagnara to Cala Janculla
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Description of the service
After the Trojan War, Ulysses undertook the return journey to his Ithaca, which was long and full of vicissitudes. One of these adventures took him into the Strait of Messina among the monsters of Scylla and Charybdis, a sailor's nightmare: the beautiful nymph Scylla, transformed into a monster by the sorceress Circe, was the terror of the sailors on the Calabrian shore, while on the Sicilian shores it was the monster Charybdis that swallowed up the adventurers' ships. Fascinated by the myth, you can plough the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea along Ulysses' route, admiring the Aspromontane ridges that plunge steeply into the sea and taking a dip in one of Italy's most beautiful beaches, Cala Janculla, a jewel of the Costa Viola that can only be reached by sea. And you will hear directly from local sailors the story of this natural oasis linked to the myth of the Greek Amazons who stopped here while fleeing from defeated Troy.
What's included:
- welcome drink on board;
- boat tour from Bagnara to Cala Janculla;
- bathing in Cala Janculla and on request in the coves encountered.
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Details
Duration: about 3 hours
Cost: €45.00
Number of people: min. 2 - max. 10
Meeting point: Bagnara Calabra (RC) (address will be communicated at the time of booking)
What to bring: comfortable shoes, light backpack, hat and water bottle
Availability: from April to October; frequency 3 times a week
Ideal for: those who want an unforgettable sea experience
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy: free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty
The grape trail in the land of myth between armacìe - a Unesco heritage site - and heroic zibibibbo vineyards
...and if the time is right, the grapes are also harvested
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Description of the service
On a sheer drop over the Strait, on the terraced hills with dry-stone walls (known as "armacìe", a Unesco heritage site) sloping down towards the purple sea of Scilla and Bagnara, cultivated with heroic Zibibbo vineyards, you will walk along the coastal paths immersed in a unique panorama of intoxicating colours, intense perfumes and breathtaking scenery. A community of heroic vine-growers who are members of a cooperative, passionate lovers of their land, have over the years recovered the ancient coastal terracing of these steep and wonderful lands, becoming authentic custodians of an incredible heritage of vineyards, unique in the world. They will be the ones to tell you - starting from the ancient village of Ceramida and its old double-barrel mills - about the viticulture that has been practised here for thousands of years, the grape varieties that are cultivated and the techniques used in full respect of millenary tradition. And if the time is right, you can enjoy the unique experience of the heroic grape harvest amidst the rows of armacìe and the mythological landscape of the Costa Viola.
What's included:
- visit to the village of Ceramida and the ancient reed mills; walk through the rows and steep terraces of Monte Gramaro guided by the heroic grape-growing members;
- walk to the viewpoint and giant bench (optional);
- tasting of typical products paired with Gramà Costa Viola IGP zibibbo at the estate of one of the winegrower members.
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Details
Duration: about 4 hours
Cost: €45.00
Number of people: min. 5 - max. 15
Meeting point: Bagnara Calabra, hamlet of Ceramida (RC) (the address will be communicated at the time of booking)
What to bring: comfortable clothes, trainers or trekking shoes (no flip-flops or shoes with smooth soles), water, cap
Availability: April to October; frequency 3 times a week
Ideal for: those who want to discover the land of the Costa Viola IGP zibibbo
Conditions: not included transfer to the meeting point; last booking 24h
Cancellation policy :free 48 hours before the event, plus a 30% penalty