Neighbourhoods
Stay in a cave hotel in the Sassi
Matera · Basilicata
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Neighbourhoods
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Matera · Basilicata
- DURATION
- A night or two
- DIFFICULTY
- No effort — check in and sleep; the lanes to the hotels are steep and cobbled.
- BEST TIME
- Year-round; the caves are naturally insulated.
ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE
The most singular way to experience Matera is to stay the night in one of the cave hotels of the Sassi, the restored cave dwellings converted into hotels that let you sleep in a carved limestone room in the heart of the cave city. The caves are cool in summer and warm in winter, and the rooms open onto the cobbled lanes and the gorge. Staying overnight also gives the city at its best — the early morning before the day-trippers and the evening after they leave, when the Sassi are quiet and the lights are on. For a visitor, a night in a cave hotel is the most direct way to live inside the place rather than see it from outside.
WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE
What you’ll experience
THE EXPERIENCE IN DETAIL
What it’s really like
HIGHLIGHTS
Moments worth savouring
The cave room — a bedroom carved into the limestone, with the stone walls and the vaulted ceiling.
The lane outside — the cobbled street of the Sassi, with the gorge below.
The early morning — the Sassi before the day-trippers, the quietest and most atmospheric time.
The evening — the lights of the caves and the lanes after the crowds leave.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Good to know before you go
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Stay in a cave hotel in the Sassi
Stay in a cave hotel in the Sassi, Matera, Basilicata, Italy
40.6656, 16.6058
ATTRACTIONS NEARBY
Pair it with these sights
MORE EXPERIENCES
More to do in Matera
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Baccanti — a refined restaurant in a cave in the Sasso Caveoso, for traditional Lucanian cooking, book ahead
Trattoria del Caveoso — a trattoria in the Sassi for the local dishes and the view over the gorge
L’Abbondanza Lucana — a restaurant on the plateau for the cucina povera of Basilicata
Il Terrazzino — a family-run restaurant in the Sasso Barisano for home cooking and local wines
Regiacorte — a garden restaurant in the Sassi for slow Lucanian cooking, book ahead
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita — a cave hotel in the Sasso Caveoso, the most singular stay in Italy
Palazzo Gattini — a luxury hotel in a restored palazzo on the Civita, with a spa
Locanda di San Martino — a cave hotel and spa in the Sasso Barisano
Hotel Sassi — a comfortable hotel in the Sassi, with a rooftop terrace over the gorge
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
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INTERESTS
Explore by what you love
PART OF
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