The Verdict
Basilicata is for the traveler who's done Puglia and wants to go deeper. Matera is the unmissable draw — one of the most extraordinary cities in Italy — and the rest is empty, mountainous, and raw: Castelmezzano perched in the Lucanian Dolomites, Maratea on the coast, and a cuisine of lamb, peppers, and bread. It's hard to reach and thin on infrastructure, but Matera alone justifies the trip.
Why go
Matera's cave city — and, beyond it, an empty, dramatic, untouristed deep south.
What makes it worth going
Italy's deep-south secret — Matera's cave city (a former European Capital of Culture), the Dolomiti Lucane peaks, and a coast on two seas. Poor, dramatic, and barely touristed outside Matera.
What's nearby & pairs with
What to eat here
The regional specialties — not tonight's restaurant, the food worth understanding before you go.
Dish
Lagane e Ceci
Lagane e Ceci is widely considered one of the oldest pasta dishes in the Mediterranean, with its roots tracing back to Ancient Rome. The poet Horace, who was born in Venosa, Basilicata, famously referenced 'lagana' in his works—a thin, flat sheet of dough that serves as the progenitor of modern lasagna. In the peasant culture of Lucania, this dish persisted through centuries as a staple of the 'cucina povera' tradition, defined by ingredients available to land-working families who relied on dried pulses and grains rather than expensive livestock or imported goods. The dish is fundamentally a snapshot of the region's pre-Columbian history, existing long before the introduction of the tomato from the Americas. It remains a canonical symbol of Basilicata, specifically associated with the inland areas like Potenza and the Vulture-Melfese region. Its survival is due to its reliance on humble, accessible pantry staples, cementing it as an anchor of local identity that remains largely unchanged by the culinary trends of the modern era.
Cheese
Caciocavallo
Caciocavallo is one of the oldest cheeses in southern Italy, often linked to the transhumance practices of shepherds who would carry it on their horses. The name, literally 'cheese on horseback', refers to the practice of hanging the gourd-shaped wheels in pairs over a wooden beam to age. It is a stretched-curd cheese that changes character dramatically with age.
Local wine
All wine in Basilicata →Getting there & around
Train
Limited or no direct rail access.
Car
A car adds value here.
We don't publish real-time schedules. Confirm train times on Trenitalia or Italo, and check current ZTL boundaries locally.
Ready to plan?
Ready to turn discovery into a trip?
Italy Field Guide helps you decide where to go. When you're ready to build the actual day-by-day itinerary, take your saved places to Travel Itinerary Co — your interests go with you.
Turn your saved Italy places into a trip