Visiting Calabria in winter? A great idea for those who want to enjoy all the most evocative (and perhaps least known) nuances of this region!

For most travellers, visiting Calabria is an activity to be organised exclusively during the warm season, amidst white sandy beaches, seaside villages and warm sunny landscapes populated by vines and citrus groves. This is because we are used to imagining Calabria as an exclusively summer destination, but this is not the case!

Here, history, art, age-old traditions and gastronomy feed the life of villages and towns and the mountains all year round. These, if in summer they are splendid unspoilt paradises, during the winter they are covered in snow, transforming into snow-white scenery, ready to welcome travellers keen on sports and winter walks.

Here then are 6 good reasons to visit Calabria in winter:

Sila National Park
The Park, named after the mountain range of the same name, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition to hosting a varied ecosystem of great beauty (we find the wolf, symbol of the park, fallow deer, deer, etc.), here it is possible to go trekking and skiing or snowshoeing while enjoying the snow-white landscape and breathing clean air.

2.Riace Bronzes in Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria is home to the National Archaeological Museum, one of Italy's most important museums dedicated to Magna Graecia. This is definitely a place not to be missed, especially for lovers of history and culture, who will be able to admire the Bronzes, probable Greek originals dating back to the fifth century B.C.

3.Boroughs
Some villages in Calabria are small universes to be discovered. Here the gastronomy is genuine, the local communities hospitable and everything seems immersed in an ancient dimension, where values and traditions have remained unchanged over the centuries. Just in the province of Reggi Calabria there are three that are absolutely not to be missed and they are Gerace, Bova and Stilo (the latter is also famous for its characteristic Cattolica, a small and evocative Byzantine church dating back to the 10th century. There are also many other small villages to discover, such as Morano Calabro,Bandiera arancione and Borgo tra i più belli d'Italia. This village has an unmistakable shape (it spreads out like a ribbon that wraps itself around the height of a hill) and its silhouette, which in winter resembles that of a perched nativity scene) is impossible to forget!

Pollino National Park
It is the largest national park in Italy and a Unesco World Heritage site, encompassing several municipalities and stretching between Basilicata and Calabria. If you love winter sports and have decided to visit Calabria in winter, you can enjoy skiing and snowshoeing. These sports will take you to scenic spots where you can admire boundless views, whitewashed nature and the gigantic Loriccio pines (the symbol of the place) covered in snow.

5. Food and wine tours
Food and wine do not go on holiday! All year round in Calabria good food and excellent wine are present on the tables of every town and small village. But if you visit Calabria in winter, you will discover that it is precisely in this period, and particularly in the mountain centres, that we find the richest and most full-bodied dishes made with the genuine products offered by the local gastronomy. Meat processing in Calabria is a must: beef, pork and mutton to be eaten roasted, stewed or as a condiment for excellent sauces for handmade pasta are a real speciality. The Caciocavallo Silano deserves a taste, as does the Pecorino cheese from Monte Poro,  the salted ricottathe pecorino by first salt. La Nduja Spreadwith the capocollo and the  sopressataare inevitable on rustic chopping boards, accompanied by local wines that will enhance every flavour note.

6. Travel inspirations
There are plenty of travel inspirations and suggestions to suit all types of travellers. Any ideas? Visit our packages at www.lovesouthitaly.it