Matera, Italy: Travel Guide

How to spend two days in the incredible city of Matera - where to eat, sleep, drink and what to do!

Last month we set off on an Italian adventure, and our first stop was the breathtaking town of Matera. I first stumbled across photos of it online and genuinely couldn’t believe it was real - a city carved into the rock, with ancient stone buildings spilling down the mountainside like something straight out of a film set. In this guide, I’ll be sharing exactly what we got up to during our two-day stay before we travelled on to Puglia (that guide is coming very soon too!). If you’ve ever needed a sign to add Matera to your travel list — this is it. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Where to stay:

L’Hotel in Pietra: I fell in love with this hotel as soon as I saw it online and we planned our holiday around it as it there were only certain days it wasn’t fully booked (so book way in advance if you too want to stay).

L’Hotel in Pietra is situated pretty much in the centre of Sassi making it a great base and location to visit the rest of the city. It’s rooms are dug into tuff (limestone caves) which gives it such a special feel, I’ve never stayed in a hotel like this! We booked a Deluxe Superiror room that was spacious, cosy and had a jacuzzi - it also opened out into the front garden of the hotel with amazing views of Matera - what more could you want!

Note: They don’t have a car parking space in this hotel but they can book you in at a garage about an 8 minute walk away (we paid just over 50 euros for two days parking). Matera is FULL of steps and so the walk to the hotel is a challenge if you have large cases (as I did, a tragic overpacker) but the view made it so worthwhile.

Where to drink:

Zipa Cafe: I can promise you, you will never have experienced a bar setting quite like this before. Zipa cafe is an outside bar dug into a cave, overlooking part of the city. There are bean bags and cushions on stone rocks built into nooks and crannies for you to lounge on and they serve up a good selection of cocktails (ranging from €8-12), wines and smoothies along with some small bites. It’s a very popular spot (thanks to Tiktok) so be prepared for a bit of a queue (we arrived at around 5.30 ish and didn’t have to wait for a table but by the time we left at 6.30 there was a long queue. Not as amazing as Tiktok says but still a nice experience.

Terrazza Cavaliere: For our last evening we wanted a bar to watch the sunset from and this place was ideal. We turned up at 5.30 with no booking and manage to bag amazing seats overlooking the town where we stayed sipping cocktails and wine until it was dark. Expensive drinks but worth it for the view.

Vicolo Cieco Salsamenteria Wine Bar: We went to this tiny wine bar in the centre of Matera for lunch when we first arrived and I had a delicious negroni sbagliato and an artichoke toastie! I would have come back here for more wine in the evening if we had stayed here longer.

Where to eat:

Osteria Pico: This restaurant serves southern Italian dishes set in a cave dining room - it’s super popular so I do recommend booking a table in advance (we arrived at 8ish and managed to get a table after a 15 minute wait but there was a long queue by the time we sat down. The highlight of the meal was a courgette salad with apple and mint, but apart from that, everything was just okay! I wouldn’t say you have to visit when in Matera.