Explored the inland areas of Southern Italy! Avellino, Benevento and Matera

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this trip report and some photos. I spent about two full weeks in Italy, with about half the time dedicated to these inland areas and the other half Puglia. Aside from Matera which is big tourist spot, Avellino and Benevento have relatively no international tourism. Many people who visit Campania opt for Naples or the very popular Amalfi Coast instead of Avellino and Benevento. I wanted to share this post with pictures to highlight the beauty of Avellino/Irpinia, Benevento and also Matera.

Day 0: Landed in Naples, rented car and drove to Sant'Agata de'Goti for 3 nights

We picked Sant'Agata for this leg as it has a scenic view of the old town over the ravine and the winery Mustilli has a b&b in thier palazzo.
Our original plan for this day was to drop our luggage at our b&b, go for wine tasting at Mustilli, then check out Montesarchio
After difficulty checking into our b&b and stress from navigating the incredibly tight streets, we decided to stay in Sant'Agata.
The tasting was meh, a little disorganized like the check in process for their b&b. The cellar tour was interesting

Day 1: Caserta Palace and Telese Terme

We went to Caserta Palace in the morning. It was really hot, inside and out, so we only explored the palace but did not go to the gardens
We decided to go to Telese Terme, which is sulfurous natural spring. The cold water felt absolutely amazing and we walked along the small lake in the town

Day 2: Matese National Park and Wineries

We drove to Matese Natl Park to take the chairlift and then hike 0.5 miles to the highest peak in the park. Unfortunately the chairlift so supposed to run all of August but its last day was actually Sunday 8/30 and we missed it by 1 day.
We did an ATV tour which was ok, and just drove around the park
We went to two wineries back to back, Terre Stregate and Masseria Frattasi. Both were amazing experiences but Terre Stregate was exceptional

Day 3: Drive to Matera and stop at Tenuta Vannulo near Paestum

Stopped at Tenuta Vannulo for a tour and tasting on the way to Matera. It was a positive experience, except our tour group had a mid group of older Americans with thier obnoxious tour guide and would interject his own comments. The actual tour guide was annoyed by this and corrected him multiple times which was great
The AC in our hotel was broken, so we did not sleep, but they promptly fixed it for our 2nd night in Matera.

Day 4: Matera

We spent the day going to churches, the cave churches and exploring Sassi. It was great! We enjoyed some of the more unique things like Palombaro lungo (massive cistern) and the bread museum. There were lots of cool viewpoints around town which were cool and got progressively more crowded throughout the day, but the view from the terrace of our hotel room was also great and uncrowded!
Sassi is an absolute labyrinth and Matera is hot as hell. I tend to be generally good with navigagion but Google maps does not understand the vertical up/down aspect of Matera. We tried cross Sassi to get to a grocery store on the other side, huge mistake
Instead, Matera has two main ring roads. The first one rings around the bottom of Sassi, and the second one is mostly ZTL that rings around the top. It was super easy to follow the top road around and then go down into Sassi closer to what you were going to.
Had really good gelato on brioche to end the day

Day 5: Drive from Matera to Brindisi

We got up early to hike the ravine, but to our surprise there was a gate that opened at 9 or 10am, and you had to buy tickets. A lot of people climbed the gate but we didn't feel comfortable doing that as my wife is recovering from an ACL injury. She would've been fine hiking but climbing over the gate would've been sketchy for her
I suspect this was gate installed because too many unprepared people stumbled into the hike with improper gear and had to be rescued. Its a bit unfortunate as we hike regulary, were prepped with boots and poles, and showed up early to beat the sun, and couldn't do the hike.
We went to Casa Noha, really wanted to go yesterday but it is closed Wednesdays. Its basically a 30min interactive video that provides a complete overview of the history of Matera. It was very interesting and provides so much depth in Matera, making you appreciate it more. Crazy how recent it all was, with people living in very poor conditions as recent as the 1960s.
Just outside Matera, a bus going 80kmh crossed the center line and clipped the mirror of our rental car, breaking the back cover and glass.

Days 6-11: Brindisi: maybe will be discussed in future post

Day 12: Drive from Brindisi to Avellino

We got up early and drove right to Antico Castello (winery) in Irpinia for a wine tasting and lunch at 12. The lunch was local Irpinian food and it was absolutely incredible
We took the funicular up to Sanctuary of Montevergine. This was a really interesting place, and my wife's favorite church the trip. We've never seen so many priests and nuns just walking around, and my wife was able to do confession which she was excited about.

Day 13: Irpinia Day 1

We got up early and drove to Picolo Ranch to hike up to Monte Terminio. As with our general struggles of this trip, Terminio was in a cloud when we got to the top, so no views.
Had an amazing lunch in Montella, with typical food of Irpinia like salted cod
We went to Cassano Irpino and walked around a little, chatted with the owners of the one bar café in town
We then went to Nusco and walked to the three panoramic terraces that face different directions to get beautiful views of Irpinia
Went back to Cassano because the main church of Bartolomeo was closed before, neat church
Back in Avellino, we explored thier Duomo and its crypt. Really cool church and super unique

Day 14: Irpinia Day 2

We drove to Bagnoli Irpino to explore it a little. Not as interesting as Cassano or Nusco
We went up to Lago Laceno and explored that area a little to take some photos, stopped at the statue of Mary who overlooks Bagnoli, Cassano, Nusco and Montella
Amazing lunch at Cascina del Tartufo. We got a pork shank which is apparently a local dish and it was amazing.
We drove up a lot of switchbacks to Sanctuary of St Salvatore perched high above Montella. Great views! Also did short hike to a waterfall near Montella

General Comments:

I wasn't sure what to expect from the food in Benevento, Matera, and Avellino/Irpinia, but it was all amazing.
After visiting Salerno on a previous trip and my recent food experiences from Avellino and Benevento, I think Campania has the best food in all of Italy!
Sant'Agata was a really small village, but had some good restaurants and really came alive at night. I think we encountered two people total who spoke English during this portion of the trip, and a similar amount in the Avellino/Irpinia leg.
I enjoyed Matera a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't realize that aside from the Sassi it was a decent sized city. There was a very distinct line where the tourists and locals split which was kind of funny
Irpinia was absolutely wonderful. I partly came here for ancestral reasons, but also because we love nature, mountains, hiking, and wine from Campania. I don't understand why this area isn't more touristy with its hilltop medieval villages and proximity to Naples

Food: * 👍👍👍: Trattoria Gatto Rosso, Cascina Del Tartufo, Antico Castello, Trattoria Lucane, Yogurteria Vannulo * 👍👍: Antica Osteria Zi' Pauluccio, L'Osteria dei Ceres, Antica Trattoria Martella, Dalla Padella alla Brace * 👍: Piazzetta Torricella, Bufala Dolcenera

Pictures:

Sant'Agata de'Goti
Caserta Palace
Lago Telese
Forre di Lavello
Sant'Agata de'Goti
Bufula!
Matera
Church in Sunset
Assorted local meat plate
Matera
Straciatella gelato on brioche
Matera sunset from our room's terrace
Aglianico grape growing in Antico Castello vineyards
Sanctuary of Montevergine
Terminio in a cloud
Spooky beech forests
Cassano Irpino
Mary overlooking Irpinia
"Shin" as its translated or pork shank
Sanctuary of San Salvatore overlooking Montella

Author: ChiefKelso