Plan for the day
Our plan was to drive from Milazzo in Sicily to Tropea. It would be a long drive of 155 km taking at least 3 hours and one ferry ride in between. Tropea was a scenic seaside town and would be a convenient stop for the night.
Route for the day
By end of the day
By the time we reached our “stay” in Tropea it was already close to 4 pm. This time our “stay” did not have any cooking facilities so we went into Tropea old town to have our dinner. At Tropea we had a beautiful sunset treat, it was very unexpected.
Tropea
Tropea was one of our four stops/nights before we reached Venice. Sicily was on the southern most of Italy which was a long way to Venice. It was a long drive from Milazzo in Sicily to Tropea and we had chosen Tropea because it was one of the most scenic places to stop for a night. On our approach to Tropea, when we were still on hill overlooking Tropea, we stopped our car at a road set-in (co-ordinates: 38.669902, 15.894732) to take a panoramic view of Tropea town. The sea beyond the town was a lovely turquoise blue and from far we could already see the famous “Santuario Santa Maria dell’Isola”.
Tropea town as taken from the hill
At about 5.30 pm we drove from our “stay” to Tropea old town. We parked our car on a road near the beach (co-ordinates: 38.678700, 15.895604 ) and surprisingly the parking was free. It was white parking line on the road side so it was free! We also saw some paid parking carpark near by but luckily we did not have to use it.
Map of Tropea
From there we walked across the road and came to the start of a stairs (co-ordinates: 38.678273, 15.895108) that went up a long way to the old town. This must be the stairs the locals took to get to the beach and back.
Free parking and stairs up to the old town
Midway up the stairs we could see “Santuario Santa Maria dell’Isola” on an outcrop rock right by the sea. It was a beautiful white church standing on top of an high rock. Steps were carve into the rock that “zig zag” up to the church.
Santuario Santa Maria dell’Isola
The old town was crowded with visitors. It was a touristic town and everywhere we go we saw cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops. After walking a few rounds we found a restaurant for dinner. Our steak and pasta came up to €23.
Tropea old town and our dinner
After dinner it was about 8 pm and the sun was setting. We walked to the town edge that faced the beach (and Santuario Santa Maria dell’Isola ) and joine hundred of visitors to view a fantastic sunset over the sea.
Beautiful sunset at beach of Tropea
We went back down to the beach level and walked passed our car. We were not ready to leave yet so we strolled down the road to the harbour/port. At the harbour there were many yachts and boats moored by the dock. The place was very cool, lovely and quiet. We sat on the breakwater at the jetty looking inward to the old down about the cliff. The town lights and the blue sky was very captivating.
Tropea harbour
At about 9.30 we left the harbour to walk back to our car and on the way we saw the “white” Santuario di Santa Maria dell’Isola from the beach level. On the ground of the church there were still many people moving about. We were not sure it they were visitors or inhabitants of the church.
Santuario di Santa Maria dell’Isola
Our Accommodation in Tropea
We booked our double room at Residenza Arena from booking.com for €37 a night. It had ensuite toilet and free parking. We thought it came with cooking facilities but was told by our host that we had booked a room without cooking facilities! Another reason for booking Residenza Arena was that driving to Tropea beach was 2 km and walking to the old town was 1 km, near enough.
Our room was on the second level, it was bright and cheerful it we had a walk-out balcony with clothes-rack for clothes drying. I remembered seeing a washing basin at the basement of this “Residenza”.
Our double room at Residenza Arena
Ensuite toilet and shower