MATERA, ITALY: GET THERE BEFORE THE TOURISTS TAKE OVER

Article by guest Author Peter Brooker

Anastasia and I spent a long weekend in Matera, Bari. Primarily to see some James Bond locations; the pre-titles of No Time To Die was shot there. Previously to that Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ. Apparently there is a restaurant in Matera that serves a pasta dish called Mel Gibson, only we couldn't book it was that popular.

They certainly do celebrate the Bond film there, but it's not in your face. Daniel Craig stayed in the Hotel Gattani, but that was a bit pricey for us. We stayed in a little 4 room hotel called Conche Luxury Resort. Most cutesy hotels in Matera are hollowed out in the caves, and later in the season the heat can reportedly become unbearable. Luckily, it was still mild when we went.

The hotel itself serves a solid breakfast, and is good value. It's just off a main road, and generally very quiet. That is apart from one night where 20 or so youths camped outside and smoked and sung until 2am. But what can you do.

When we arrived, flying out of Gatwick, we got the hotel to organise a pickup from the airport. Some people rent cars, but we weren't going to be needing a car for our 4 day break so paying 200 euros for a pickup and return seemed relatively reasonable.

One great thing about our hotel, was the communication. We gave the lady our mobile number and we communicated over whats app throughout the day. She booked the restaurants for us every night, and made that part of our trip frictionless.

Restaurants

Speaking of, I have to give shout outs to three incredible restaurants that you should try.

Alle Fornaci. This is where they hosted the wrap party for No Time To Die, and according to the lady at our hotel, is the best fish restaurant in all of Matera. The fish and the service was spectacular.

Keiv Ristorante. Here we had some of the best local wines, I'd suggest asking your waitress to suggest some. We drank a bottle of Torremossa. You can also sit outside and have a great view of the square where Bond was being pursued in his Aston Martin DB5.

Quarry Resort. A beautiful rooftop restaurant that overlooks the ravine from the old town. We had the tasting menu which was circa seven course. The downstairs suite, now an indoors restaurant served as Daniel Craig's gym during the time he filmed No Time To Die.

Bars

There  is a bar along the Via Madonna Della Virtu called the Altereno Cafe that is best spot for cocktails as the sun sets around 5-6pm. We went there before dinner nearly ever night. But make sure you check the receipt, they constantly overcharged us.

The other bar should try is called The Monkey Bar. This is where Daniel Craig had drinks and signed the ceiling. Make sure they show you the private room behind the revolving bookcase.

Gravina Bridge

If you're heading out to the Gravina Bridge where Bond made the jump, be sure to wear some comfortable shoes. In fact, all of Matera is slippery as heck because you're walking on polished marble half the time. The hotel organised a taxi to drop us off and pick us up. We only needed an hour at the bridge to get some photos and mooch around. Be sure to tell the taxi driver you want to see the bridge, not just be dropped off randomly in Gravina. Ponte Madonna della Stella to be exact. Our taxi was £80 or so there and back, it's about a 30 minute drive.

Other stuff

This is a very walkable city. It's beautiful to look at. You won't want to go outside of the old town because it's not as attractive and there really isn't too much going on. I'd recommend hiking to the over side of the ravine across the rope bridge. It's incredibly scenic to view the old town from the caves, and you get a true perspective of how the town was forged from the limestone rock back in the day. A huge earthquake split this town in two, hence you have a ravine running through the middle. Be sure to take some hiking boots and sun lotion.

It's a very romantic destination, much more so than Prague we found. The only pain is flying from Gatwick which is not close by, and when the railstrikes hit, can be a real pain to get to and from. Also Bari airport is an hour away from Matera, so getting a taxi is truly the only option if you have a late flight in. Be sure to factor in a couple of hundred quid in taxi fares to your budget.

We travelled in early May, and whilst it was relatively sunny throughout, it was still not tee-shirt weather. It can get a bit windy so perhaps some linen trousers and a light sports jacket to hand wouldn't go a miss.