- 1In Matera, the UNESCO Sassi cave dwellings of Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano carved into the tufa cliffs above the Gravina ravine, the Belvedere Murgia Timone film panorama across the ravine used in The Passion of the Christ (2004) and No Time to Die (2021), the 8 000 hectare Parco della Murgia Materana with 150+ Byzantine rupestrian rock churches and off-leash hiking, the Piazza Vittorio Veneto with the underground Palombaro Lungo cistern, and the unfinished 16th-century Tramontano castle on the Piano west are within reach of every hotel on this list, good for morning and evening outings.
- 2Matera is a 60 000-resident UNESCO World Heritage city in Basilicata built into the limestone ravine of the Gravina river around the Sassi cave dwellings of Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, inhabited continuously since the Paleolithic and named European Capital of Culture 2019, with the Cattedrale on the highest tufa spur, the Piano upper town around Piazza Vittorio Veneto with the underground Palombaro Lungo cistern, the rupestrian rock churches of Madonna de Idris, Santa Lucia alle Malve and San Pietro Caveoso, the 8 000 hectare Parco della Murgia Materana with 150+ rupestrian chapels and the Belvedere Murgia Timone film panorama (The Passion of the Christ, No Time to Die), the FAL train from Bari Centrale that accepts dogs free of charge, and the Pugliairbus shuttle from Bari BRI airport, pets are a normal part of street life, café terraces, and local shops.
- 3Pet policies at every hotel on this list have been verified individually. No surprises at check-in.
Best season: spring & autumn