the village of Homer's rock on the Strait, with the beach of Marina Grande on one side of the castle and the houses on the water of Chianalea on the other
Scilla stands where Calabria ends against the Strait, with Sicily opposite and, in summer, the Aeolian Islands on the horizon. The village is split in two by a rock above the sea, the one where Homer placed the six-headed monster that devoured the companions of Ulysses, and on top of the rock stands the Castello Ruffo. West of the rock lies Marina Grande, the beach about a kilometre long, of fine shingle, with the seafront and the station; to the east lies Chianalea, the fishermen's quarter, with its houses built on the rocks and the boats pulled up in the alleys. Above, on the ridge, is the quarter of San Giorgio with piazza San Rocco, a balcony over the Strait. It is a village of swordfish fishermen, who for centuries have hunted it with the harpoon from boats with a very tall mast, and a village of the sea: in summer it is full, you swim at Marina Grande and dine in Chianalea, and in August there is the feast of the patron saint, San Rocco. Scilla is also the place to set off from for the Riace Bronzes, in Reggio Calabria, which have their own page: you leave the motorhome and the heat behind and go by train. With a motorhome, though, Scilla is tight: it has no municipal area, the roads down to the sea are narrow, and in summer the car parks fill up early.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
Scilla has no municipal motorhome area. There is a private area on the state road, outside the centre, then the village car parks, cramped and full in summer, and a few free lay-bys on the road. An area with the operator's price list, open all year, is in Palmi, half an hour away.
Area di sosta Pacì
strada statale 18 Tirrena Inferiore, 89058 Scilla (RC)
Scilla's only equipped area, private, on a meadow above the state road towards Villa San Giovanni, near the Belvedere Morselli, with a view of Sicily and a swimming pool paid separately. The village is almost two kilometres away by road, not a walk you take gladly. Travellers are very divided: in 2026 they found the toilets and showers old and not very clean, the electricity fine, and not always someone at the gate. In March 2026 it was open. Phone before you arrive, also to find out how many places there really are
about thirty according to the operator's listing, but a half dozen in comfort
The operator does not publish a price list; people who stopped there paid 20 euros a night in March 2026 and 20 euros in May 2026 too, after the figure quoted on arrival had changed several times. A golf cart shuttle to the village cost 5 euros in June 2026 · 348 791 6895
the car park next to the station, a hundred metres from the beach of Marina Grande and a quarter of an hour on foot from Chianalea. It is the handiest for the sea and for the train to Reggio, but in summer it is full from the morning and you cannot manoeuvre. It is not in the Comune's ordinance on paid parking, and who runs it is not written anywhere. Travellers do not agree about a ban on motorhomes: an officer, in 2024, said you may only park inside the marked bays. Out of season some people have slept there, with the trains and the station announcements
no services
There is no published price list; travellers write of 1 euro an hour from October to April and 2 euros an hour in summer, and they paid 6 euros for the day in November 2024 and 10 euros in August 2025
via Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo, 89058 Scilla (RC)
the blue bays on the seafront of Marina Grande, between via Monacena and via San Francesco da Paola, opposite the beach; the same rate applies in via De Marco, in Chianalea. The ordinance does not mention motorhomes, neither to allow nor to ban them, and does not say whether a motorhome may take two bays: ask the municipal police. On the Terrapieno Monacena parking has been banned since the storm surges of winter 2026, and in winter, after a storm surge, the Comune may close the whole seafront
no services
The Comune's price list for 2026: from 5 April to 31 October, every day from 8:00 to 24:00, 2.50 euros an hour or 15 euros a day, 75 euros a week; you pay at the parking meter or with the Vivi Scilla, EasyPark and MyCicero apps
strada statale 18 Tirrena Inferiore 112, 89058 Scilla (RC)
a lay-by on the state road, above the village towards Favazzina, with room for three motorhomes; from a street just below you walk down to Chianalea in about ten minutes. It is fine for the day, less so for the night: cars go by. Do not follow the satnav if it sends you down the steep descent, because getting going again afterwards is difficult
a panoramic open space above Scilla, next to a chapel, with the view over the Strait, eight and a half kilometres by road from the village, all hairpin bends uphill. The road is tarmac, but in heavy rain the edges give way. Travellers sleep there before or after the ferry and speak well of it, although in June 2026 one reported being disturbed at night, and not all the locals are happy about motorhomes. No services, just a bin
a fenced area fifty metres from the beach, in Palmi, half an hour's drive further north on the Costa Viola: the only one around here with the operator's price list and open in winter too. It has electricity at the pitches, a motorhome service point, a coin-operated washing machine and a barbecue. Arrival is from 10:30 and the pitch must be left by 10:00; the gate is open from 7:00 to 23:00, and emptying is allowed only between 7:00 and 8:00 and between 16:00 and 19:00. The operator takes you to Gioia Tauro station, 10 euros return, and from there you go by train to Scilla or to Reggio. Two listings give two different addresses on the seafront: ask when you book
The operator's price list, without a year: for two people 20 euros a day from 1 September to 20 July and 25 euros from 21 July to 31 August, with water filling and emptying, toilets, hot showers and wifi; three nights at 18 euros each and seven at 15, 5 euros for each extra person; electricity is paid separately, 0.50 euros per kWh · 392 748 5178 · prajola.com
In Scilla you leave the motorhome and get around on foot, between Marina Grande, the castle and Chianalea, with a lot of steps. For Reggio and for Sicily there is the train, and the ferry leaves from Villa San Giovanni, ten kilometres away.
On the motorway leave the A2 at the Scilla junction, which is above the village: from there you go down. The roads to the sea are narrow and steep, and travellers write that over six metres it is a struggle; anyone with a long motorhome stops at the Pacì area or outside Scilla and comes in by train
Chianalea is a limited traffic zone, with cameras at the entry points: only those with a permit from the Comune may drive in. Do not go down with the motorhome
The blue bays on the seafront of Marina Grande and in via De Marco, in Chianalea, are paid from 5 April to 31 October, from 8:00 to midnight: 2.50 euros an hour, 15 euros a day
From the beach to the castle and to piazza San Rocco you climb up ramps and flights of steps, and from Marina Grande to Chianalea you climb up and come down again on the other side of the rock. Between Marina Grande and piazza San Rocco there is a public lift, but the Comune publishes neither its hours nor its price
By train, from Scilla station, at Marina Grande: with the October 2026 timetable there were twenty-two direct regional trains to Reggio Calabria on weekdays and eight on Sundays, reaching Reggio Calabria Lido, the stop for the museum, in between 22 and 38 minutes, and Reggio Centrale in between 29 and 44, for 2.70 euros; to Villa San Giovanni, ten minutes, 1.40 euros. The summer timetable comes out in June
For Sicily the Caronte & Tourist ferries leave Villa San Giovanni for Messina day and night. For a motorhome up to nine metres, in October 2026, a single crossing cost 62.40 euros and a return within ninety days 107.10 euros; the price changes every month with the cost of fuel, and over nine metres you pay by the metre, like commercial vehicles
Buses to Reggio exist, but their timetables could not be read: the train is simpler
Seeing
Sights
One day is enough for the village, with the sea in the middle: in the morning the castle and piazza San Rocco, when the light is on the Strait, a swim at Marina Grande, in the evening Chianalea. Another half day for the Riace Bronzes in Reggio, and for walkers there is the path that comes down from the mountain. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Castello Ruffo
Castle · paid entry · 38.25604, 15.71476
piazza Matrice, 89058 Scilla (RC)
the castle on the rock that divides Marina Grande from Chianalea. You enter from piazza Matrice, by a ramp and a bridge that lead to the ticket office, then a pointed arch doorway with the Ruffo coat of arms, the courtyard, the grand staircase and the halls. According to Wikipedia the rock was fortified by Anaxilas of Reggio in 493 BC, then there was a Basilian monastery; the castle held out against the Normans, was strengthened under Manfred, and in the sixteenth century it was bought by the Ruffo family, who became princes of Scilla; the earthquake of 1908 destroyed much of it, and in the twentieth century it was also a hostel. Since 1913 the terrace has carried the Italian Navy lighthouse, a white tower six metres high. Inside there are exhibitions and conferences, and in 2014 a luntre was on display, the rowing boat of the swordfish hunt. From the bastions you can see the Strait, Sicily, the Costa Viola and, on clear days, Stromboli. The opening hours are those the Comune published at the end of June 2026, and the guides online give old ones.
Opening hours Tuesday to Sunday 9:00-13:40 and 15:00-20:00, closed on Mondays · 3 euros, free up to 6 years · 0965 616629
Scilla's mother church, the archpriestly parish of Maria Santissima Immacolata, which takes in all the churches of the village and the one in Favazzina. It stands at the foot of the rock, linked to the castle by a little lane, with a portico of columns on the facade, and the square in front, piazza Matrice, is the one from which you climb up to the castle. The parish publishes nothing about its history or its opening hours.
the square of the Town Hall, in the quarter of San Giorgio, the heart of the upper village: a large terrace built on the ridge, sheer above the sea, with the view over Marina Grande and the castle on one side and Chianalea on the other, and in front Sicily, from Ganzirri to Capo Milazzo, and on clear days the Aeolian Islands. It is the square of the feast of San Rocco. The path that comes down from the mountain also ends here.
the church of the patron saint, next to piazza San Rocco, with a floor of coloured marble and the wooden statue of the saint that in August goes out in procession through the streets of the village, carried on the shoulders of twelve bearers. The opening hours are not published.
via Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo, 89058 Scilla (RC)
Scilla's beach, also called the beach of the Sirens: a bay of about a kilometre between the castle rock and a second ridge to the south, of very fine shingle, perhaps widened with the earth dug out for the motorway. Behind it runs the seafront, with the station. In summer it is full of umbrellas and people. Here on 6 February 1783 the wave of the tsunami killed those who had taken refuge on the beach after the earthquake, and here at midnight on the Sunday of San Rocco the fireworks are let off from the sea. On the southern ridge is the Belvedere Morselli.
the seafarers' church, on the seafront of Marina Grande, where in 1778 the confraternity of the Spirito Santo was founded, which sailors used to join. It dates from the eighteenth century, with nineteenth century stucco work, four altars, the wooden choir and the organ; the Comune writes that the earthquakes destroyed it and it was always rebuilt, Wikipedia that it escaped them. In spring it is the centre of the feast of San Francesco di Paola, patron saint of the quarter, with the procession that ends in front of the sea.
Point of interest · free entry · 38.25658, 15.71551
via Grotte, 89058 Scilla (RC)
the small harbour below the castle rock, between Marina Grande and Chianalea, with the fishermen's boats and, in summer, pleasure boats. The passerelle, the swordfish boats with a very tall iron mast from which the lookout searches for the fish and the long gangway at the bow from which the harpoon is thrown, are the sign of the fishing of the Strait: once there were the luntri, rowing boats with four oarsmen, which lookouts on the coast guided with a flag and with shouts. The Comune writes that the daytime fishing begins at the end of April; where and when to watch it from the coast nobody says.
the fishermen's quarter east of the castle, which they call the little Venice of the South: the houses are built on the rocks, with the water under the balconies, and a single street crosses it from the harbour to the state road; between one house and the next, stepped alleys go down to the sea, with the boats pulled up on dry land. The name, according to the Comune, comes from the galley, or from the alleys as narrow as canals. There are the little church of Santa Maria di Porto Salvo, Villa Zagari, from 1933, Palazzo Scategna with its three storeys of stone balconies, the fountain of the Canaleddu, and the restaurants with terraces over the water. For a time it was among the Borghi più belli d'Italia, the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy. It is a limited traffic zone: you go on foot, and on summer evenings it is the place to dine.
the small church at the end of Chianalea, with a little bell gable and the letters S and G above the bell, on a cobbled square where the street leaves for the state road. Nothing can be found about its history.
the viewpoint on the southern ridge of Marina Grande, at the entrance to the village for those arriving from Reggio on the state road, with the monument to the writer Ercole Luigi Morselli. From here you see the whole beach with the rock and the castle at the end, and Sicily. It is a stone's throw from the Pacì stopover area.
on the mountain above Scilla, at 530 metres, the Tremusa caves, with stalactites and fossil shells in the vault; the Comune writes that you reach them by the paths that start from Scilla, from Favazzina and from Melia, and that the name comes from three statues of Muses that stood there and were stolen. Path 172, the Sentiero dell'Aquila, the Eagle Path, comes down from Melia to piazza San Rocco in about thirteen kilometres, almost all downhill, on stretches of the Roman Via Popilia: it was recovered by an association from Scilla, and the stretch between the caves and the village was renewed in 2026. It is described by private guides and not by the Comune, which does not publish its map: before setting off, ask in the village. In summer start early in the morning.
12
Favazzina
Beach · free entry · 38.26002, 15.75731
the hamlet on the sea a few kilometres north, towards Bagnara, with its station and its pebble beaches under the motorway viaducts. The Comune writes that between Scilla and Favazzina there is a large meadow of Posidonia seagrass, and on the seabed black coral and gorgonians.
the village after Scilla on the Costa Viola, about ten kilometres away, the other capital of swordfish, with the Aragonese tower, the castle of the Ruffo family and the Marturano path. It is the home of torrone di Bagnara PGI, which is made only here, and in summer of the swordfish festival. The Costa Viola continues towards Palmi, with its cliffs and its terraces of vines sheer above the sea.
Scilla's summer is August: San Rocco, the fireworks from the sea, the evenings in the piazza and in Chianalea, with the Comune's and the associations' calendar of events that comes out at the end of July. In spring there is the feast of San Francesco di Paola, and around about, on the Costa Viola, the swordfish festivals and the Varia di Palmi. Nobody publishes the dates until a few weeks before, and the Comune's website hardly mentions them.
Next: Varia di Palmi · 29 Aug
29Aug
Varia di Palmi
the last Sunday of August, not every year
in Palmi, half an hour to the north, a great votive float with God the Father on top and a girl representing the Madonna, carried on the shoulders between two walls of crowd for about ten minutes as far as piazza Primo Maggio, after ten days of festivities. It is the feast of the Madonna della Sacra Lettera, and together with the other great shoulder-borne processional structures it is UNESCO intangible heritage. In 2026 it was not held; the Comune has announced the next one for Sunday 29 August 2027
to be confirmed
This year's dates are not out yet
Feast of San Rocco
the Sunday after 16 August
the feast of the patron saint. It begins on 16 August and lasts a week: on Saturday the wooden statue of the saint goes out in procession through Chianalea and Marina Grande, on Sunday through San Giorgio, carried on the shoulders of twelve bearers, with the faithful carrying large candles, the ntrocce. When Sunday's procession is over, at about 21:00, the Trionfino is lit in piazza San Rocco, the firework of the saint's victory over the plague, to the cry of "Evviva Sant'a Roccu", and at midnight come the fireworks from the sea at Marina Grande. In 2026 the Sunday was 23 August; the parish programme comes out in mid August
Feast of San Francesco di Paola
a Sunday between the end of April and the beginning of May
the feast of the Marina Grande quarter, around the church of the Spirito Santo decked out with flags: the triduum with the rosary sung in dialect, on Saturday games on the beach and the pasta competition, on Sunday the procession, which stops in front of the sea while the boats carry out to sea a laurel wreath for those lost at sea, then fireworks between the castle and the beach. In 2026 the procession was on 3 May
Gran Galà del Pescespada, in Bagnara
usually the first Sunday of August
the swordfish festival of the Bagnara Pro Loco, about ten kilometres away, which in 2026 reached its sixty-first edition: the mass, the laurel wreath at sea for the sailors who died there, and in piazza Matteotti swordfish cooked in the open air, with the wine of the Costa Viola. In 2026 it was held from 24 to 26 July, so as not to clash with another festival in Reggio
Madonna di Porto Salvo in Marinella
the last Sunday of September
in Marinella, the fishing village of Bagnara: the Madonna carried on the shoulders through the streets and then out to sea along the coast, with the procession of lit-up boats and the wreath for those lost at sea. In 2026 it was on 27 September
Remember
Useful tips
In summer arrive early: the station car park and the blue bays on the seafront fill up from the morning, and the village streets are narrow. Anyone with a motorhome over six metres leaves it at the Pacì area, or in Palmi, and comes to Scilla by train
Phone before you stop: the Pacì area, to find out whether it is open and how many places it has, on 348 791 6895, and the municipal police, to ask where a motorhome may park and whether it takes two of the blue bays, on 0965 754462
The street of Chianalea is closed to cars: you walk down from piazza San Rocco or from the state road, and in the evening it is the place to dine by the sea
For the Riace Bronzes go by train, and in summer in the late afternoon: from 18:00 the museum ticket costs 5 euros instead of 10, and in 2026 the museum stayed open on Friday evenings. Get off at Reggio Calabria Lido. This works on weekdays: on Sundays the last regional train from Lido to Scilla leaves at 18:01. The Bronzes page tells you everything
The castle is closed on Mondays, and usually so is the museum in Reggio: Monday is the day for the sea
Swordfish from the Strait is fished on the Calabrian side from April to June; in July and August the feluccas chase it along the Sicilian coast. In the recipe the oil and the salt have no quantity, and there is no cooking time in the tomato, because the source does not give them
For Sicily the ferry leaves from Villa San Giovanni at every hour of the day and night, and the return ticket within ninety days costs less than two single crossings
Scilla · part two
and then?
What to do, what to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Experiences from here
What we did starting from here, ordered by driving time.
Scilla lives on swordfish, which on the Calabrian side of the Strait is fished from April to June, when it passes close to the coast, and then moves on towards Sicily: the traditional fishing of the Strait, with the feluccas and the passerelle, is a Slow Food Presidium. It is eaten alla ghiotta, with tomato, capers and olives, grilled inside a bread roll, or as involtini. From Bagnara comes the torrone PGI, coated in sugar or cocoa, and on the terraces above the sea the wine of the Costa Viola is made. The bergamot of Reggio Calabria, whose essence is a PDO, grows instead on the other sea, on the Ionian coast. In a motorhome you make swordfish with olives and capers, in one frying pan.
the beach of Marina Grande and the rock with the Castello Ruffo, in SeptemberPhoto: JanaZbunka, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Marina Grande in summer seen from above, full of beach umbrellasPhoto: Dega180, Wikimedia Commons, CC0the beach with the umbrellas closed and the red flag, and the rock in the distancePhoto: Antonina Dattola, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the seafront of Marina Grande with its palm trees, and the castle rock in the distancePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the beach of Marina Grande seen from the castle, with clear waterPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Marina Grande seen from piazza San Rocco, as far as the southern ridgePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the bridge leading to the entrance of the Castello RuffoPhoto: Jacopo Werther, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Castello Ruffo lit up in the evening, with the lights of the village and the seaPhoto: Cesare Barillà, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a castle window with its grille, and below it the beach of Marina GrandePhoto: Antonina Dattola, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a cannon on the castle bastions, above the seaPhoto: Antonina Dattola, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the luntre, the rowing boat of the swordfish hunt, on display in the castle in 2014Photo: Jacopo Werther, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the white lighthouse on the castle terracePhoto: Jacopo Werther, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Stromboli on the horizon, seen from the castlePhoto: Jacopo Werther, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Costa Viola towards Bagnara seen from the castle, with Chianalea belowPhoto: Antonina Dattola, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the church of the Immacolata with its portico of columns, at the foot of the rockPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the castle and the church of the Immacolata seen from piazza San RoccoPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the altar of the church of San Rocco and the floor of coloured marblePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the wooden statue of San Rocco, at the feastPhoto: Giovanni Panuccio, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominiothe bell tower of the church of the Spirito Santo, on the seafrontPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the harbour of Scilla seen from the castle, with the boats mooredPhoto: Jacopo Werther, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the houses of Chianalea on the rocks, with the Costa Viola in the distancePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a stepped alley of Chianalea going down to the sea, with a boat pulled upPhoto: Mmoyaq, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a building of Chianalea on the sea and a boat on dry land with its ropesPhoto: Mmoyaq, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0an alley of Chianalea in the evening, with the lights on and the sea at the endPhoto: Codas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Chianalea lit up at sunset, with the castle rockPhoto: JanaZbunka, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Chianalea seen from above, with the houses along the seaPhoto: Le bateleur, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the fishermen's boats pulled up along the street of ChianaleaPhoto: Salvatore Migliari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0fishermen pushing a boat into the sea from the slipway below the castlePhoto: Salvatore Migliari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the fishermen's blue boats pulled up on dry land, seen from abovePhoto: Salvatore Migliari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the church of San Giuseppe, at the end of ChianaleaPhoto: Jacopo Werther, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
