Where to stay in Reggio Calabria

Corso Garibaldi runs the length of the centre a block back from the water, with most of the shops along it. The Lungomare Falcomata runs parallel on the sea side, with the Arena dello Stretto, the beach clubs and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.

South of the centre, the ground around Reggio Calabria Centrale is the transport end: the main station, the airport buses and the coaches. Ravagnese sits beside the runway, about 1 km from the terminal.

North of the city, Gallico and Catona are seaside districts strung along the road to Villa San Giovanni, each with its own beach. Catona is about 4 km from the ferry ramps, against about 14 km from Corso Garibaldi.

Reggio Calabria has no limited-traffic zone. Giunta resolution 151 of 29 July 2022 set some up and ordinance 438 of 2 August 2022 ran them from 8 August 2022, between 20:00 and 02:00. Giunta resolution 153 of 8 August 2022 revoked resolution 151 outright, and the comune's traffic-ordinance page has shown nothing on ZTLs since. A car can reach a door in the centre.

Parking is run by ATAM under concession from the comune, with the plan set by Giunta resolution 220/2011. One rate covers the whole city: EUR 1.00 an hour, divisible down to 15 minutes, in every paid area. The bays run from 07:30 to 19:30 and are free on Sundays and public holidays. Lungomare Falcomata is the exception, paid every working day from 07:30 to 21:30 and until midnight from 1 July to 15 September.

Payment is by scratch ticket at EUR 1.00 for 60 minutes, by the Neos Park prepaid card, at the meters, or through the ATAM app, EasyPark, MyCicero and DropTicket. Subscriptions on the ATAM app give unlimited time in every paid area: EUR 20.00 for seven days, EUR 75.00 a month and EUR 500.00 a year. Residents' permits cover one household car in the zone of residence only and do not extend to Lungomare Falcomata or Piazza Garibaldi. For the car itself, GetCar's car rental page for Reggio Calabria is the place to start.

Cars do not cross from Reggio Calabria's own harbour. Bluferries runs the vehicle service across the Strait from Villa San Giovanni, about 14 km north of Corso Garibaldi and about 4 km from Catona, around the clock all year. Its notice says that from Monday 14 September 2026 cars, motorbikes and campers board only for the port of Tremestieri, hourly day and night at 45 minutes past.

Published car fares for a vehicle of type approval M1 are EUR 35.00 for a single crossing at the ticket office and EUR 31.50 online, EUR 39.00 and EUR 35.10 for a return within three days, and EUR 69.00 and EUR 62.10 for a return within 60 days. Tickets are sold in the Villa San Giovanni loading yard and at the Villa Ovest service station on the motorway. Vehicles board in order of arrival at the lanes, and sailings can shift with the weather or port traffic.

Northwards on the Costa Viola, Scilla is about 22 km from the centre, with the fishing quarter of Chianalea built along the water under a green headland.

Reggio Calabria charges an imposta di soggiorno per person for each night, under the regulation approved by council resolution 40 of 3 September 2015 and applied since 1 May 2016. The rates, set by Giunta resolution 2 of 8 January 2016, are EUR 1.00 in campsites, B&Bs, case vacanze, affittacamere, case per ferie, hostels, holiday flats and hotels up to two stars; EUR 1.50 in residenze turistiche alberghiere and agriturismi; EUR 2.00 in three-star hotels; and EUR 2.50 in four-star hotels.

The cap is at most five consecutive nights in the calendar year, and only where they are spent in the same property. The comune's service page describes the cap as five nights in the month; where the two differ, the regulation governs. It also brings short lets under DL 50/2017 inside the tax, and makes whoever collects the rent responsible for paying it over.

The exemptions cover children under 14; minor children from the second onward staying with their parents in June, July and August; day-hospital patients and one carer per in-patient; forces on public order duty; coach drivers and one tour escort per 20 participants; the property's own staff; people with 100 percent invalidity and one companion each; and emergency, humanitarian and volunteer lodging.

Every licensed stay in Italy, hotel or short-let flat, carries a national identification code (CIN), shown outside the building and in every listing, and the comune's tax portal asks hosts for the national or regional code before they register a property. A host may accept only guests with an identity document or passport and registers each one with the police within 24 hours. A 2024 Interior Ministry circular, upheld by the Council of State in November 2025, requires identification in person or by a video link at the door.

The Lungomare parking hours stretch to midnight from 1 July to 15 September, so a summer stay on the seafront pays later into the evening than the rest of the city does.

The tax exemption for second and later minor children applies only in June, July and August, so a family of four pays less for the same flat in those three months than in May.

The ferry pattern changed on 14 September 2026, when car loading moved to Tremestieri. Anyone planning a Sicily day with the car should read the operator's own notice before the drive north.

A first visit on foot: Corso Garibaldi and the centre.

The museum, the promenade and the view across the Strait: Lungomare Falcomata.

Arriving by train, or mixing the city with a drive: around Reggio Calabria Centrale.

An early flight: Ravagnese, beside the airport.

A beach and a short run to the Sicily ferry: Gallico and Catona.