15 Matera Tours to Build a Day Around

1.Sassi Tour with Cave House and Rupestrian Church

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 6,618 reviews · 2 hours · from $31Our pick

Explore Matera’s Sassi, a cave house, and Sant’Antonio Abate church on a two-hour guided walk with local stories and panoramic views.

“Matera is an incredible city - and the guided tour by Maria was fantastic. She was so knowledgeable and so helpful- answering questions and explaining the history in vivid detail. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone- it gives a terrific insight into the city and its surroundings… its UNESCO status is explained. It truly was a remarkable tour.”

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2.Discover Matera, the ancient city – English tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 1,771 reviews · 2 to 3 hours (approx.) · from $36Top rated

Explore Matera’s cave districts with an English-speaking guide, learning local stories, architecture, and how the Sassi became a UNESCO site.

“The tour is highly tecommended, and informative. Our guide was great and has deep roots to the town. Dont take this tour if your looking to see churches or cathedrals. Its all about other history, and that was great. Two thumbs up”

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3.Guided Tour of Matera Sassi

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,312 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $18Best value

Review of Matera’s Sassi walking tour, with cave churches, a cave home, local guides, practical tips, value, and honest drawbacks.

“Knowledgeable tour guide but no head sets. Couldn’t hear her all the time. It was a large group and out in the streets so the noise level should have required headsets.”

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4.Sassi Tour with Entry to Rock Houses and Churches

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 622 reviews · from $40

Explore Matera’s Sassi, rock churches, cave homes, and film sites on a two-hour guided walk with entry tickets included.

“The tour gave us a great deal of history about Matera and gave us a flavour of all the major sites so that we could go back and spend more time on our own.”

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5.Sassi of Matera: Eco-Bus Open Top Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 592 reviews · from $23

Review of Matera’s $23 open-top Eco-Bus tour, with Sassi views, cave-house visit, guide tips, itinerary details, and honest drawbacks.

“Great overview. Particularly good if you have any mobility impairment.”

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6.Matera’s Sassi Walking Tour – History & Culture

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 476 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $30

Review of Matera’s two-hour Sassi walking tour, with local guides, cave churches, history, practical tips, price, and booking advice.

“Our guide was fantastic. Super knowledgeable, very friendly and engaging. She made the whole experience highly enjoyable. Recommended without hesitation.”

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7.Guided Tour, Historic Center Sassi Rock Churches and Cave House

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 461 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $26

Explore Matera’s Sassi with a local guide, entering Santa Maria de Idris and a furnished cave house on a two-hour walk.

“A tour of the entire Sassi area was excellent. Our guide Patrizia was very good and spoke English very well. We ended up walking around for 2.5 hours and felt we really got a great overview of the entire place.”

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8.Full Private 3h Excursion to the Sassi di Matera

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 451 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $350

Explore Matera’s Sassi with a private English-speaking guide, rock churches, cave homes, canyon views, local tastings, and practical walking tips.

“Bellissima escursione in giro tra le meraviglie di una città unica nel suo genere, impreziosita dalle spiegazioni della guida Giusy, molto preparata e visibilmente appassionata del suo lavoro.”

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9.Sassi di Matera: Guided Walking Tour with Cave House/Church

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 343 reviews · from $34

Explore Matera’s Sassi with a local guide, cave home, rock church, film sites, and 12,000 years of history in a two-hour walk.

“perhaps a map of the sites could be provided in advance”

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10.Discover Matera: Overnight Stay, Meal, and Sassi Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 335 reviews · 2 days (approx.) · from $178

Spend a night in Matera’s Sassi, enjoy Lucanian food, and tour cave homes and rock churches with an expert local guide.

“For me this is the third time in Matera and every time I discover something new and fascinating.”

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11.Guided Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 333 reviews · from $28

Review of Matera’s $28 guided walk through the Sassi, cave churches, Cathedral, viewpoints, guide quality, value, access, and practical tips.

“Giuseppe was a fantastic tour guide. Really explained the history and life of the those living in Matera. Would 100% recommend.”

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12.3-hour Private Full Sassi di Matera Guided Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 316 reviews · from $328

Explore Matera’s Sassi on a private three-hour walk with cave churches, Casa Grotta, panoramic views, and an expert local guide.

“Our guide, Maria, is a history enthusiast and provided excellent historical narrative as she guided us through the Sassi di Matera. She was thorough in all that she showed us. We visited a number of the major churches, she pointed out the Palumbaro to visit later on our own, went inside a gallery where she showed us a scale model of the Sassi to provide perspective of the Caveoso and Barisano, and guided us to view points and through the labyrinth of streets, with constant historical commentary. She is an expert of the area and helped us decode the labyrinth of streets here in the Sassi to the point where…”

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13.Open Top Bus Tour with Entrance to Casa Grotta

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 278 reviews · 1.5 hours - 105 minutes · from $23

See Matera’s UNESCO Sassi by open-top bus, with a Casa Grotta, rock church, canyon views, audio guide, and evening atmosphere.

“Most interesting tour visited the main areas explained about the history of Matera even though it was very hot the bus was good in getting around to see places you would probably not go to. We booked the English tour and was put together with the Italian tour but no problem with explaining to us the guide was very good 😎”

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14.Sassi History and Culture Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 267 reviews · from $28

Explore Matera’s Sassi with a local guide, panoramic viewpoints, and Santa Lucia alle Malve rock church on this 2-hour walk.

“Amazing, guide was so knowledgeable and had a great vibe and personality”

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15.The Sassi of Matera

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 252 reviews · from $23

Explore Matera’s Sassi, cave churches, historic cellar, and cave home on a practical two-hour guided walking tour.

“Matera città meravigliosa. Grazie all'ottima guida che ci ha accompagnato e raccontato i segreti, la storia e la bellezza.”

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