When visiting Matera make sure you save time for this beautiful easy trek to see the city from the different perspective and take nice pics. It is easy to navigate around. The entrance to the trail-head is not far away from San Pietro Caveaso. To complete the trek in relax way to see the plateau and surroundings, take picture is 60-90 minutes. On the way up and down via the rover Gravina you will see some caves, small churches and viewing platforms for stunning views.

Absolutely worth the trek to get the view of Matera. The round trip from the entry point to the look out point and back took me about 2 hours and 20 minutes, and that was walking leisurely with many stops for taking pictures and lingering at scenic points. Also, I chose to go in the morning, and when I got to the look out point at 11:30 the sun was behind me and shining right on the Matera, perfect for pictures. Saw a number of caves, but none with paining: apparently some filming activities had caused the closure of parts of the mountain. Even without seeing painted caves, the view made it worthwhile.

The view of Matera was stunning and rewarding once you get to the top. There were rock churches and sites, and explanatory signs in Italian and English. Tip: in summer days, avoid hiking from 12am to 4:30pm, the hottest period.

Channel your inner mountain goat, take the exhilarating but risky path from via Madonna.The view is worth it.No wonder cinema directors have used this as a stand in for the Holy Land. I would have respected 007 more if he had attempted the climb to the top of the gorge. If you can’t face the walk back there’s a Miccolis bus back to the bus station.

Phenomenal afternoon enjoying the hike across. Breathtaking views to be enjoyed along the way and once on the other side and at the top of course as well. Did some reading beforehand and went well prepared, brought lunch, water and wearing good solid shoes made this hike a memorable one in the good sense. Saw several people slip and even fall..the very few first steps onto the path give you a good idea of what's ahead.

I got the special bus which is located right by the train station in Matera - the special bus goes every half hour and costs 1.50 Euros each way so 3 Euros return. The journey takes about 15 mins on the bus and it’s quite a nice ride. The bus leaves each way every half hour. You should bring supplies with you water and nibbles as there was no shop up there and no real place for shade. It had some great places to go exploring and take amazing panoramic views over the Sassi side. I loved being up it was very quiet and so a nice place to get the views over Matera. There is some gorgeous wildflowers growing and nice places to go searching.

I had realised, the day I arrived in Matera, that this walk should be undertaken during the cooler parts of the day. However, it was still incredibly hot (for a Brit, at least) at 7am, when I chose to descend into the valley. There was a lovely breeze - especially lower down - however, so things weren't so bad. I question my wisdom in going when there were so few people around (I'd have been in trouble if I'd had an accident) but I really wanted to get on with it. Getting down was harder work than getting back up and I ended up doing some of it on my behind because it was pretty precarious. I saw some people in skirts and dresses trying to get down to the stream but I think you need some bits of proper walking gear if you want to do this walk completely safely. You really do need a good pair of trainers, at least, and if I did it again, I'd be sure to have walking boots. The terrain is uneven and slippery, in places, so although my trainers didn't let me down, I'd have been better off with more solid footwear. There is also quite a lot of broken glass on the route, sadly, so you need protection from that. I made it up to some of the caves and enjoyed the solitude there, which was why I'd chosen to visit early. I won't attempt to describe how it feels to look across to Matera, whilst sitting there. It was simply a unique experience. The valley is filled with sounds from building works going on in the city but that, somehow, adds poignancy to the place, despite the discordant noises. The flora and fauna made this a very pleasant experience. There was a huge number of beautiful dragonflies and lots of lizards to keep me company. Wild thyme grows along the route, too. This was hard work (I'm not a seasoned walker) but worth it. My legs certainly got a good workout. I imagine it would be almost impossible to do if you have knee or hip joint problems. Safety / convenience things to look out for: 1. Go during the cooler parts of the day. 2. Take plenty of water. 3. Wear full-length trousers if you want to avoid scratches and scrapes to your legs. I didn't and I'm covered in marks. 4. Some kind of fingerless gloves will make the journey easier. There is broken glass and there are some scratchy plants but you may need to support yourself, at times, by putting your hands to the ground. 5. You may have to have a manicure afterwards. This was hard on my nails! 6. The bridge is perfectly robust but it wobbles a lot! I didn't like it and took two attempts to make the first crossing. I had to be very self-encouraging to get across and probably looked ridiculous talking myself from one side to the other. It doesn't look like a big deal to most people but if you have a little vertigo, you may need to steel yourself for this. 7. Be prepared to take your time. If this was in the UK, there would be all sorts of rails, fences, signs and supports around but one of the charms of this place is that it's been left as natural as possible and this comes with a few potential dangers. Prevention will possibly mean saying goodbye to your dignity for a while if you want to complete the walk as safely as possible. 8. I would be concerned about taking a small child.

We had a lovely morning hike in the Parco. Here are a few thoughts: 1. Entry along stairs gives an idea of the grade. 2. The suspension bridge at the bottom of the valley is an easier destination and provides interesting view of the old town 3. After crossing the bridge, follow the hike to the top of the other side of the ravine. Follow pathway toward Sassi, and then down again so that you can see the carved out caves, follow path down to bridge. 4. Budget about 2 hours to walk the loop

This is really something to do when visiting Matera and it is an extraordinary place. The nature around is beautiful and it's a fine experience to walk there to visit the remains but also to enjoy the view of beautiful Matera from the other side. We loved it. This area and Matera itself is a photographers paradise, there are so many spectacular views, not to mention the ancient cave houses that pepper the limestone surroundings.A walk down into the ravine is a must for any visitor to Matera. Along the way, check out the ancient caves, then look back to the incredible views of the Sassi. It is quite an easy walk with a small amount of climbing at the finish. Pull into the restaurant at the top of the path for a refreshment and recovery break. From the city, walking out into the park looks complicated and strenuous. While it's definitely more than a stroll, the park is actually quite easy to navigate and it's not very hard to get to a magnificent view very quickly. There is a bridge of rocks that takes you easily across the water. From there, there are paths that crisscross the hills and take you wherever you want to go. Getting lost is not a worry because you can see everything around. I went up to the rocks across from the Sasso Barisano as there is no road that can take you to this spot by car. At the top there was a cave church and a cave that were very neat to see. Mostly though, the view of Matera is spectacular. I found directions in my lonely planet guide book telling me to take the stairs from a certain monastery that I could not find in google maps. Altereno Cafe is in the same spot (maybe in the building of the old Monastary. You take the path down the near rim of the ravine. When you hit the floor you can go left or right, if you want to go up to the rim closer to Sasso Caveosa where you can see a lot of caves / grottoes up at the rim, go right and find a place to cross the river (there are no bridges, but there are places where the rocks make it easy to cross) you can then take one of two switchback paths up the far rim of the ravine. To get to the rim closer to Sassp Barisano, take a left when you hit the floor of the ravine and follow the trail around the curve of the river. It is well worth a visit. You can then walk anywhere you fancy. Take care as there are some very steep drops.

Having been attracted to come to Matera not only by its fascinating history, but also by the chance to get some atmospheric photos of the place I was dissapointed by the fact that arriving by car there were no views of the gorgeous old town. Did a bit of reasearch and found that this park is the place to go. You can hike down from the old town and cross a small footbridge or get to some excellent viewpoints by car (Leave Matera on the SS& heading for Taranto and a few Km out of town theres a small turning to the right to Belvedere Church or Belvedere point or something with Belvedere in it..... Anyway follow that small road upwards and eventually theres a free car park and voila - views ! We spent ages here admiring the old town and gettinp photographs - its very rocky and as its a steep sided valley there are very dangerous precipices so i would be fairly carefull when pottering about. Our abiding memory of Matera.