Even well-traveled Italophiles often overlook Calabria, the “toe” of boot-shaped Italy and home to spectacular coastline and rough-edged inland mountains dotted with time-forgotten villages—many semi-abandoned.

These villages were the fodder for waves of emigration to the north of Italy and even abroad over the past century; many Italian-American families can trace their roots back to Calabria and ancestral tours are one of the top reasons visitors from North American venture back today.