Bold statement: after Rome, Matera might be my favourite place on earth. For me, the city feels like pure magic, and it also happens to have some of the most beautiful viewpoints I have ever seen.

The first time I visited Matera was in February 2024, when I took an eight hour FlixBus from Rome to Matera, and it was one of my first blog articles ever. While I still have PTSD from that FlixBus trip (which was not FlixBus its fault, more like my own, because my entire container of meal prepped pasta was swimming around at the bottom of my bag, yes with red sauce) I have amazing memories from that solo trip, and I could not wait to go back. This time around I was with my family, but I still had that same magical feeling I had during my first visit.

Since I had been before, I took my family to all my favourite viewpoints in Matera, the ones where you get the best views of the ancient Sassi from different corners and angles. And since I am not one to gatekeep, I thought it would be nice to share these spots so you know exactly where to go for the most beautiful views in Matera.

When it was nearly the end of my first semester at Sapienza University, deep in exam territory, I was on the lookout for affordable transportation options for when I finished all my exams. As an international student in Rome, I wanted to see as much of Italy as possible, and Matera had always been at the top of my travel bucket list. It was then, in the midst of my travel planning, that my roommate casually dropped the F-bomb: FlixBus.