Family adventure getaways in Italy off the beaten path.
Less-touristed family adventure spots in Italy, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Vogogna
This photogenic village in the Val d'Ossola, Piedmont, sits at the water's edge with mountain terrain rising behind it, partly within the Val Grande National…
Pacentro
This particularly photogenic medieval village in Abruzzo's Maiella National Park, Pacentro sits a short distance from Sulmona and holds a concentration of hi…
Kastelruth
Photogenic village in the South Tyrolean Dolomites, Kastelruth sits at around 1,000 metres elevation near the Seiser Alm alpine meadow and is a recognised me…
Belluno
A walkable town in the Veneto where the Ardo stream meets the Piave river, Belluno sits at the gateway to the Eastern Dolomites — a UNESCO-listed landscape s…
Vieste
Particularly photogenic coastal town on the Gargano peninsula in Puglia, Vieste sits within the Gargano National Park and has earned repeated Blue Flag recog…
Argegno
This tiny Lake Como village on the western shore sits where the River Telo meets the lake, and the waters just offshore mark the deepest point of any lake in…
Santa Lucia del Mela
This densely built hilltop town in Sicily's Messina province, its stone houses climbing toward a medieval fortress above tree-covered slopes, with surroundin…
Amatrice
This village in Lazio's Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, Amatrice carries a heritage-dense streetscape and an unusual concentration of churches f…
Norcia
Norcia, a small Umbrian town on the edge of the Monti Sibillini mountains, is widely known across Italy for its cured meats and sausages — so much so that th…
Bardonecchia
This small mountain town in Piedmont's upper Susa Valley, Bardonecchia is a winter sports base with two ski areas — Colomion-Les Arnauds-Melezet and Jafferau…
Santa Maria Maggiore
This modest mountain village in Valle Vigezzo, Piedmont, Santa Maria Maggiore sits on the narrow-gauge Vigezzina railway that runs through the Italian Alps b…
Scanno
A modest Abruzzo village with a strong photographic reputation, Scanno sits beside a lake in the mountains of the L'Aquila province, partly within the bounda…
Fivizzano
A little Tuscan comune in Massa-Carrara with an unusually dense cluster of churches and cafés for its size, Fivizzano sits within territory shared between tw…
Arcidosso
This small Tuscan village on the slopes of Monte Amiata, Arcidosso draws visitors year-round with access to skiing in winter and mountain trails in summer, a…
Civita
Founded in the 15th century by Albanian refugees fleeing the Ottoman invasion, Civita is a hill village in Calabria's Pollino National Park whose Albanian-or…
Pescocostanzo
This photogenic village in Abruzzo's Maiella National Park, Pescocostanzo has an unusual concentration of historic churches and a pocket-sized but real café…
Pescasseroli
Mountain village in Abruzzo and the main base for the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, Pescasseroli draws visitors year-round as both a summer and wi…
Gerace
This compact Calabrian hill village sits atop a vertical rock formation in the Aspromonte National Park, with views stretching to the coast and the town of L…
Peschici
This small coastal town on the Gargano promontory in Puglia, Peschici sits within the Gargano National Park and has built a reputation as a seaside resort si…
San Romano in Garfagnana
Pocket-sized Tuscan village in the Garfagnana, San Romano sits within the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park and offers a surprising number of churches an…
Gravina in Puglia
Gravina in Puglia is a southern Italian town in the Bari metropolitan area whose name comes from the deep limestone canyons — gravine — that cut through its…
Garessio
This pocket-sized Piedmontese village in the Ligurian Alps known for its mineral water, Aqua San Bernardo, which drew spa visitors at the turn of the twentie…
Isola del Gran Sasso d'Italia
A little village in Abruzzo's Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, at the foot of the Gran Sasso — the highest peak in the Apennine chain — with a ha…
Erice
Sitting on the summit of Monte Erice above Trapani in western Sicily, this medieval hilltop village retains its ancient Elymian-Punic fortifications, cobbled…
Lipari
The largest of the seven Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off northern Sicily, Lipari is the main gateway to the archipelago and the administrative cent…
Guardiagrele
Poet Gabriele d'Annunzio called Guardiagrele "Abruzzo's terrace" for the sweeping views of the Maiella mountain it commands from its hilltop position in the…
Visso
This small village in the Marche region of central Italy serves as the seat of Monti Sibillini National Park, placing it at the edge of mountain terrain with…
Ruvo di Puglia
Ruvo di Puglia, a town on the Murge plateau in Apulia's Bari metropolitan area, holds the Jatta National Archaeological Museum, whose Hellenistic collection…
Castiglione della Pescaia
A Tuscan seaside town in the Grossetan Maremma, Castiglione della Pescaia grew around a 12th-century medieval fortress and a large fishery — the latter givin…
Manfredonia
Founded in the 13th century by Manfred of Sicily, son of Emperor Frederick II, this Apulian coastal town sits on the gulf that bears its name, at the souther…