Italian food and café towns off the beaten path.
Less-touristed food and café towns in Italy, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Scilla
A particularly photogenic pocket-sized town on a promontory at the northern entrance to the Strait of Messina, Scilla has a café and restaurant scene that pu…
Arona
Photogenic small town on the shore of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, Arona has a café and restaurant scene that punches well above its size, along with an…
Saluzzo
A medieval hill town in Piedmont's Cuneo province, Saluzzo served as capital of its own marquisate for over four centuries — from 1142 to 1548 — and retains…
Saint-Pierre
A medieval castle rises dramatically above this compact Alpine valley village in Italy's Aosta Valley, where snow-dusted terraced hillsides, a lively café sc…
Bagnoregio
This particularly photogenic village in Lazio's Viterbo province, Bagnoregio draws attention for its scenic surroundings and an unusually dense concentration…
Anghiari
A particularly photogenic hill village in Tuscany's Arezzo province, Anghiari has an unusual concentration of churches and cafés for its size, along with sce…
Lovere
At the northwest tip of Lake Iseo in Lombardy, Lovere is a particularly photogenic small town whose streetscape blends overhanging wooden roofs with heavy st…
Domodossola
A walkable town in Piedmont's Ossola valley with a centre full of cafés and historic churches, Domodossola is the main hub of the Val d'Ossola, sitting at th…
Cannobio
This photogenic small town on the north-western shore of Lake Maggiore in Piedmont, Cannobio sits where the Cannobina Valley meets the lake and has repeatedl…
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…
Vietri sul Mare
Polychrome ceramics have been made in Vietri sul Mare since at least the 15th century, and the tradition remains central to this little Campanian town at the…
Monte Sant'Angelo
The Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has drawn Christian pilgrims since the 6th century, sits at the heart of this pocke…
Bertinoro
A hilltop wine-country village in Emilia-Romagna with an unusually lively café and restaurant scene for its size, Bertinoro sits atop Monte Cesubeo with view…
Trevi
Commanding views across the Umbrian plain — said to extend over much of the valley in westerly directions — this medieval hill town on the lower flank of Mou…
Cortona
A photogenic hilltop town in Tuscany's Val di Chiana, Cortona sits high enough to offer panoramic views in every direction and holds an unusual concentration…
Noto
Rebuilt in the early 18th century after a devastating earthquake, Noto is one of eight Late Baroque towns in Sicily's Val di Noto declared a UNESCO World Her…
Sant'Agnello
A pocket-sized town on the Sorrentine Coast between Piano di Sorrento and Sorrento, Sant'Agnello sits right at the water with scenic viewpoints nearby and a…
Omegna
At the northernmost tip of Lago d'Orta in Piedmont, Omegna sits directly on the water with a lakeside boulevard where a street market runs every Thursday mor…
Bra
Birthplace of Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, Bra is a gastronomically focused town in Piedmont's Roero area whose main claim to fame exten…
Gaeta
A seaside town on a promontory between Rome and Naples, Gaeta combines sandy beaches on its western coast with a layered military history — its walls date to…
Tollegno
A compact Piedmontese village of terracotta rooftops and a prominent stone bell tower, Tollegno sits in a forested valley near Biella, offering a lively café…
Pitigliano
Known as "the little Jerusalem" for its historic Jewish community and working synagogue, Pitigliano is a small Tuscan hill town in the province of Grosseto s…
Varenna
Sitting directly on the eastern shore of Lake Como in Lombardy, Varenna is a modest lakeside village with a heritage-dense centre of medieval churches, histo…
Sondrio
Walkable wine-country town at the heart of the Valtellina valley in Lombardy, Sondrio serves as the provincial capital and was named Alpine Town of the Year…
Massa Marittima
Small Tuscan hill town in the Metalliferous Hills of Grosseto, Massa Marittima sits at the centre of a mining region historically rich in iron, mercury, copp…
Sansepolcro
Birthplace of the Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca and the mathematician Luca Pacioli, Sansepolcro is a compact Tuscan town on the upper Tiber, near…
Bosa
Sitting on the north bank of the Temo River — the only river-built town on Sardinia — Bosa is a little Sardinian settlement with a strong café and restaurant…
Alassio
A sandy-beached resort town on the Italian Riviera in Liguria, Alassio draws visitors year-round — as a bathing destination in summer and a health resort in…
Susa
This little town in the Susa Valley west of Turin, at the foot of the Cottian Alps, with a concentration of Roman and medieval monuments that reflects its an…
Sutri
Sutri's ancient remains — a Roman amphitheatre carved directly into tuff rock, an Etruscan necropolis of rock-cut tombs, and a Mithraeum embedded in the cryp…
Pella
Sitting on the western shore of Lake Orta in Piedmont, this compact village in the Province of Novara offers waterfront views, mountain country close by, and…
Brunate
Known as the "Balcony on the Alps," this compact village above Lake Como offers panoramic views stretching across the western Alpine arc, the Po Plain, and t…
Ivrea
Ivrea earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 2018 for its mid-20th-century Olivetti complex — factories, headquarters, and surrounding modernist buildings th…
Ostuni
Widely known as "the White Town" for its whitewashed houses and medieval walls, Ostuni is a walkable Apulian hill town in the province of Brindisi with a den…
Thiene
This walkable Veneto town in the province of Vicenza, Thiene sits close to the mountains and within reach of the wine country that defines much of the surrou…
Pontremoli
A heritage-dense tiny town in Tuscany's northernmost corner, Pontremoli sits on the Magra river — its name meaning "Trembling Bridge," after a prominent cros…
Varazze
Small Ligurian town on the Riviera di Ponente with a seafront position, a strong café and restaurant scene, and an unusual concentration of churches for its…
Gallipoli
A historic town on the western coast of Salento in Apulia, Gallipoli is built around a limestone island connected to the newer mainland district by a 17th-ce…
Castel San Pietro Romano
Small hilltop village east of Rome recognised among Italy's most beautiful villages and, since 2019, named the most beautiful village in the Mediterranean —…
Sperlonga
This photogenic coastal town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, roughly midway between Rome and Naples, Sperlonga is best known for the ancient Roman sea grotto found wi…
Castellammare del Golfo
A seafront town in Sicily's Trapani province, Castellammare del Golfo takes its name from the medieval fortress in its harbour — "Sea Fortress on the Gulf" —…
Lavagna
This compact Ligurian seafront town of terracotta rooftops and domed churches, Lavagna sits between the Ligurian Sea and a backdrop of green hills, with a li…
Borgosesia
A small town on the Sesia River in Piedmont's alpine Valsesia valley, Borgosesia has a café and restaurant scene and a concentration of churches that both ex…
Numana
This compact Adriatic village on the Conero Riviera in the Marche region, Numana sits directly on the water with vineyards nearby and scenic viewpoints along…
Scalea
A tiny coastal town on Calabria's Tyrrhenian shore, Scalea pairs a modern beach resort strip — developed since the 1960s along the Riviera dei Cedri — with a…
Atrani
Tiny village on the Amalfi Coast, Atrani sits right at the water's edge just a short walk from Amalfi itself, with a heritage-dense streetscape, a striking n…
Caprarola
Villa Farnese dominates this compact Lazio town in the Cimini volcanic hills, a large Renaissance mansion begun in 1530 as a fortress for Cardinal Alessandro…
Oulx
This pocket-sized village in the upper Susa Valley near the French border, Oulx sits at the confluence of the Dora di Riparia and the Dora di Bardonecchia ri…
Tomo
Compact Italian hamlet in Belluno's forested valley country, where a classical white-façade church anchors a cluster of red-tile buildings against densely wo…
Castelsardo
A photogenic coastal town on Sardinia's northwest shore, at the eastern end of the Gulf of Asinara, Castelsardo sits right on the water with scenic viewpoint…
Luino
Modest town on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, Luino is best known for its Wednesday market, said to be among the largest of its kind in Europe, drawing…
Spello
This small walled hill town on the southern flank of Monte Subasio in Umbria, Spello has an unusually dense concentration of historic churches and a café and…
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…
Grottammare
A walkable Adriatic beach town in the Marche region, Grottammare pairs a seafront café and restaurant scene with a medieval hilltop quarter that belongs to t…
Conca dei Marini
A compact village on the Amalfi Coast between Amalfi and Furore, sitting directly on the water with scenic viewpoints nearby and an unusually dense cluster o…
Porto Cesareo
This modest Apulian town on the Ionian coast of the Salento peninsula with a café and restaurant scene that punches well above its size, Porto Cesareo is bes…
Iglesias
A walkable town in southwestern Sardinia with a centre dense with historic churches, cafés, and restaurants, Iglesias was one of the most important royal cit…
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…
Fossombrone
Compact Marche town where a river curves through a red-tile historic centre, backed by vineyard-covered hills, with a good café and restaurant scene and a no…