Italian wine country off the beaten path.
Less-touristed wine towns in Italy, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Corciano
This hill village in Umbria recognised as one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia, Corciano preserves a medieval centre of almost circular shape, partly still enc…
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…
Campagna
This pocket-sized town in the Picentini Mountains of Campania's Salerno province, Campagna has an unusual density of churches and cafés for its size, set aga…
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…
Bevagna
A flat Umbrian town in the Topino river plain — unusual among the hill towns of the region — Bevagna is listed among Italy's most beautiful borghi and carrie…
Picerno
A compact hilltop town in Basilicata's Potenza province, Picerno rises above rolling green valleys with a bell tower and medieval stone tower at its core, su…
Bagnara Calabra
This small Tyrrhenian coast town in Calabria's southernmost stretch, Bagnara Calabra sits directly on the water with vineyards in the surrounding hills and v…
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…
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…
Montefalco
Wine country defines this small Umbrian hill town, which anchors the production zone for Sagrantino di Montefalco and Montefalco Rosso — both built around th…
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…
Carrara
Marble has defined Carrara since ancient times — the white and blue-grey stone quarried from the Apuan Alps above this Tuscan town has supplied sculptors and…
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…
Matelica
This modest wine-country town in the Marche region of central Italy, Matelica sits alongside water and has a compact historic centre with cafés, restaurants,…
Pergola
This small town in the Marche region of Italy, Pergola holds a museum displaying the Gilt Bronzes of Cartoceto di Pergola, a set of ancient gilded bronze fig…
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…
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…
Pinerolo
A walkable town in Piedmont, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone, with a centre full of cafés, restaurants, and historic churches.
Fénis
Fénis Castle, a well-preserved medieval fortress in the Aosta Valley of north-western Italy, is the main draw to this small village, which also sits in wine…
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…
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…
Rieti
Traditionally called the "umbilicus Italiae" — the navel of Italy — Rieti is a walkable hilltop town in Lazio whose centre is dense with historic churches an…
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…
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…
Contigliano
A small village in Lazio's wine-growing Rieti province, Contigliano sits close to the mountains and near water, with scenic surroundings and a strong photogr…
Tenno
A small Trentino village a few kilometres from Riva del Garda, Tenno sits on the slopes above Lake Garda and is home to Lake Tenno, known for its vivid blue-…
Villadossola
This compact town in Piedmont's Val d'Ossola, Villadossola sits at the mouth of the Valle Antrona and alongside the Toce river, with mountains close on sever…
Castiglion Fiorentino
A walled Tuscan hill town in the province of Arezzo, Castiglion Fiorentino sits between Arezzo and Cortona in wine-growing country, with an Etruscan archaeol…
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 —…
Poggio Bustone
A compact stone-built village rising above a broad valley in Lazio's upland country, with a bell-towered church at its crown and sweeping views over patchwor…
Nardò
A Baroque town on the Ionian coast of Salento, Nardò has a walkable historic centre dense with palaces, churches, and chapels built in the ornate local style…
Montemezzo
A tiny lakeside hamlet in Lombardy's Province of Como, Montemezzo sits at the northern end of Lake Como with mountain terrain close by and vineyards in the s…
Apricale
A small hilltop village in Liguria's Imperia province, Apricale sits in mountain country with scenic viewpoints, surrounding vineyards, and a striking number…
Cisterna d'Asti
A small hilltop village in Piedmont's wine country, Cisterna d'Asti is shaped by two landmarks that have defined it since medieval times: an 11th- or 12th-ce…
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…
Canelli
Canelli, on a bend of the river Belbo in Piedmont's Alto Monferrato, is widely regarded as the birthplace of Italian sparkling wine: the Moscato grape used t…
Pignola
Known locally as "il paese dei portali" — the town of doorways — Pignola is a small mountain town in Basilicata's Potenza province, where the historic centre…
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…
Garzeno
A pocket-sized Lake Como-area village in Lombardy with a striking number of churches for its size, vineyards in the immediate surroundings, and scenic viewpo…
Brentonico
A snow-dusted Trentino village in the uplands above Lake Garda, where a tall stone bell tower rises above compact Alpine houses backed by forested slopes, wi…
Castelnuovo Don Bosco
This small Piedmontese hill village near the confluence of the Nevissano and Bardella rivers, Castelnuovo Don Bosco sits in deep wine country east of Turin w…
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…
Sinalunga
Modest Tuscan hill town in the province of Siena, Sinalunga sits on the ridge dividing the Val di Chiana from the Valle dell'Ombrone, with vineyards in the s…
Tricarico
This modest Basilicata town in the province of Matera holds one of the best-preserved medieval historic centres in Lucania, shaped by an Arab-Norman past and…
Cantalice
This dramatically stacked stone village in Lazio's upland country, its medieval houses and churches climbing a forested hillside above the Rieti valley, with…
Cerreto Sannita
Ceramics have defined Cerreto Sannita for centuries, and the village's planned grid of streets — rebuilt from scratch after a devastating earthquake on 5 Jun…
Amelia
A compact Umbrian hill town crowned by domed churches and stone buildings that cascade down a wooded hillside, Amelia rewards visitors with multiple religiou…
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…
Lamezia Terme
This coastal Calabrian town with a walkable centre full of cafés and churches, set between the sea and mountain views, with vineyards in the surrounding coun…
Salemi
A medieval hill town in western Sicily's Trapani province, Salemi clusters around a castle whose battlemented tower offers wide views across the landscape to…
Cividale del Friuli
Founded by Julius Caesar as Forum Iulii — the name that eventually gave the entire Friuli region its identity — Cividale del Friuli later became the capital…
Varzi
This certified member of Italy's "Most Beautiful Villages" circuit, Varzi sits in the Oltrepò Pavese wine country of Lombardy's Pavia province, along the Sta…
Sennori
A small wine-country town in northern Sardinia, Sennori has been a member of Italy's national association of wine towns since the association's founding in 1…
Busca
This compact Piedmontese town of red-tile rooftops spread across a valley floor, Busca sits among vineyards and rolling hills with a walkable centre offering…