Collections
Collections
Two ways into the catalogue. Hard numbers (smallest, highest, the islands) and themed picks around the major Italian cities (food near Florence, wine near Bologna, hill towns near Rome).
Themed picks
Day-trip comuni around the major Italian cities
Each list takes one city as a base and one interest (food, wine, hills, lakes, coast, mountains) and picks the ten comuni inside its day-trip radius that anchor the story. Drive times are OSRM-computed; the picks update automatically as the catalogue grows.
Themed picks · Florence · Food
10 hidden food towns near Florence
10 comuni · within 90 min of Firenze
Tops with Montescudaio · 57 min
Themed picks · Bologna · Wine
10 wine villages near Bologna
10 comuni · within 120 min of Bologna
Tops with Castelvetro di Modena · 41 min
Themed picks · Rome · Hill towns
10 hill towns within an hour of Rome
10 comuni · within 120 min of Roma
Tops with Nemi · 78 min
Themed picks · Naples · Coast
10 coastal towns near Naples
10 comuni · within 90 min of Napoli
Tops with Torre Annunziata · 28 min
Themed picks · Milan · Lakes
10 lake towns near Milan
10 comuni · within 90 min of Milano
Tops with Sarnico · 32 min
Themed picks · Venice · Art
10 art towns near Venice
10 comuni · within 90 min of Venezia
Tops with Follina · 57 min
Themed picks · Turin · Slow Food
10 Slow Food comuni near Turin
10 comuni · within 90 min of Torino
Tops with Cocconato · 62 min
Themed picks · Genoa · Coast
10 fishing villages near Genoa
10 comuni · within 90 min of Genova
Tops with Celle Ligure · 35 min
Themed picks · Verona · Wine
10 wine towns near Verona
10 comuni · within 90 min of Verona
Tops with Monzambano · 37 min
Themed picks · Pescara · Mountains
10 mountain comuni near Pescara
10 comuni · within 180 min of Pescara
Tops with Scanno · 175 min
Themed picks · Bari · White towns
10 white towns of Puglia near Bari
10 comuni · within 90 min of Bari
Tops with Bisceglie · 26 min
Themed picks · Catania · Baroque
10 Baroque towns in Val di Noto near Catania
10 comuni · within 120 min of Catania
Tops with Catania · 10 min
Themed picks · Rimini · Adriatic coast
10 Adriatic seaside towns near Rimini
10 comuni · within 120 min of Rimini
Tops with Gradara · 45 min
Themed picks · Reggio Calabria · Aspromonte
10 Aspromonte hill towns near Reggio Calabria
10 comuni · within 150 min of Reggio Calabria
Tops with Gizzeria · 29 min
Themed picks · Florence · Wine
10 Tuscan wine towns near Florence
10 comuni · within 150 min of Firenze
Tops with Montecarlo · 57 min
Themed picks · Turin · Mountains
10 mountain comuni near Turin
10 comuni · within 120 min of Torino
Tops with Usseaux · 101 min
Themed picks · Verona · Lake Garda
10 Lake Garda towns near Verona
10 comuni · within 90 min of Verona
Tops with Sirmione · 39 min
Themed picks · Rome · Olive oil
10 olive oil comuni near Rome
10 comuni · within 150 min of Roma
Tops with Manciano · 143 min
Sorted by the numbers
The catalogue, ranked along its hard facts
Population, elevation, drive times, stations, recognitions, seasons. Not curated picks; just sorts over the data.
Drive time
10 towns under an hour from Bologna
10 towns
Tops at Sasso Marconi · 22 min
10 towns within an hour of Florence, without the crowds of Florence
10 towns
Tops at Livorno · 38 min
10 comuni exactly between Rome and Naples
10 towns
Tops at Capistrello · 121 min to Rome, 126 min to Naples
10 towns closer to Milan than Milan's suburbs
10 towns
Tops at Bergamo · 13 min
10 comuni an hour from Turin in any direction
10 towns
Tops at Venaria Reale · 28 min from Turin
The towns between Pisa airport and anywhere better
9 towns
Tops at San Giuliano Terme · 8 min from Pisa
10 stops that turn the Rome to Florence drive into three days
10 towns
Tops at Cerveteri · 55 min from Rome, 234 min to Florence
Train
10 comuni with a station and under 3,000 people
10 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
10 towns where the Regionale still stops
10 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
The 10 highest towns with a train station
10 towns
Tops at Toblach · 1,256 m
10 Cittaslow towns you can reach by train
10 towns
Tops at Controguerra · 2,192 residents
Population
Italy's smallest comuni
60 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
The 10 smallest comuni in Tuscany
10 towns
Tops at Capraia Isola · 370 residents
Italian towns with fewer than 200 people
13 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
10 comuni smaller than a cruise ship's passenger list
10 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
10 towns where the population fits in one church
10 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
The 10 smallest Borghi più belli d'Italia
10 towns
Tops at Cornello dei Tasso · 50 residents
10 comuni under 1,000 people within an hour of a major city
10 towns
Tops at Cornello dei Tasso · 50 residents
Elevation
Italy's highest towns
60 towns
Tops at Livigno · 1,816 m
Balcony towns: high villages above the Ligurian sea
10 towns
Tops at Santo Stefano d'Aveto · 1,012 m
The highest comune in each region of Italy
20 towns
Tops at Livigno · 1,816 m
10 hill towns under 300 meters, for travelers who hate climbing
10 towns
Tops at Suvereto · 127 m
The towns above 800 meters within two hours of Rome
5 towns
Tops at Collalto Sabino · 980 m
Recognitions
10 Bandiera Arancione towns nobody has heard of
10 towns
Tops at Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena · 130 residents
10 Borghi più belli d'Italia that stay empty anyway
10 towns
Tops at Cornello dei Tasso · 50 residents
10 towns holding the most recognitions at once
10 towns
Tops at Norcia · 8 recognitions
The 10 northernmost Borghi più belli d'Italia
10 towns
Tops at Sterzing · 46.91° N
The 10 southernmost Borghi più belli d'Italia
10 towns
Tops at Palazzolo Acreide · 37.07° N
10 recognized borghi within an hour of an airport
10 towns
Tops at Matera · 8 recognitions
10 comuni that earned their recognition for something other than being pretty
10 towns
Tops at Nicolosi · 5 recognitions
Coast and lakes
Italy's island towns
18 towns
Tops at Anacapri · 6,835 residents
10 lake towns not on Como or Garda
10 towns
Tops at Belgirate · 473 residents
10 seaside towns that face east: the sunrise coast of the Adriatic
10 towns
Tops at Roseto Capo Spulico · 1,887 residents
10 coastal towns open in November
10 towns
Tops at Tramonti · 4,135 residents
Food designations
Best time
10 towns at their best in November
10 towns
Tops at San Casciano dei Bagni · 1,500 residents
10 comuni for January, when Italy belongs to Italians
10 towns
Tops at San Casciano dei Bagni · 1,500 residents
10 towns that peak in October light
10 towns
Tops at Norcia · 4,544 residents
10 towns where August is actually fine
10 towns
Tops at Scanno · 1,697 residents
10 spring towns before the season starts
10 towns
Tops at Norcia · 4,544 residents
10 towns at their best exactly when Venice is at its worst
10 towns
Tops at Scanno · 1,697 residents
10 winter sea towns
10 towns
Tops at Levanto · 5,140 residents
Quieter bases
Compound
The towns under 1,000 people, above 500 meters, with a train station
7 towns
Tops at Monteviasco · 12 residents
10 recognized borghi under 90 minutes from an airport, open in winter
10 towns
Tops at Matera · 8 recognitions
Towns where everything is true: small, high, recognized, reachable
12 towns
Tops at Vallo di Nera · 345 residents
Towns 20 minutes from a famous city, in a different world
10 towns
Tops at Siracusa · 0 min from Siracusa
Feste
10 towns whose festa falls in the dead of winter
10 towns
Tops at Allerona · Ansano di Siena, 1 December
10 comuni that share a patron saint and nothing else
10 towns
Tops at Monteferrante · Giovanni Battista, 24 June
10 towns where the festa is bigger than the town
10 towns
Tops at Monteferrante · Giovanni Battista, 24 June
Silence
The 10 quietest towns in Italy, by the numbers
10 towns
Tops at Alessandria del Carretto · 96 / 100 silence
The quietest town in each region
20 towns
Tops at Alessandria del Carretto · 96 / 100 silence
10 silent comuni within an hour of loud cities
10 towns
Tops at Aiello Calabro · 66 / 100 silence
The 10 quietest coastal towns in Italy
10 towns
Tops at Capraia Isola · 94 / 100 silence
10 towns quieter than the countryside around them
10 towns
Tops at Madesimo · +46 vs region median
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From across Italy
Five towns to begin with
Putignano
Province: Bari
Europe's longest-running carnival — Putignano Carnevale has run continuously since 1394, with 631 years of cartapesta papier-mâché floats, a 26,000-resident Murgia town on the Bari–Lecce plateau, and the Grotta del Trullo karst cave inside the centro.
Pistoia
Province: Pistoia
Italy's nursery capital and the medieval Tuscan rival that gave its name to the pistol — a quietly extraordinary centro storico of zebra-striped Romanesque churches, Andrea della Robbia's polychrome frieze on the Ospedale del Ceppo, and Italy's Capital of Culture 2017, all 30 minutes from Florence by train.
Tropea
Province: Vibo Valentia
Cliff town on a tufa headland over the Tyrrhenian Coast of the Gods, with a Norman monastery on a sea rock.
Caldes
Province: Trento
A scattered Val di Sole commune on the Noce, six hamlets gathered around a thirteenth-century tower-house castle that once belonged to the Thun family.
Cantiano
Province: Pesaro e Urbino
A border borgo at 374 meters under Monte Catria on the old Via Flaminia, known for the Good Friday Turba and the sour-cherry visciola harvest.