Anywhere Italy

Best time

10 towns at their best exactly when Venice is at its worst

Venice peaks in July and August. These comuni mark those exact months as their best. 10 towns shown, ranked by recognitions held.

July and August are Venice's hardest months, the lagoon city at maximum load. The same weeks are other towns' finest hour: mountain comuni in full season, coastal towns living their actual summer.

Each of these marks July or August as a best month in our calendar. Go where the season points, not where the queue does.

  1. 1.Scanno1,697 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoA 1,057-meter Sagittario valley village photographed by Cartier-Bresson and Giacomelli, where women in black still walk the same alleys as the 1957 series.
  2. 2.Triora373 residentsImperia · LiguriaThe witches' village at 776 meters in the upper Valle Argentina, where the Inquisition put around 200 women on trial between 1587 and 1589.
  3. 3.Lama dei Peligni1,057 residentsChieti · AbruzzoA 669-meter Majella village known for chamois, the Cavallone cave, and a prehistoric burial dug from Fonterossi dated 7000 to 5000 BC.
  4. 4.Sante Marie1,075 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoA 950-meter Marsica village and the trailhead of the Cammino dei Briganti, the seven-day brigand trail through the Cartore band's territory.
  5. 5.Nicolosi7,594 residentsCatania · SicilyThe southern gateway to Etna at 698 meters, twice destroyed by the 1669 eruption, base camp for the volcano cable car at Rifugio Sapienza.

The slow-trip planner

Plan a slow trip across the towns travelers skip.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip
  1. 6.Monte Sant'Angelo11,353 residentsFoggia · ApuliaThe Gargano peak at 843 meters where the Archangel Michael appeared in 490, the oldest western shrine to him, UNESCO since 2011.
  2. 7.Livorno152,914 residentsLivorno · TuscanyTuscany's working port and Medici-planned 'New City' — a 16th-century planned town built on reclaimed coast, with a Venice-like canal quarter, the Quattro Mori monument, and a 1.5-km seafront promenade that locals call the world's most beautiful balcony.
  3. 8.Barrea710 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoA 1,066-meter spur above an artificial lake at the heart of the Abruzzo National Park, with a Samnite necropolis and an 11th-century di Sangro castle.
  4. 9.Roccamandolfi841 residentsIsernia · MoliseAt 850 meters at the foot of Monte Miletto, a Matese village of brigand legends, Lombard ruins, and a Tibetan bridge over the Callora canyon.
  5. 10.Pescocostanzo1,081 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoA planned Renaissance town at 1,395 meters on the Quarto Grande plateau, with bobbin lace, wrought iron, and the wood ceilings of a five-nave church.

We write about towns like these every Sunday, one town a week, with the photo, the food, the festa. Free, from Pietrasanta.

By subscribing you agree to Substack’s Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and our Information collection notice.

Keep browsing

Five more ways into the catalogue

Subscribe — free

Get the best guides on hidden Italian towns.

One letter on Sundays. The week’s town, with the photo, the food, the festa. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

By subscribing you agree to Substack’s Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and our Information collection notice.

Substack sends a confirmation link to your inbox. The signup finishes when it’s clicked.

From elsewhere in Italy

Five more towns to discover