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10 towns where August is actually fine

Comuni whose August is marked best or quiet in the visiting calendar, not hot and crowded. 10 towns shown, ranked by recognitions held.

August in Italy is a national migration with a heat problem. But the calendar is not uniform: at altitude, on windward coasts, in towns that live off their residents rather than their visitors, the month behaves.

Our calendar marks each of these as best or quiet in August, not hot and crowded. Ferragosto lunch still requires a reservation; some laws hold everywhere.

  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.

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  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.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.
  3. 8.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.
  4. 9.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.
  5. 10.Gromo1,141 residentsBergamo · LombardyA medieval iron-forging town at 676 meters on a rock spur above the Serio, once called the little Toledo for its sword smiths.

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

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