I suggest SIROLO (near Ancona,Marche Region). And the "Giglio island" /Tuscany/ (is so small that can be a little town). Ciao

Lucignano, outside of Monte San Savino, not too far from Arezzo. Beautiful city, friendly people, a short drive from Assisi, Orvieto, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Siena, Perugia -- a perfect home base! I also enjoyed Bassano del Grappa, and Bergamo, at least Citta Alta, but so far, Lucignano gets my vote!

lucignano

myra: where else have you been in le marche? i have not been to san leo still, unfortunately, but hope to go. (currently i am based in le marche).<BR><BR>my favorite italian small town is san ginesio, a lovely hill town in Le Marche region that is quiet and sunny and has great views and fresh figs growing along the city walls. <BR><BR>other ones i really like:<BR>norcia, in umbria<BR>sarnano in le marche<BR>ostuni (puglia)<BR>sirolo (le marche)--this one is great since it's a little hidden beach town.<BR>gubbio in umbria is nice too.

St. Remy de Provence and Honorable Mention to Lourmarin in the Luberon in Provence.

While we loved Bassano de Grappa, I wouldn't call it &quot;little&quot;. Asolo (about five miles away) is little and utterly charming. <BR>Among my Italian, &quot;small town&quot; favorites, besides Asolo, would be Muggia (an ancient fishing village about five miles South of Triste), Glorenza (an also ancient, walled village near the Swiss/Austrian border and also known as Glurns in this land of dual languages), and, Grado (another fishing village not far from Aquileia in Veneto. And, another vote for Castelrotto (the setting and hiking opportunities are awesome).

&gt;<BR>Positano on the Amalfi Coast;<BR>Portovenere on the Ligurian Coast;<BR>Monteriggioni in Tuscany --- although I've only tapped the surface of the Tuscan region and suspect my list of favorite tiny towns there will one day include more mentioned by other posters.<BR>

ttt

France- San Malo, a good home base for Mont St. Michel and so charming. Walk all along the raised stone walls of the town, swim on the beach, drink cider and eat buckwheat crepes.<BR><BR>Italy- anywhere in the Chianti region- I think it may be heaven. Also Sperlonga- once you're in the main square, Piazza della Europa, walk down the steps and look at the white benches with tiled designs on an overlook of the ocean- it may be the most perfect place for a sunset.<BR><BR>Sue

Hi, Sue, can you elaborate on Sperlonga? I'm not Italy-fluent; is it near a town I'd recognize? Thanks, it sounds wonderful.

Montecatini Alto in Tuscany... Wonderful!

To keep this one near the top, I'll add a couple more favorites to my little Gerra-G on Lago Maggiore. In Alsace, Dambach-la-ville; in Brittany, Dinan; in Switzerland, Rivaz and Rapperswil and Altdorf, and in the UK, Monkton Farleigh. J.

Hi, I'm so glad this post is still going.This year we found any other beautiful little town. Pienza. We loved it. Try all the cheese.

We loved Calle di Val d'Elsa near Siena, Certaldo (Alta) for its sweet smallness and the fabulous Osteria di Vicario, and also Todi in Umbria. What small hilltop town don't I love??

since last posting i had another (plus i love this question about small hill towns and couldn't let it die!):

Modena, which I visited in August of all times. Still, it was lovely with a wonderful cobblestone piazza and quaint quaint side streets. really a great escape, i'd say.

PLUS Sulmona (anyone been there? it's incredible), although it didn't feel as small as some of the other little towns I have visited. Sulmona is a wonderful little Abruzzo town.

Marola and Fiume Veneto are 2 great little towns, Longare was nice as well.

What fun to have this post revived. I responded in 2002 and since then have added to my own list by traveling to several of the places mentioned on this post by others--most notably Tourettes sur Loup in the Alpes Maritimes area of Southern France. I think I'll print this out and start working away at the list to see how many notches I can add to my baggage.

Joucas and Bonnieux in Provence,
St Leon sur Vezere in the Dordogne
(along with Beynac)

Chiusi (the centro) as it was the first Tuscan town we stayed in...and we loved that we felt it was more residential than touristic. Orvieto (which is acually in Umbria) is more touristy, but really &quot;arty&quot; and fun.

Has anyone mentioned the Loire valley yet? If not, let me chime in with Chinon. Spent a very nice week there. Charming medieval village, friendly people, good wine and food, and a great big ruined castle sitting over everything.

Other notable small-ish towns:
San Gimignano
Orta San Giulio
Asolo (great views!)
Bergamo (cita alta)
Gubbio, Spoleto, Cortona, etc. (more Italian hilltowns)
Bellagio, Mennagio, Varenna, etc. (Lake Como)
Murren (Bernese Oberland)
Blois, Amboise, Saumur (Loire valley again)

Ask me again after my summer trip to Scotland!

Just the tip of the iceberg: Alberobello (Apulia); Montone (Umbria); and Lerici (Liguria).
((c))