Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Which Italy areas are your favorite

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Which Italy areas are your favorite

Besides Rome, Florence, Venice, Capri,Milan What are your favorite out of the way places to visit in Italy? I have been to the above cities and also Sicily and Lake Como and I am looking for other places to visit. I speak fluent Italian so language is not a problem.

Basilicata - totally undiscovered. Give it a try.

I'm tempted to say "all the areas south of Switzerland", and I wouldn't be all wrong. This summer I particularly enjoyed spending time in Puglia. The city of Lecce was beautiful and seemingly untouristed. The countryside of Calabria was great as well. And really enjoyed the towns of Matera and especially Polignano di Mare. It's also hard to leave out Sardinia and Sicily. Then of course, there are the "magical" lakes of northern Italy and the Dolomites. Ok,I'll go back to my original answer.

The art cities are the first thing people think of in Italy. However, after 11 trips to Italia, my top five destinations only include one of the major cities--Venice. The others are: The Lakes [ actually 3 destinations] The hill towns of Tuscany/Umbria The Dolomites The Amalfi coast It takes at least 6 weeks to see most of Italy--choose well and by region.

thanks for the replies so far. Any place you would recommend for staying in the places suggested? We would need a place that sleeps 4 or 6. Not sure how many people are going yet. It could be a villa or hotel. We will be spending at least 1 week somewhere just not sure where yet.

Venice and Amalfi gets my vote...

My personal undiscovered favorite: Rieti. A variety of posts here from me about it. Some might be retrievable by searching "Orvinio" (NOT Orvieto). Not that there is anything wrong with Orvieto (a place I have NOT been). Best wishes, Rex

When makes a big difference.

Umbria - Spello, Todi, Bevagna - the countryside is wonderful!

Thanks everyone Bob- it would be towards the end of June into July as with kids I don't have much of a choice as when to go. Last year we went to Rome, Venice and Sicily as the kids and other people traveling with me haven't been there before.

What about a castle just outside of Assisi?

Montepulciano and Pienza. Lovely strolls.

all the southern province of Siena, the Orcia valleys (most of the images representing Tuscany come from this particular area) wild and never crowded spotted with old hilltowns (Monticchiello, MOntepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino). Timeless, quiet, charming spot of Italy, never too celebrated... a trip for your soul

GA, I concur--southern Tuscany is hard to beat. I would stay near Montalcino and day trip from there. Where you stay depends on $ and rural or in town.

Howard, do tell about the castle outside of Assisi. Laura

What about a little italian island? Elba is the 3 biggest island, or you can try Tremiti Islands http://tremiti.planetek.it/0t/en/0t.htm

Agree with southern tuscany Mt. Amiata area,St.Antimo can stay in a rental on a farm RR

My vote if for Naples!!! I know you hear alot of negative but I love it. It is true Italy!! The people are great and the food is the best in Italy. Then there is that view of the bay, Ahhhhhhhh..........

I have a somewhat diverse list of places I enjoy the most in Italy, which perhaps gives you an idea of what I am like, but more than that, gives you an idea of the diverse places you can go in Italy. It's so many different countries packed into one. I am a big fan of slow travel, so my first suggestions would be to visit Le Marche and Umbria, giving yourself a few weeks. This is one of the best things to do. Central Italy is blessed with gorgeous hill towns, including Macerata (le Marche), Urbino (le Marche), Sarnano (Le Marche), Gubbio (Umbria), Perugia (Umbria), and Assisi (Umbria). Some other charming towns in these two central Italy regions are Spoleto (Umbria), Norcia (Umbria), Ascoli Piceno (Le Marche), and Loreto (Le Marche). On my trip to Puglia, which, by the way, is one of the hidden gems of Italy, where Italians go to take a break from it all (and your fluency will come in handy here!), I visited beautiful beautiful beautiful Lecce, the real jewel of the south. It is gorgeous, with what is known as Lecce Baroque around every corner. I loved Lecce. It is a welcome change to northern fastpaced Italy. Also, we visited Ostuni, which is beautiful for its whitewashed homes and Greek Isle feel, and the town of Trani, which is right on the Lecce-Milano line train and worth a stop over just to see the Romanesque church. Lucca and Siena in Tuscany are nice. I haven't visited enough of Tuscany, but these two cities are charming and make good trips from Florence. A LOT of people get caught up in Toscana, the beautiful Italian region, and miss out on some of the other hill town regions that I have listed above. Toscana is nice, but, in my opinion, it's a little overrated. Le Marche and Umbria are just as beautiful in terms of landscape, and worth a visit just to escape all of those people rushing into San Gimignano 18 times a day. Finally I would suggest Bologna, for the big town feel with great great food and a nice university life. If you like big cities, Bologna is among the best of them in Italy.