Interesting Towns NOT in Rick's Guidebooks

Hi Frank,

I visited Arezzo as a day trip from Cortona in 2007. It is a modern city with an old historic center. If you have seen the film "Life is Beautiful" you will recognize portions of the town as they filmed part of it here. There were a number of markers around town (e.g. across from the cinema) showing scenes from the movie. I visited the main piazza (which is lovely), the cathedral, walked around the town, and had a fabulous lunch (although don't remember where ... just a place that I walked by).

Arezzo was not my favorite place; I prefer either large cities or the small hill towns and this was definitely in the middle. But I have not found a place in Italy that I don't like. One plus is that Arezzo does not feel like a tourist town in the least. I think that you could find things to do in a 2 night stay. It is easily accessible by train. I took the train and walked from the train station to the historic center. It will really depend on your preferences.

i llllllooooooooooooved Parma and really liked Bologna. Not in your geographical area but both are a must-see for foodies particularly.

Bologna has my vote too! Also the owners of the hotel we stayed in near Montepulciano told us about a small village in Tuscany called Monticchiello--it was lovely!

I loved Bologna.

I like Perugia.

I have enjoyed traveling on the Adriatic side of Italy; Bari, Trani, Pesaro, lots of towns on the coast covered by other guides but not Rick.

Bologna

Buy (or sneak into the bookstore and peek at) the Michelin green guide for Italy. It ranks all the towns (and has similar rankings on the map so you're not hopping back and forth between things).

The Michelin series is based on rankings by real experts, not just what appeals to a handful of people who contribute to the other guidebooks.

We absolutely do not travel without these things if there's one for the country we're in. No baloney, just hard information you can trust.

I've never been south of Bozen/Bolzano, but since you added "feel free to comment on towns in other areas of Italy if you wish", I'd like to add Brixen/Bressanone.

www.brixen.org

Paul

BOLOGNA! There is good shopping and good food there, but it is not a touristy place at all, and a very walkable city. I recommend the Hotel Porta San Mamolo. FYI--I found the taxi drivers to be quite honest there.

Ventimiglia or Ventimille. Same town. In Italy, but very close to French border. A good stopping-off place while traveling between the two countries. There are bus/train connections throughout the area, a beautiful promenade along the sea, a nice park/playground, a large outdoor market, several reasonable hotels and restaurants, and a good place to buy liquor before entering France.

Certainly Bologna.

Modena might be another depending on what your interests are.

For Italy the best answer might be almost everywhere. There are a ton of great places in Italy and Rick covers hardly any of them.

We have been to Pistoia several times and love it. It's about a 20 minute train ride from Florence on the way to Pisa/Lucca and the CT area. About 90,000 folks and NOT touristy at all. Charming old area and plaza.

A coworker of mine loves the islands of Ponza, off the coast between Rome and Naples.

Bologna is definitely worth a 2 night visit. Be sure to eat at a restaurant that serves local cuisine (there are many).

We found Arezzo to be fairly unremarkable, although to be fair we didn't stay in Arezzo proper but at an agriturismo about 20 minutes outside of the city.

San Quirico is certainly a charming little town. The parking (free) is easy and convenient and this town is almost tourist free--quiet and cute. We were there last May and found capers growing out of the wall surrounding the town. I know Piensa is in RS guidebook but we love this town also.

Brescia (between Milano and Verona). Great local museum in the castle, another great small museum in the monastery, friendly folks, easy walking town, beautiful hillsides.

Another vote for Monticchiello. I stopped for lunch there in 2004 and it was lovely and very quiet.

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback! Sounds like I should think about adjusting my upcoming itinerary to include Bologna, and I also have some interesting new places to consider for future trips.

Two more votes for Monticchiello and San Quirico. Both are very unspoiled...we walked around Montichiello at about 2 in the afternoon on a weekday and you could almost hear the ghosts. I don't think much has changed over the years (other an ATM machine I was able to find). There is an excellent restaurant perched on a hill just as you enter town. San Quirico is similarly quiet, free of tourists, and has a number of good restaurants. You could hit both very easily while taking in the beautiful Val d'Orcia. For two nights, I would stay in nearby Pienza.

I would like to add one more vote for Bologna and recommend the Albergo delle Drapperie. It is located in the heart of town and is very charming and well priced.

We also enjoyed our stay at Albergo delle Drapperie in Bologna!

I enjoyed the Hotel Paradise in Bologna, it's about 5 min walk from the main square but nice and quiet and comfy. I'm so glad to see Bologna is so popular! While it's not as "artsy" as Florence or "regal" as Venice or "historical" as Rome, nor does it have the physical beauty of any of those three, it has plenty of great museums, and the food, oh the food!!!! It also has some cool museums (mostly affiliated with the university) and a few really beautiful churches. Also, because the other cities in Emilia-Romagna are largely close by (Modena, Ferrara, my beloved Parma, etc), it's great to make Bologna a base and just hop around to all these other wonderful food meccas as well. one cool thing is that if you are there on a weekend and staying at a participating hotel, the tourist board offers free guided tours (one of 4 main museums and one of main sites like the churches and squares)... on the Saturday afternoon museum tour I took, there was no one else there so I got a free private guided tour of 4 museums with an official guide! It was fantastic.

Anyone been to San Leo?

Another vote for Bologna. My Bologna hotel rec. is Hotel Paradise. It was my favorite hotel of all the places I stayed on a two week trip.

Oh, and I can't remember whether the RS guidebook mentions Ravenna, but the mosaics there are absolutely worth a day trip.

I have to say Vieste is quite a wonderful place to visit. It is on the Gargano peninsula and has some wonderful beaches. Shops and dining are all great. it is not over run with tourists, and is very pedestrian friendly. All along the coast line are small and interesting towns to visit. This is a good location if you have a car as parking is never a problem.

Here is a link to my photos of Vieste

http://gallery.me.com/gregoryspeck#100266

Bergamo has a charming walled old city up a steep funicular from the main town. Lovely to wander around and many excellent and well priced places to eat. Al Donizetti has salumi to die for. (Sadly, possibly literally, if you eat too often there...)

Pozzuoli and the whole Campi Flegrei region west of Naples.

Cuneo. Its south of Turin. A very prosperous city.

I was thinking of posting the same question, as I am planning a trip in 2011. I am very interested in getting off the beaten path. I would like to find out more about the fabulous Lunigiana area of Northern Italy, towns like Pontremoli & Bardi. Also the beautiful Valle d'Aosta, located north of Torino leading to Mt Blanc. Taking in an Artichoke festival in southern Italy also sounds great. There's a big country there besides what's under the Tuscan sun.

Have you been to Gubbio? It is in Umbria--north of Rome and south of Florence, and it has not been hit hard (or hardly at all) by anything related to tourism yet. It is straight from Medieval times and has interesting history, food, and cultural events. It would be good to speak a little bit of Italian. It's close to Asissi but difficult to reach without a car (requires train and a bus to get there.)

Gubbio is great! I think Rick briefly mentions it, though not in detail. But it's definitely worth a stay. Also check out San Marino. Norcia can be worth a stop; so can Castelluccio, Narni and Amelia (very friendly). Anghiari has an interesting feel to it. I also think San Miniato has a little bit of character and a pretty nice duomo. Others that are worth a stay are Spoleto (especially) and Todi. Perugia can be a fun town as well, especially if you like younger crowds and people watching. Monteriggioni is a nice find; it's really small like CIvita, but has enough character to hold its own. Arezzo has been mentioned, and you can find some other worthwhile small towns around there like Poppi and Citta di Castello. Spello, Trevi, Bevagna, and Montefalco are all nice little town stops. Torgiano (super small) can be nice if you like wine (shop and museum) and Deruta (super small as well) if you like ceramics (museum). Many never get a chance to venture into southwestern Tuscany and see the likes of Pitigliano and Massa Marittima and the abbies between there and Montalcino. Viterbo isn't bad either.

Sorry, I'm kind of rambling on as they come to mind, jumping all over the map, but obviously I'm a big fan of a lot of great hilltowns! In terms of those worth a two night stay themselves that I've mentioned, I'd say Gubbio and Spoleto definitely; also possibly Arezzo, Perugia, San Marino, and maybe Todi or Massa Marittima (I say possibly to these, b/c if you get a feel/vibe for the town, you'll like it, but if it's not your taste...then it's probably not ideal). Also possibly Castelluccio if you like hiking out and about (though the actual town doesn't have anything to offer really). But all of the towns are worth a visit in my opinion, and you may even find one of the smaller ones more to your liking and worth an overnight stay more-so than the the others!

Anyway, these are just a handful of many towns to choose from around Italy!

Enjoy traveling!

You could always look at other guide books :-)

Seriously, though, the Adriatic side of Italy is much less visited by english-speaking travelers. There are tons of great places from below Bari thru Pesaro and beyond. In the region you mentioned try Urbino as a base, and with a car just go driving and stop any place that catches your eye.

I would also recommend, as many already have, Bologna and the surrounding area.

Mantua and Ferrara.

Here is another vote for Montechiello. It is beautiful. Another area that is not in Rick's book is the Piedmont. We stayed outside of Treiso at the Cantina Rizzi. It is a family owned winery that rents out two apartments. The views from there are stunning. Treiso has only about 800 residents but three very good restaurants. We only had two nights there and want to go back so we can tour more of the area. We got lucky as it was truffle festival time while we were there and I had shaved truffle on pasta at every meal. My husband complained about the expense but I thought it was well worth it.

I'm pleased that my January post has found new life. The places being mentioned sound great, and I hope to add a few to my future travels in Italy.

Gubbio was mentioned a few times. I was there last year for La Festa dei Ceri, held each May 15 for the past 700 years or so. It's a great day-long festival and well worth attending if you're in the area at that time. The ceri are candle-like cylinders with figures of the town's 3 saints atop. The ceri are raced through streets lined with cheering crowds. Not to give the ending away, but the Saint Ubaldo (patron saint) team won the race last year and, as I understand it, has for each of the past 700 years. If interested, you can get details at www.ceri.it.

Bologna

montechiello, monteriggioni, pienza, montepulciano!!!!!!, San Quirco, the entire Val di Orca region. poggio rosa, I could go on and on and on and on......... Caio, Jeff

I keep thinking about Prato. Its totally off the radar. But what I saw was an interesting town if you want out of the tourist zone and still close to Florence. In the center of the town there is the Castle Imperial. This is the prototypical medieval castle we all think about from Monty Python. But also some harsh realities about WWII to experience here also.

A lot of responses above recommend Bologna.

I've never understood why the Parma/Modina/Bologna aren't mentioned in Rick Steves' books. I consider the Po Valley of Emilia-Romagna a must see - especially if you put high value experiencing the must sublime of Italian cuisine.

I would also recommend Norcia, in southeastern Umbria. This is a small town, definitely off the beaten path. Known for its air and scenery, it is right next to the gorgeous Monti Sibillini National Park.

Again, for those determined to appreciate all the gastronomic pleasures of Italy, Norcia should be high on your list.

Thomas, regarding Bologna and the area -- ssshhh !

Mantova is lovely and very untouristy. Also enjoyed Gubbio too.