Italy in June - What are your favorite breaks from crowded tourist locations?

I dare say if anyone on this forum has visited and loved a place, it's not "undiscovered."

That said, when I drove around Tuscany from one hill town to another, all the ones you've heard of were filled with crowds. I stopped at a few that weren't listed in any guidebooks. Most were not as lovable as the famous ones, but Bagno Vignoni was delightful and I didn't see any other Americans there.

Otherwise, try starting from someplace on the beaten path and then hike or walk or bike or drive off it. If you have a car it's easy to find less-trafficked back roads. Maybe you'll be lucky and find an undiscovered gem. If you do, don't tell anyone about it. That's how it will remain undiscovered for someone else to discover it.

Well, it is not exactly undiscovered but in Venice my brother needed some green space so the hotel reception gal drew us out her jogging route which took us to the East (more or less) end of the island to the Parco della Rimembranze. We got into some trees and grassy areas and away from the cruise ship tourists.

In Rome there are a couple of big parks near the Colosseum plus a lovely rose garden up above the Circus Maximus as you head up the Aventine Hill.

Ostia Antica is refreshingly quiet. Umbrella pine trees cover much of the site, providing welcome shade and a fresh, "outdoorsy" scent. Access is easy from central Rome.

Here's a photo of the crowd at the entrance to Ostia Antica, on a midday Friday, last May 29.

Tivoli and Villa d'Este are not "undiscovered" but are less crowded than the center of Rome. Ostia Antica, as mentioned, is great too, and the Appian Way or Parco degli Acquedotti (Aqueduct Park).

Are you traveling by car or by public transportation?

I can't guarantee of any place worth seeing in Italy with absolutely zero tourists (maybe zero American tourists, since Americans tend to go all to the same places), however there are lots of spots even in the cities you are visiting which will not be crowded at all, even in June. Below are some examples in Florence, but the list is limitless.

Some of the historical parks of Florence:
http://www.florenceinitaly.com/florence-tourism/florence-parks-and-gardens-tour.html
Or the Medicis' villas in or around Florence.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_villas

Graveyard at the top of Manarola

You might consider the hill towns south of southern Lazio south of Rome such as Anagni, Piglio, Fiuggi, Fumone, any in the Val Di Comino and many others. You would be hard pressed to find any English speakers let alone American tourists. Lots of history here and some beautiful views and authentic Ciociaria cuisine.
Hope I haven't let the cat out of the bag and have this area "discovered" by the hordes😌

Anywhere that's not ...
Rome
Florence
Venice
Cinque Terre
Amalfi Coast

In July 2012, I had every room of Palazzo Te in Mantova to myself.

Thank you for your responses! We are going to take trains whenever possible, but pick up and drop off rental cars in between. I'm definitely willing to brave the crowds for sights like the Sistine Chapel (can't wait!!!!) and the art in Florence (I've been dreaming of seeing Florence for years), but when we leave the big city, we want to leave them behind, if possible. Have any of you ever been to Italy's national parks (not counting Cinque Terre)?

In S. Tuscany check Sovana... Pitigliano...Sorano...Asendonia. In Lazio...Soriano nel Cimino....Tuscania...Casperia...Viterbo. These are all well off the main guide book trail. Lazio is chuck full of cool towns and sites largely overlooked by those hurrying to get to Tuscany.

I am going to Val di Susa in June for 3 days of quiet down time at the end of my trip this year. I'll be hiking to a rifugio (mountain hut), visiting Sacra di San Michele, a famous abbey on a pilgrimage route, and staying at Certosa1515, a 500-year-old deconsecrated convent.

This is west of Turin, and off the main tourist routes, so I think it will be exactly what you're describing. I have been to Turin, but not to here, so I haven't truly "discovered" it yet.

We have taken a picnic to Certosa in Venice, about a ten minute vaporetto ride from Osperdale. Open space, kids kicking footballs, a herd of wild goats that we saw one time, and a bar for a noonday spritz. What's not to like .....

The popular cities/towns/areas that David mentions above will be tourist-heavy in June, no doubt about it. You may have more success at the attractions during the week rather than weekends as we have traveling in March, but I wouldn't count on it in the summertime.

Maybe I am more sensitive to it than most, but when visiting places like the Sistine Chapel (Vatican City) and the Uffizi (Florence) in October, even though we bought tickets in advance and pretty much breezed in, the crowds once inside were such a pain in the butt that I had to talk myself out of letting it ruin my day. I said never again, so we've traveled off-season since then. In March, even though places like Musee D'Orsay (Paris) and Il Duomo (Florence) were still very crowded on the weekend, Paris' The Louvre, the Amalfi Coast and the Pompei ruins were wide open during the week, a real pleasure.

But if you really want an Italian getaway from tourists in June, find someplace inland, still on a train or bus line but not very easily accessible, and just go there. Book a hotel in advance, and hang out for a couple or three days, visit the grocery, do your laundry, eat where the locals eat. Do some advance research on the history of where you're visiting. Bring your English/Italian translator, because far enough off the beaten path there won't be much English spoken--which is great!

We did a heritage trip last March to my great-great grandparents' hometown, Sant' Arsenio, an hour southeast of Salerno in the mountains. I assure you, we were the only tourists in town that day, which was a little scary and cool all at once. Granted, we had a driver take us and translate our way around for the day, but I had a sense that I could've spent a week alone to totally immerse myself into the hilltown culture, and maybe I would've found out more about my ancestors than I did in 4 hours. In its own way, it's adventure travel--you never know what you're going to find.

Picking up on Jay's thread, Abruzzo is largely unvisited by English speakers. We liked little Castelli and its wonderful ceramics. There's a sweet B&B there that was Euro 50 per night for two.

On the way, spend a night at Santo Stefano in the Albergo Diffuso. Very unique experience. You can get a package with dinner, breakfast, and a lunch packed for the next day for your picnic as you tour.

3 nights in Abruzzo and you will feel like you have left the hoards behind!

Wow, you are all speaking my language! Nelly, we are thinking of hiking to a rifugio (I had a friend who did that in Switzerland); it sounds fabulous. I'm madly learning all the Italian I can. I speak Spanish, so that helps a lot, except that you end up substituting Spanish words when you don't know the Italian word. But I see this as a chance to become tri-lingual, if I can get back for a 2nd trip in 2017, maybe find some Italian friends to chat with in the meantime....anyway, who knows how well it will work, but I'm excited to go where there are not a lot of English speakers.

In Venice, any place that's away from San Marco will have fewer tourists. I have a book called "Venice for Pleasure" that has great walking tours that have led us away from the crowds, into areas where it was us and locals (granted, that was in October, not June). I like that book in particular because it includes paintings by Canelletto that are of the places that you're walking (and still look quite similar). One of my favorite Venice memories is walking in the morning in the Cannaregio, I think just past the chiesa della Madonna dell'orto. We stopped at a little bar for some coffee - we were the only tourists, and the only people there (in the morning) not drinking alcohol.

A few km south of tourist-filled but scenic San Gimignano, we took a walk/hike to an old castle. (I think it's called castelvecchio in val d'elsa). It was a pretty walk and the ruins were atmospheric and rather gothic. Also, San Gimignano has a walk that goes all the way around the city, outside the walls.

People say that in Rome, Trastevere has been "discovered," and it may have been. But I think there are fewer English-speaking people in that neighborhood than others, and it's an interesting area. One of my favorite churches and sculptures is Santa Cecilia. I think the sculpture looks like it could have been made in the last century.

Here's another vote for Ostia Antica if you're in Rome. Another option that's a little harder to get to is the Aqueduct Park, south of the historic center.

For Venice, just wander away from the main pedestrian thoroughfares. You can definitely get away from the crowds. Here are some photos I took of "Uncrowded Venice", mostly over some visits in May of different years. There's also a park in the Sant'Elena neighborhood (the "tail of the fish" that is Venice when you look at a map, past the Arsenale). It's called the Parco delle Rimembranze. if you go there, you will probably be the only tourists.

While in Venice I enjoyed walking around the streets until I found areas that weren't filled with tourists. After taking wrong turns and walking into dead ends a few times, I found a lovely spot along the river where I could sit, relax and watch gondolas go by.

I was in Italy for about 2 months last year, beginning on May 25, so this is relatively current info:

Trastevere in Rome was not overrun by tourists in late May. Of course, at that time Rome as a whole was not dreadful (I didn't go to the Vatican on this trip). I also enjoyed the Aventine Hill and the protestant cemetery nearby. Nobody at the latter but me and the cats.

Agree on Viterbo (walled city, not tiny) and Tuscania (bus from Viterbo, very atmospheric small town; seemed I was about the only tourist there on a June Monday).

Ravenna-of-the-mosaics had surprisingly few tourists on Sunday, July 12, given the magnitude of its interest to tourists. Faenza is attractive and lightly visited, but I guess of primary interest to those heading to the ceramic museum. It wouldn't be one of my top recommendations for run-of-the-mill tourists.

Padua wasn't overcrowded July 13-17. I got the feeling that a lot of the folks going to the Scrovegni Chapel don't spend much time in the city.

I enjoyed Vicenza (Palladian architecture) on a Tuesday in mid-July, though there certainly were other tourists walking down the main street toward the Teatro Olimpico. I rubbed shoulders with a tour group of about 20 US servicemen, apparently visiting from a nearby base.

Arezzo didn't feel very touristy on Saturday, June 6, though there were folks clustered around the extensive outdoor antique stalls. I believe the latter is a monthly rather than weekly event but haven't verified that.

In the Sud Tirol, Bressanone/Brixen seems to get far fewer tourists than Bolzano/Bozen, but even the latter--which is much larger--isn't bad. The cute little town of Ortisei was pretty dense with tourists on Monday, July 20. Other Dolomite towns might be better for those who are averse to that sort of atmosphere.

It's been 20 years, but I bet the Gargano Peninsula is still the back-of-beyond except for spots near beaches.

Sicily away from the coast.

In my experience, the places with the highest density of tourists are the major cities that get chapters in guidebooks and smaller but accessible places that are both picturesque and near a beach. Stay far, far away from beaches. There are of course exceptions like San Gimignano.

It is possible to find a break from "the hoards of tourists" even in the mostly dense tourist locations:
1. Cinque Terre: the hike out of the back of the Riomaggiore, there is the most incredible view of the CT; we had it to ourselves during the first week of July. If you continue on this hike, it goes all the way to Portovenere. We saw a handful of people over the several hours, but most if not all were Italian.

2. Capri: This was off-season (November), we hiked to the ruins of the villa Tiberius. Saw one other person.
3. Amalfi Coast: hiked a trail to a tiny village. It was cold and drizzly, but did not see a soul on the trail.
3. Sempione Park in Milan: Ran in the park; there was quite a few people, but no tourists: just locals enjoying the green space.
4. Small café in Rome; I spent an afternoon drinking and enjoying coffee and reading a novel in a tiny café.

5. Villa Borghese: I ran in this park on two mornings. I passed Romans going to work as I ran to the park. Once there, I saw just a few people. I virtually had the park to myself.
6. Do something non-touristy. For me that that has included running marathons in Florence and Bergamo. Again, there were quite a few people, but it was not an international event with English speakers. Even better was a small race in Pistoia that was totally a local event. Cycling on the roads of Tuscany was a great way to spend time away from the touristy sites, but still enjoy the scenery.

Next time, also look at Le Marche, a region with some stellar cities but only a few are crowded. I am in Urbino now, and there are lots of tourists, but other cities in the region are smaller and less saturated. If you have to go to a tourist-heavy beach, Pesaro is a good choice (art and history and several nice piazze).

pamela.mccollam, please try and throw the word "americans" around a little more

Based on my experience in June 2015, you can add Ravenna to your list of lightly visited cities. I was shocked, given how well known and lovely the mosaics are. I visitedTuscania (ancient hill-town) and Viterbo (larger city)--mentioned above--on the same trip and was pleased to be one of the few tourists present.

Celfan, I'm sorry for offending you, the post is gone.

Another vote for Ostia Antica on the edge of Rome. For Venice, go to St. Mark's in the evening. During the day, head to neighborhoods away from the Rialto Bridge-to-St. Mark's path. Also, getting up early in the morning to walk around Venice gives you a completely different feeling.

On future trips, if you really like the outdoors, you would love Moena in the Dolomites - gorgeous area with hardly any tourists in the summer. Also, another place we really enjoyed where we were the only Americans was Grosseto. They had a special evening Notte Visibile (sp?) where we mixed with all of the locals in the Medieval historical center for a variety of music & art options. And, their museum with Etruscan artifacts was free that evening.