Sulmona, Italy

Sulmona and the rest of Abruzzo are seldom visited by North Americans or any non-Italians for that matter. Why? Most of "us" go for the big sites, the hot tourist locations, in the limited travel and vacation time we have.

I have not been to Sulmona but I have been to other places in Abruzzo twice for weekends. It is very relaxing, rural, and small town. You can hike, relax, take drives in the mountains, and even visit nice beaches along the Adriatic, but there are not check-off-my-list sights. I don't know where you are from, but perhaps you can relate to this. When I lived in Portland, Oregon, we frequently went to Cannon Beach -- usually twice a year. Not to "discover" but to do normal vacation-weekend stuff: walk on the beach, eat at favorite restaurants, go shopping. We loved it, but we would not have done that if we had paid $1500 each to fly there and had limited time. Since we now live in Rome, sometimes we just want to get away to a country location and chill, away from hoards of tourists. I also get to practice my Italian this way because there are VERY few English speakers in these smaller towns of the less-touristed regions.

If you have been to Italy, seen the big sights, have time to spare and don't mind driving, there are some gems in Abruzzo. This hotel is one of the coolest places we've ever stayed. It's on the way to the magnificent Parco Nationale di Gran Sasso. And if you like ceramics, try Castelli. Quite charming.

I would add the following...

Its a nice town but small and by Italian standards removed from main train routes etc. It is also in the mountains and from chatting with a few locals there I got the impression that a lot of Romans come there to hike in the summer and do a bit of sledding etc in the winter. (Sulmona gets a decent amount of snow).

I think it suffers from location as much as anything. While there is not a punch list of famous sites, I really appreciated the main piazza with remnants of the via ducts and a few of the old churches in town.

Transportation to Sulmona is not super convenient. The train station is a bit out of the center and my recollection is its a slow ride from Rome. I took the bus which was a very nice coach and was dropped off near the center of town. Its well worth a visit but I think most people on a day trip from Rome would choose more well know options and I think those bound for the Adriatic side would choose other routes.

They have quite an Easter tradition there which I hope to some day catch in person.

We were in Sulmona last month and enjoyed it very much. I would say that one would appreciate staying there more if they enjoy outdoor activities. Our accommodation was Hotel Rojan which is well reviewed on Tripadvisor. We were only there for 2 nights but managed to have an excellent meal, some great gelato, some tasty pizza and got in a great hike. Getting there was via bus from Salerno and then departing for Rome via train. Both journeys were very scenic for most of the way.
If you google Sulmona, you'll get lots of info and some pics. I could see us returning for a week and use it as a base for hiking in the mountains.

There are lots of places that Rick Steves doesn't cover. That doesn't mean they don't exist or they are less worthy of a visit.

The issue is that Rick Steves caters to a specific niche, a specific type of traveler. Basically the North American independent traveler who's approaching a country for the first time.

If you are from North America and travel to Italy for the first time and only have 2 or 3 weeks max. at your disposal, obviously you want to hit the most famous sites first.

Those sites are the most famous not necessarily because they are more beautiful, but sometimes because of marketing reasons. Many regions of Italy, have not done a great job at promoting their wares, especially in the South. Tuscany has, probably more than any other region. The region of Sicily is consistently ranked the top 1 among Italians, yet it has been discovered by North Americans only recently. Apulia, Basilicata, Sardinia, Abruzzo, Marche among others are virtually unknown to most North Americans, yet they are very popular with Italians and increasingly with northern Europeans.

Give it time, and Rick Steves will eventually venture outside Vernazza, Montepulciano and Varenna.