walled villages in Italy

Hi, since I'm from Veneto region, I can reccomend you two villages near Padua: Montagnana and Cittadella; both villages have well preserved city walls.

carol,

There are lots of choices in Italy. How about....

• Lucca
• Siena
• Cortona
• San Gimignano
• Orvieto
• Ravenna

All of the above are good suggestions, but our preference is Lucca - an easy day trip from either Florence or Pisa, and with the option to stroll or bike around the pleasant ramparts atop the wall. A complete circuit is about 2.5 miles. There are several nice shaded places along the way for coffee, a gelato or lunch, and you always have the option of dipping back down into the town for something more substantial at a proper restaurant. RS describes it in excellent detail in one of his videos.

Thanks to all responses. 2021 here we come!
Carol

I loved Lucca too and it was one of my favorite places in Tuscany - after Florence and Siena. But It's too large to be considered a 'village'. Both Orvieto and San Gimignano are much smaller and Volterra is a beautiful town so worth considering. A lot could depend on where you will be in Italy - Tuscany, Veneto, Rome area, Naples/Amalfi Coast, etc.

very few villages are walled.

Towns, particularly hill towns, were walled and a few still exist.

Most of the ones named above are actually large towns or small cities, Siena for example.

As others have said, a great deal of the right answer will depend on where you will be.

I can add:
- Monteriggioni (Siena province)
- Civita di Bagnoregio (not exactly walled, but in a very scenic position and set of several movies)
- San Leo (Rimini province)
- Gradara (Pesaro-Urbino province; on one side Urbino itself)
- Ostuni (Brindisi province)

I’m a late comer to this thread, but Lucca is a fabulous and unique walled town. Due to the restrictions of cars, there are numerous people on bikes (some call it “the Venice of bikes”). There are so many things to do and since its on the main Pisa-Firenze train line, you can go almost anywhere from there easily. We always stay at Piccolo Hotel Puccini, an inexpensive, central and great place in the walls near San Michele. There are always concerts and outdoor music and many times when we were walking around, we would hear people singing. If you need more info, just pm me.

There are many historic "walled" or hilltop towns in Italy. Assisi is beautiful. Rome used to have walls. Some parts of it still exist. I believe Montepulciano. Others have already been mentioned. Volpaia - I have never been to Volpaia and cannot comment on it. I believe RS covers these type of towns in his guides. Technically - San Marino is a separate country.