Little-known destinations, forgotten villages and whole regions to discover before everyone else does. The antidote to overtourism, one guide at a time.
Le guide che consigliamo di leggere per iniziare, curate a mano.
Discover Sabbioneta, the Renaissance ideal city built by Vespasiano Gonzaga: a theatre, a ducal palace and perfect streets in the Mantuan lowlands.
Very quiet Jul 5, 2026
Presicce-Acquarica hides hypogean oil-mills carved into the rock, a ducal palace, and a millennia-old olive oil tradition in the hidden lower Salento.
Almost deserted Jul 5, 2026
Palermo, Trapani, Agrigento, Ragusa, Syracuse, Etna: a 10-day slow Sicily itinerary with transport, budgets and stops you can actually sustain day after day.
Very quiet Jul 19, 2026
Unknown walled villages, gorges, hermitages, the deep Valnerina, and the plateaus of Colfiorito. The Umbria that never makes it into the standard guidebooks.
Very quiet Jul 18, 2026
Discover what to see in Positano in 2 days: beaches, flower-lined stairways, Santa Maria Assunta Church, Path of the Gods, Li Galli and the Amalfi Coast.
Moderately busy Jul 12, 2026
Cosa fare vicino a Verona in una giornata: nove mete tra trenta e sessanta chilometri dal capoluogo scaligero, raggiungibili in auto e treno.
Very quiet Jul 21, 2026
The real Italian-language travel phrasebook series, with practical advice and which language to take depending on your destination.
Jun 29, 2026
Learning a language to travel: an honest comparison of Duolingo, Babbel, Busuu, Pimsleur, MosaLingua and live tutors. Pros, cons and methods.
Jun 29, 2026
Books on slow travel, long-distance walks and journeys on foot: titles and authors to read, with itineraries through Italy's villages and wild places.
Jun 29, 2026
The first village in the Gard to be named a Plus Beau Village de France, Aiguèze looks down over the Ardèche gorges from an 11th-century fortress, home today to just 212 people.
Aug 3, 2026
An 11th-century abbey, the birth of colour photography, and a visit from Mark Twain: Talloires has long cultivated a quieter kind of tourism than the opposite shore of the lake.
Aug 3, 2026
Ten kilometres from Saint-Malo but a world away from its bustle, Saint-Suliac still lives at the pace of the Rance estuary, with its granite houses and a founding story tied to a Welsh monk.
Aug 3, 2026
A ruined medieval castle, restored stone by stone by an architect who chose to die there: Belcastel, population 189, also hides a Michelin-starred restaurant on the banks of the Aveyron.
Aug 3, 2026
A kilometre of limestone cliff, five levels of terraces carved by water: people lived here from the Upper Palaeolithic right through to the Renaissance, never really leaving.
Aug 3, 2026
A fortified town from the 12th to the 16th century, now home to barely 335 people: Charroux still lives behind its ramparts, with a truncated bell-tower church and a handmade mustard known since the 1700s.
Aug 3, 2026
A honey-stone village on a hilltop, a 10th-century castle, and a Cluniac collegiate church: Semur-en-Brionnais has the bearing of a capital without ever having had the population of one.
Aug 3, 2026
Volterra has a hearty hill-country cuisine built on wild boar and truffle, backed by the produce of the surrounding Val di Cecina.
Aug 3, 2026
Volterra is a walled hilltop town of Etruscan origin: where to stay between the compact centre and the Val di Cecina countryside.
Aug 3, 2026