On foot in the Matese: the Hermitage of Sant'Egidio and the drovers' roads of Bojano
Above Bojano, at a thousand metres in the Matese, the Hermitage of Sant'Egidio and the transhumance drovers' roads tell of a slow, silent Molise.
Almost desertedDestination calendar
Month by month, the least crowded destinations to visit. Choose when you travel and we'll tell you where to go.
September — top 12 of 1214 destinations
Staffarda Abbey: 12th-Century Romanesque Amid Rice Fields
A 12th-century Cistercian abbey set amid the Piedmont rice fields, Staffarda is one of Italy's best-preserved monastic complexes — and rarely visited.
Almost deserted
Acciaroli: Hemingway's Port Full of Centenarians
A small Cilento port where Hemingway wrote, where centenarians outnumber tourists, and the sea still belongs to fishermen. Italy's oldest coast.
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Instead of Santorini: Folegandros, the Secret Cycladic Island Suspended Above the Sea
A Greek island with no airport, no resort hotels and no crowds. Chora is a medieval borgo perched on a clifftop that takes your breath away.
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Alicudi: the island without roads where the world stands still
No cars, no scooters, no tarmac: on Alicudi you get around on foot or by mule. It is the most isolated of the Aeolian Islands, and perhaps the most genuine.
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The Alta Via del Sale from Limone Piemonte to Monesi
On the border between Piedmont and Liguria, the Alta Via del Sale runs above 2,000 metres along an ancient military gravel road between Italy and France. Open only in the short summer window and with limited entry, it remains one of the wildest and most silent high-altitude routes in the Alps.
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Alta Via of the Friulian Dolomites (AV6)
In the province of Pordenone, High Route number 6 crosses the Friulian Dolomites, the wildest and most rugged of the entire Dolomite range, with no ski lifts at all. The huts are few and far apart, and encounters on the trails rarer still: it is the realm of solitude in the high mountains.
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An alternative to Neuschwanstein: 13 fairy-tale castles in Italy and Europe
Looking for an alternative to Neuschwanstein? Here are 13 fairy-tale castles and fortresses in Italy and Europe, without the queues of 6,000 visitors a day.
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The Sila Plateau: Ancient Forests and Silent Lakes in the Heart of Calabria
A vast highland of primeval forests and crystalline lakes above 1,000 metres, where summers are cool and winters bring skiing among ancient larch pines. Calabria's mountain secret.
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The Lago della Duchessa loop in the Monti della Duchessa
Lago della Duchessa is a small glacial lake hidden among the limestone ridges on the border between Lazio and Abruzzo, in the reserve of the same name between Rieti and L'Aquila. Though close to Rome, it remains a destination for just a few hikers, far from the busiest tourist routes.
Almost deserted
The Monte Cucco loop among Umbrian caves and high plateaus
In the Monte Cucco Park, on the Umbrian-Marche Apennines, beech woods, sinkholes and one of the deepest caves in Italy await in a little-known corner: a slow, silent mountain loop, far from Umbria's more beaten destinations.
Almost deserted
The Monte Miletto Loop in the Matese
On the Matese massif, straddling Molise and Campania, Monte Miletto looms over karst lakes, high pastures and woods where roe deer have been thriving again since their reintroduction in 2008. A borderland mountain, rich in nature and well off every tourist trail.
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