Where to Go in January in Italy: Art Cities and Villages Out of Season

January has one advantage almost no other month can boast: the historic centres can breathe again. Once the peak of the holidays has passed and before carnival, Italy's art cities and villages shake off the summer crowds, while regional trains and hotels drop in price. If you are wondering where to go in January in Italy, the answer depends on what you are after: warm museums and frescoed churches, towns dusted with snow, or coasts in the South where a sweater is enough at midday. Here is a considered selection, built precisely for out-of-season travel.

The art cities

The most obvious choice, and in January the most sensible, is the art cities: everything that matters is indoors and the queues outside the monuments vanish. In Florence, while Piazza del Duomo stays crowded even in the cold, it is worth seeking out the Chiostro dello Scalzo, a cycle of monochrome frescoes that is almost always empty. In Milan, instead of chasing after the Duomo, it is better to lose yourself among the Liberty-style palaces of the Quadrilatero del Silenzio, beautiful under the leaden winter sky. Further east, the red-brick courtyards of Ferrara and the maze of the Ghetto and the Pescherie Vecchie of Bologna offer intimate walks, perfect between one stop at an osteria and the next. If you love the great Savoyard capitals, Turin too has much to offer in January, with the Luci d'Artista still lit and some of the most important museums in Italy.

The short, grey days are also the right moment for the art beneath your feet and underground, sheltered from the weather. At Aquileia you can walk on the largest early Christian mosaic in the West, in a basilica you visit almost in solitude in winter. In Otranto, in the depths of a wintering Salento, the Tree of Life spread across the cathedral floor is a medieval masterpiece that the summer crush stops you from taking in calmly. And in Lazio, an hour from Rome, the frescoed crypt of Anagni is a true painted encyclopedia of the 13th century: you forget the cold outside the moment you step in.

Villages in the snow

If instead you dream of a trip with snow, January is the ideal month for mountain villages without the siege of mass skiing. In the Val Venosta, Glorenza, the walled town that time never touched, with its intact walls under the snow, looks as if it were drawn. In the Aosta Valley, Bard, the stone village in the shadow of the fort combines medieval alleys with a fortress-museum that easily fills a cold day. Further south, among the spires of the Lucanian Dolomites, Castelmezzano and its stone houses offer one of the most spectacular winter panoramas in the South.

The mild South

Then there is the Italy that stays mild in January, where the low light sets the Baroque centres aglow and you can walk without a heavy coat. In Sicily, Caltagirone and its staircase of 142 majolica steps can be visited in gentle weather and at low prices. In Calabria, Gerace, the spur of stone that dominates the Locride and the Ionian offers glimpses of the winter sea and a Norman cathedral among the largest in the South. If you prefer the classic destinations, Naples too, the Valle d'Itria with Alberobello and Locorotondo, and Matera with its living nativity scenes at the start of the month are all excellent in January.

Finally, January is the month of thermal spas and relaxation. In Piedmont, Garessio with its waters between the Ligurian Alps and the Langhe is the classic restorative weekend getaway, to pair with a tour of the villages of the Val Tanaro. And for anyone seeking atmosphere more than warmth, on Lake Maggiore the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, clinging to the rock is even more evocative in winter, with the still waters and no one contending for the view.

A practical tip

A practical tip: in January always check the reduced opening hours of museums and sites, often on a winter schedule, and book central accommodation to make the most of the daylight hours. That is precisely the beauty of out-of-season travel: the same places, but with the time and the space to really look at them.

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