Anywhere Italy: the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip
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The letter · Town no. 65 of 1,000Perugia | The City upon a HillUmbria's capital is two cities stacked on a hillLatest from the catalogue
- Healthcare in Italy, Explained: What It Costs, Where to Go, and Who PaysHow Italian healthcare works if you are visiting or moving: the emergency room, the pharmacy that solves most problems, the 25 euro ticket, who gets billed, and why a doctor can prescribe you a spa.
- The 6 best olive oil towns inside a nature park in UmbriaUmbrian olive groves run right up to the boundaries of the region's nature parks, on the terraces above the Nera, along the Martani hills and around the shores of Trasimeno. These are towns where the November pressing still sets the calendar, and where the walking starts at the edge of the last olive terrace.
- The best towns inside a national park that have a serious restaurant in AbruzzoAbruzzo puts its national parks and its best kitchens in the same place: stone hill towns of the Maiella and the high Altopiano delle Cinque Miglia, where saffron, mutton, mountain cheese and confetti sugar almonds sit on menus that guide inspectors take seriously.
- The best mountain towns you can reach by train in LombardiaLombardia's mountain valleys run north from the plain into stone villages, chestnut woods and thermal water, and the railway follows them most of the way. These are Alpine and pre-Alpine towns reachable without a car, from Valtellina pizzoccheri to Liberty spa architecture in the Brembana valley.
- The best towns with a medieval festival that hold a World Heritage site in ToscanaTuscan towns where drummers, crossbowmen and contrade colours return to the same square every year, and where the streets they parade through are protected as World Heritage. Travertine, brick and Val d'Orcia farmland, from the Tyrrhenian plain to the slopes below Monte Amiata.
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The latest letters
Perugia | The City upon a Hill6 October 2026
The postcard Italian hilltop town is a product of survival25 September 2026
GuideGuide | Tuscia24 September 2026
The week's townSeravezza & Stazzema | The Mountain Takes and Gives11 September 2026
The week's townPeccioli | The Giants of Garbage8 September 2026What we write about
The reading
- Where you eat wellTowns where somebody put their name to a table243 pieces
- High groundInland towns built on ground too steep to spread184 pieces
- Old and beautifulTowns that were assessed, not just admired123 pieces
- On the waterThe coast and the lakes, minus the names everyone already has105 pieces
- Without a carTowns you can reach, and then leave, without driving90 pieces
- Out in the greenParks, paths, thermal water and snow78 pieces
This month
October in the towns
Caramanico TermeMercato Settimanale Di Caramanico TermeMarket · Pescara · October
AccetturaIl Borgo del GustoFood festival · Matera · October
PizzoRievocazione Storica dello sbarco, arresto e fucilazione di Re Gioacchino MuratHistorical re-enactment · Vibo Valentia · October
CamogliFesta di N.S. delle GraziePatron saint's feast · Genova · October
CastelcivitaFesta della Patata di MontagnaFood festival · Salerno · October into November
From the letter
How Italy works
Healthcare in Italy, Explained: What It Costs, Where to Go, and Who PaysHow Italian healthcare works if you are visiting or moving: the emergency room, the pharmacy that solves most problems, the 25 euro ticket, who gets billed, and why a doctor can prescribe you a spa.
When to Come to Italy: The Honest Guide, Month by MonthThe three questions that actually decide when to come to Italy, a month-by-month calendar, the regional split, and why August is the one month to avoid. From someone who lives here.
Driving in Italy: The Complete ManualAutostrada tolls, Telepass, the ZTL, parking colors, market-day towing, and how Italians actually drive. One manual from four years and every region on the road.
How to Find Free Beaches in ItalyEvery Italian beach has a free way in. How spiaggia libera works, your legal rights on the sand, and how locals use the coast without paying, from a writer who lives on it.
How to Order at a Restaurant in Italy Like an ItalianArrival times, the four-course architecture, house wine, the water rule, tipping, and the dishes that don't exist. Italian restaurant etiquette from someone who lives at the table.
A local's guide
The areas we know best
Guide | The Riviera di LevanteThe coast in the shadow of five villages
Guide | Tuscan MainlandThe postcard country, and what is under it
Guide | The Arno CorridorThe working road from Florence to the sea
Guide | The Apuan AlpsThe Mountains Behind Versilia
Versilia, the Best Part of ItalyA guide to the Tuscan coast nobody talks about, written from Pietrasanta.