High-altitude villages
Above 800 metres, where the season is short and the air is thin.
19 lists
The 8 best high-altitude villages within 90 minutes of BolzanoHigh meadows, larch woods and Ladin valleys above Bolzano, where the houses are timber and stone, the church spires are onion-domed, and the kitchen runs on speck, canederli and barley soup. Villages set well up the mountain, reachable in a morning's drive from the city.
The best high-altitude villages with a serious restaurant in Trentino-Alto Adige/SüdtirolMountain villages in Trentino-Alto Adige where the larch woods, the hay meadows and the smell of woodsmoke come with a kitchen that cooks at a level worth planning a night around. Alpine cooking here means canederli and speck, but also game, freshwater fish and pastry made by people who trained in Vienna and came home.
The 9 best small high-altitude villages that eat well in Trentino-Alto Adige/SüdtirolHigh in the valleys of Trentino and South Tyrol, larch-shingled villages sit above the treeline of the vines, where kitchens work canederli, speck, mountain cheese and game with the seriousness of places that eat well all winter. These are the smaller ones, each with a table a dining guide thought worth naming.
The best high-altitude villages in CalabriaCalabria's mountain villages sit high above the coast, in the Pollino, the Sila and the Aspromonte, built of grey stone and chestnut beams. Cool summers, snow in winter, pork, pecorino and porcini, and far fewer visitors than the beaches below.
Alternatives to Cortina d'Ampezzo: every alpine town in the north above a thousand metresThe complete list of alpine towns above 1,000 metres in Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli, Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, as an alternative to Cortina.
Every town in our catalogue above 1,000 metresThe complete list of Italian towns above a thousand metres in our catalogue, from Valle d'Aosta to the Sila and the Etna villages, best-recognised first.
The 7 Aosta Valley villages above 1,000 metresThe Aosta Valley is the highest region in Italy and its villages sit under the four biggest mountains in the Alps. These are the ones above a thousand metres, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn.
The best high-altitude villages in the province of IserniaHigh villages in the province of Isernia, all of them on the cool side of the Molise mountains: stone houses, beech woods, sheep tracks and winters that arrive early. Seven upland towns where fewer people go than in the ski resorts over the Abruzzo border.
The best high-altitude villages in the province of PotenzaHigh villages in the province of Potenza, in the Lucanian Dolomites and the ridges above the Agri and Sinni valleys, where the stone is sandstone and the summers stay cool. Peperoni cruschi, pecorino and mountain roads instead of the queue for the Sassi.
The 10 best high-altitude villages in the province of TrentoHigh villages in the province of Trento, on the pasture terraces and forest plateaux above the valley floors, where the houses are stone below and larch above and the winter lasts a long time. Ski areas, spruce woods, canederli and Trentino cheese, and fewer people than the resorts that draw the crowds.
The best high-altitude villages in LombardiaHigh villages in the Lombard Alps, from the Valtellina and Valchiavenna to the Val Camonica and the Presolana, where the houses are stone and larch and the kitchen runs on buckwheat, rye and mountain cheese.
The 8 best high-altitude villages in SiciliaSicilia has a cold, stone-built interior above the citrus belt, where villages sit high in the Madonie and the Nebrodi and the Iblei. These are the ones worth the drive inland, chosen because each stands well above the coast.
The best high-altitude villages within 90 minutes of PescaraInland from the Pescara coast, the Abruzzo mountains rise fast into limestone villages of pale stone, shepherds' tracks and beech woods, where the air stays cool through August and the kitchens run to lamb, saffron and lentils.
The best small high-altitude villages within 90 minutes of TrentoHigh villages in the mountains around Trento, where the air thins, the houses are built of larch and stone, and the summer smells of hay and resin. Lakes, plateaux and pastures within an easy drive of the city.
Italy's highest townsThe highest comuni in our catalogue, ranked by official ISTAT elevation. 60 towns shown, each above 800 m.
Balcony towns: high villages above the Ligurian seaLigurian comuni that sit at 250 meters or more, a coastline looked at from above. 10 towns shown, highest first.
The highest comune in each region of ItalyThe single highest comune the catalogue holds in each region. 20 regions represented, highest first.
10 hill towns under 300 meters, for travelers who hate climbingInland comuni that sit between 100 and 300 meters: the hill town shape without the hill town climb. 10 towns shown, ranked by recognitions held.
