Towns with a World Heritage site
Holding, or sitting inside, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
27 lists
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of VeronaWithin an easy drive or train ride of Verona, the Veneto and Lombard plain holds UNESCO-listed towns of brick and Istrian stone: Renaissance grid plans, Palladian villas, Venetian fortress walls and frescoed chapels, best walked in the cool light of autumn.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of TrentoWithin a couple of hours of Trento the map runs from Dolomite valleys down to the Po plain, taking in Palladian villas, prosecco hillsides, fortified lakeside walls and Renaissance courts, all of them carrying UNESCO listing. Vineyard lunches in autumn, arcaded streets and frescoed chapels in winter.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of TriesteRoman floor mosaics, a Lombard temple, a star-shaped fortress town and the prosecco hills all sit within a couple of hours of Trieste, on the plain and in the low hills where Friuli meets the Veneto. Towns with UNESCO listings that most travellers pass on the motorway.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of UdineBetween the Friulian plain and the Prosecco hills, UNESCO listings sit in unlikely places: a Roman basilica floor under a country church, a star-shaped fortress town, a Lombard temple, terraced vineyards on steep glacial ridges. All are within a couple of hours of Udine, most of them reachable by regional train.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of BresciaWithin an easy drive or train ride of Brescia sit Lombard and Veneto towns holding sites UNESCO has listed: Renaissance grid plans, Venetian defensive walls, a model industrial village on the Adda, Palladian facades and Gonzaga courtyards. Landscape of rice plains, lake shore and low Alpine foothills, best in autumn.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of ParmaWithin a couple of hours of Parma, the Po plain and the Ligurian coast hold UNESCO-listed towns of brick and marble: painted domes, Renaissance grid plans, Venetian walls and industrial villages built for workers. Culatello, tortelli and lambrusco travel with you.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of PisaWithin an easy drive or train ride of Pisa sit Medici villas, a walled hill town of towers, marble quarries above Versilia and a belle époque spa quarter, all of them on UNESCO's list. Tuscan and Ligurian towns where the heritage plaque is real and the queue is short.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of PerugiaWithin a couple of hours of Perugia, the road climbs from Umbrian olive terraces into the Val d'Orcia and over the Apennines to the Marche, passing travertine churches, ducal palaces and hill towns built of pale tufa, each holding a site UNESCO has listed.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 45 minutes of SalernoBetween the volcanic plain below Vesuvius and the terraced lemon groves of the Amalfi coast, the country within easy reach of Salerno holds excavated Roman streets, cliffside majolica towns and mountain hamlets that all sit inside UNESCO-listed territory. Ceramics, colatura, sfusato lemons and stone stairs cut into the rock.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 75 minutes of PaduaWithin an easy drive or train ride of Padua lie UNESCO-listed Palladian villas, frescoed chapels, Renaissance city plans and the vine-terraced Prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. A run of Veneto and Emilian towns where the world-heritage listing sits in the middle of ordinary daily life.
The best towns with a World Heritage site in LombardiaLombardia's World Heritage sites run from Renaissance ducal capitals on the Po plain to prehistoric rock carvings in the Camonica valley, a model workers' village on the Adda and a railway line that climbs to Switzerland. These are the towns that hold them.
The 7 best hidden towns with a World Heritage site in VenetoSeven smaller Veneto towns that hold or sit inside a UNESCO World Heritage site, from the steep Prosecco hills above the Piave to the walled harbour at the southern tip of Lake Garda.
The best hidden towns with a World Heritage site in PiemontePiemonte's World Heritage listings run well past the wine hills: royal residences on the Turin plain, sacred mountains above the lakes, and a small island town on Lake Orta. These are the smaller places that hold them.
The best towns with a World Heritage site in the province of SienaThe Val d'Orcia and the hill country around Siena hold UNESCO-listed landscapes and townscapes: travertine facades, Brunello vineyards, pecorino aged in cellars, and roads lined with cypress that were laid out to be looked at.
The best towns with a World Heritage site in the province of TrevisoThe Prosecco hills north of Treviso are a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of steep vine terraces, hogback ridges and abbey cloisters, best walked between the September harvest and the first frosts. These are the towns inside that protected area, where the wine road runs past Romanesque churches and grappa distilleries rather than tasting-room car parks.
The best hill towns with a World Heritage site in SiciliaInland Sicilia builds in honey-coloured limestone and black lava stone, on ridges above the Val di Noto, where baroque churches went up after the earthquake and the cooking runs to chocolate, ricotta and almond. These are hill towns carrying World Heritage status, reached on winding roads from the coast.
The best towns with a World Heritage site that eat well in VenetoVeneto's World Heritage landscape runs from the Palladian villas of the plain to the steep Prosecco hills above Valdobbiadene, and the towns holding that status also hold kitchens a dining guide thought worth naming. Radicchio, soppressa, sopa coada and mountain cheese, eaten where the vines climb.
The best towns with a World Heritage site that eat well in PiemontePiemonte's World Heritage listings run from vineyard hills to sacred mountains and royal palaces, and the towns that hold them also hold kitchens worth booking. Raw veal, hazelnuts, Barolo and boiled meats, in places with a UNESCO plaque and a guide-named table.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of MilanNorth of Milan, the pre-Alpine lakes and the plain below them hold UNESCO-listed sites that most visitors drive straight past: sacred mountains of frescoed chapels, a purpose-built cotton workers' village, prehistoric pile dwellings under the water of Lake Ceresio. All of it lies inside an easy morning's travel from the city.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of FlorenceWithin an easy drive or train ride of Florence, Tuscany holds Medici villas, tower-built hill towns, Etruscan wine country and a spa city of marble colonnades, all of it recognised by UNESCO. These are the listed places you can reach in a morning.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 90 minutes of BolognaWithin easy train reach of Bologna lie Etruscan tombs, Byzantine mosaics, brick Renaissance courts and Po plain wetlands, all of them on the UNESCO list and most of them quieter than the cities that draw the crowds.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 75 minutes of VeniceNorth of Venice, the Prosecco hills and the towns along the Piave hold UNESCO-listed sites of their own: steep vineyard ridges, Palladian villas, frescoed chapels and abbey cloisters, all within an easy train or drive of the lagoon.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of GenoaBetween the Ligurian cliffs, the Gulf of Poets and the vine terraces of Monferrato and Roero, this stretch of north-west Italy holds UNESCO-listed sites in towns small enough to walk in a morning: a sacred hill of frescoed chapels, a Savoy residence, harbours built of coloured stone.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within an hour of NaplesWorld Heritage listings pile up around the Bay of Naples: Roman towns buried under Vesuvius, the terraced Amalfi Coast, the Bourbon palace at Caserta. These are the towns that hold them, close enough to reach in an hour from the city.
The best towns with a World Heritage site within 75 minutes of TurinPiedmont wraps Turin in listed ground: Savoy palaces with their park gates, sacred hills of chapels above the Monferrato vines, and the industrial company town at Ivrea. All of it sits inside an easy drive or a regional train ride from the city.
10 art towns near VeniceTen Veneto and Friulan art comuni within 90 minutes of Venice. UNESCO sites, fresco cycles, walled towns, the Palladian villas. Drive times, what to see, and when to go.
10 Baroque towns in Val di Noto near CataniaTen Sicilian Baroque comuni within two hours of Catania: the UNESCO-listed Val di Noto (Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Palazzolo Acreide) and the Etna ring. Drive times and what to see in each.