Towns on a walking route
A stage on the Francigena or one of the other long historic walks.
16 lists
The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route within 90 minutes of PisaAlong the Via Francigena between the Magra valley and the hills above the Arno, a run of Tuscan and Lunigiana towns pairs a stage of the old pilgrim road with a kitchen the strictest guides take seriously: white truffle at San Miniato, lardo cured in marble basins above Carrara, tordelli in the Lucchesia.
The best towns on the Cammino di San Benedetto in LazioTowns on the Cammino di San Benedetto in Lazio, the pilgrim walk from Saint Benedict's birthplace to his abbey at Montecassino, through the Sabine hills and the Ciociaria.
The best hill towns on a walking route within 90 minutes of PerugiaInland Umbria, where limestone hill towns sit on the old pilgrim and Roman routes between the Tiber valley and the Apennine ridge, walkable stage by stage, with olive oil pressed in November and truffles from the Alta Valle del Tevere.
The best towns on a walking route in the province of ViterboThe Via Francigena crosses northern Lazio through tufa gorges, olive terraces and lakeside towns, and the province of Viterbo holds some of its best stages. A guide to walking towns between Acquapendente and Sutri, with volcanic lake swimming, black stone houses and cheap pilgrim beds.
The best towns on a walking route in the province of SienaThe province of Siena is crossed by long historic walking routes, and these towns are the stages along them: hilltop crete senesi villages, Val d'Orcia thermal water, travertine and brick, pecorino and Brunello.
The best hidden towns on a walking route in the province of PerugiaSmall towns in the province of Perugia that sit as stages on the long historic walking routes across Umbria, from the Valnerina and the Nera gorge to the olive terraces above the Spoleto valley. Stone villages with pilgrim trails, lentils, black truffle and cured pork.
The best small towns on a walking route in the province of SienaSmall towns in the province of Siena that sit on the old pilgrim roads south, from the clay of the Crete Senesi to the volcanic flank of Monte Amiata: travertine walls, thermal water, pecorino and pici, and stages you can walk between in a day.
The best towns on a walking route in PugliaPuglia's long-distance pilgrim paths, the Via Francigena's southern stages and the Micaelic routes across the Gargano, pass through working towns of white limestone and tufa. These are the stages worth stopping in overnight.
The best hill towns on a walking route in LazioInland Lazio is walking country: tufa ridges above the Via Francigena, volcanic lakes, chestnut woods in the Ciociaria, and hill towns where pilgrims and walkers still arrive on foot. These are the stages worth stopping in rather than passing through.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route in LazioLazio's long walking routes, the Via Francigena in the north and the Appia in the south, pass through towns where the kitchen is worth stopping a day for: lake fish, Amatrice-style pasta, artichokes from the volcanic soil, buffalo mozzarella off the coastal plain.
The best towns on a walking route that eat well in the province of PerugiaThe province of Perugia carries the old pilgrim paths across olive terraces and limestone ridges, and the towns strung along them keep guide-listed kitchens serving lentils, wild fennel sausage, black truffle and strangozzi in oil. Walking stages with a table worth the descent at the end.
The 9 best hidden hill towns on a walking route in ToscanaInland Toscana measured on foot: travertine and brick hill towns strung along the old pilgrim road, with olive terraces, pecorino and Brunello between them, and the long light of late spring on the Val d'Orcia.
The prettiest villages on a walking route in LazioVolcanic lakes, tufa ridges and beech woods in the hills around Rome, where old pilgrim roads still run through stone villages that have passed Italy's national assessment of its most beautiful borghi. Walking country, best in late spring and October, with porchetta, lake coregone and Cesanese on the table at the end of a stage.
The 9 best towns on a walking route that you can reach by train in UmbriaUmbria's long pilgrim paths, the Via di Francesco and the Via Amerina among them, string together hill towns of pink Subasio stone and olive terraces, and these stages can all be reached by train.
The 6 best towns on a walking route that eat well in the province of SienaWalking stages of the Via Francigena through the province of Siena, where the day ends in a town with a dining room worth the descent: pici with garlic, pecorino from the Val d'Orcia, Brunello and Vernaccia poured by the glass.
The 8 best hill towns on a walking route within 90 minutes of TerniSouthern Umbria's walking country, where limestone hill towns sit a day's walk apart along the old pilgrim routes, above the Nera valley, the Marmore falls and the oak woods east of Terni. Stone houses, black celery and river trout, and stages you can cover on foot between breakfast and a late lunch.