Towns with a serious restaurant
The most demanding of the guides lists somewhere in the commune.
71 lists
The 6 best beach towns with a serious restaurant in CampaniaAlong the Campanian coast, clean bathing water and a kitchen worth booking often turn up in the same small town, from the anchovy boats of the Cilento to the lemon terraces above the Bay of Naples. These are the seaside places where lunch is the reason to stay.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of VeronaSmall towns on the Veronese shore of Lake Garda and in the hills of Valpolicella, each holding a restaurant listed by the most demanding of the dining guides. Lake fish, Amarone and olive oil, well away from the city tables.
The 9 best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of NapoliTowns across the province of Napoli where the kitchens are held to the standards of the most demanding dining guides: on Capri and Ischia, along the Sorrentine peninsula, out in the volcanic ground of the Campi Flegrei and inland at the foot of Vesuvius.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of GenovaAlong the Golfo Paradiso and the Riviera di Levante, a run of towns in the province of Genova each keeps a restaurant listed by the most demanding of the dining guides, from focaccia col formaggio in Recco to fish suppers in Lavagna and Chiavari.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of PisaTowns in the province of Pisa where a kitchen listed by the most demanding of the dining guides sits within walking distance of the piazza, from the white truffle hills of San Miniato to the Etruscan ridge at Volterra.
The 6 best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of LuccaFrom the marble towns of Versilia to the wine hills at Montecarlo, the province of Lucca holds a run of towns where the kitchens are listed by the most demanding of the dining guides. Where to eat well between the Apuan Alps and the sea.
The best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in the province of PerugiaSmall towns in the province of Perugia where the kitchen is the reason to come: black truffle, Sagrantino, lentils from the high plain, and dining rooms singled out by the most demanding of the dining guides.
The best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in the province of L'AquilaSmall towns in the province of L'Aquila where a kitchen listed by the most demanding of the dining guides sits behind a plain stone facade, from the Altopiano delle Cinque Miglia to the Valle Roveto.
The best small towns with a serious restaurant in the province of SienaSmall towns across the province of Siena where the kitchens are held to guide standards: Chianti hill villages, the Val d'Orcia, the thermal hills near Cetona and San Casciano dei Bagni. Where to eat well without booking a table in the city.
The 9 best towns with a serious restaurant in Friuli-Venezia GiuliaFriuli-Venezia Giulia eats better than its profile suggests: prosciutto cured in mountain air at Sauris, San Daniele ham, frico, Marano lagoon fish, Collio white wine. These are the smaller Friulian towns that hold a restaurant the strictest dining guides bother to list.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in BasilicataSix Basilicata towns, from the Pollino uplands to the Tyrrhenian cliffs, where a restaurant listed by the most demanding of the dining guides sits within walking distance of the church square.
The best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in Emilia-RomagnaSmall towns across Emilia-Romagna, from the Apennine ridges to the hills above Modena, that hold a restaurant serious enough for the most demanding of the dining guides. Fewer people go, and the tables are easier to book.
The best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in AbruzzoSmall Abruzzo towns, from the Adriatic sand to the high Maiella villages, each with a restaurant that the most demanding of the Italian dining guides takes seriously. Mountain lamb, saffron, ventricina and Trebbiano, in places where the tables are booked by locals.
The 10 best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheSmall Marche towns, inland and on the coast, where the kitchens are held to the standards of the most demanding of the dining guides. Truffles at Acqualagna, brick hill towns like Treia and Offida, and the cliff villages above the Conero water.
The best small towns with a serious restaurant in LombardiaSmall Lombard towns, from the Valtellina terraces to the shores of Como and Garda, where the kitchen is the reason to make the drive. Each holds a restaurant listed by the most demanding of the dining guides.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoInland from the Adriatic, the province of Pesaro e Urbino runs on white truffles from the Metauro valley, hand-rolled passatelli and brodetto pulled straight off the boats, with kitchens good enough to have been logged by the strictest of the dining guides.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of TrevisoNorth of the Venetian plain, the hills of the province of Treviso run from radicchio fields to Prosecco terraces, and the kitchens here are taken seriously: each of these towns holds a restaurant listed by the most demanding of the dining guides.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of La SpeziaEastern Liguria eats better than its reputation for anchovies and pesto suggests: Vermentino from the Magra valley, mussels from the Gulf of Poets, testaroli and stuffed vegetables, and dining rooms in the province of La Spezia that the most demanding guides have singled out by name.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of TrentoIn the valleys of the province of Trento, larch-clad houses and stone-built hamlets sit within a short drive of kitchens that the most demanding dining guides take seriously, from Val di Fassa to the shore of Lake Garda. Alpine butter, Trentingrana, smoked ricotta and mountain trout, cooked by people who source them from the next valley along.
The best small towns with a serious restaurant in the province of CuneoIn the Langhe hills and the mountains south of Cuneo, small wine villages of brick and stone keep kitchens that cook tajarin, raw veal and white truffle at a standard the toughest dining guides recognise. Autumn is the season, Nebbiolo and Dolcetto the reason to stay for a second night.
The best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in PugliaPuglia cooks with almonds, wild greens, lamb and durum wheat, and some of its best kitchens sit in small towns built from limestone and tufo rather than in the cities. These are the places where a restaurant listed by Italy's most demanding dining guide stands a few steps from a bakery selling focaccia barese.
The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of GrossetoMaremma cooking at its most serious: wild boar with olives, eel from the Orbetello lagoon, tortelli and Morellino, in towns of tufa and dark stone across the province of Grosseto, each with a kitchen the strictest dining guides have singled out.
The best coastal towns with a serious restaurant in PugliaPuglia's coast runs from the limestone cliffs of the Gargano to the Adriatic ports of the south, and along it sit towns where raw prawns, burrata and grilled scorpion fish are treated with the seriousness of a city kitchen. These are seafront places whose restaurants have been picked out by the most demanding of the guides.
The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in the province of PerugiaInland Umbria eats seriously: black truffle, torta al testo, Sagrantino from the vineyards below the walls, and hill towns of pink limestone where a kitchen worth booking sits inside the medieval gate. These are the places in the province of Perugia where the restaurant is the reason to stay the night.
The 7 best towns with a serious restaurant that sit inside a nature park in the province of PerugiaIn the province of Perugia, protected hills and lake shores hold towns that cook at a level worth planning a day around, from Trasimeno carp and lake tench to torta al testo, black celery and Umbrian olive oil pressed within sight of the table.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that you can reach by train in the province of PerugiaUmbrian cooking at its most serious, torchio pasta, lake carp, black truffle from the Valnerina and pork from Norcia, in towns on the Foligno and Trasimeno railway lines where you can arrive for lunch without a hire car.
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 olive oil towns with a serious restaurant in PugliaPuglia presses some of the best olive oil in Italy, and in these towns the oil on the table comes from the groves you drove through to get there, poured out in dining rooms the toughest guides have bothered to list.
The 10 best towns with a food festival that have a serious restaurant in LiguriaLiguria eats narrowly and well: basil, chickpea flour, anchovies from the boats, cheese folded into paper-thin dough. These are the towns where a sagra built on one ingredient runs in the same streets as a kitchen the strictest guides bother to list.
The best ski towns with a serious restaurant in Trentino-Alto Adige/SüdtirolSki towns in Trentino-Alto Adige where the lifts run from the edge of the village and the kitchen at the end of the day is run by someone the hardest guides take seriously. Larch forest, Ladin dumplings, Lagrein and Gewürztraminer, and snow that holds into spring.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that you can reach by train in CampaniaCampania eats seriously well beyond its capital, from buffalo mozzarella on the Sele plain to Cilento anchovies salted in wooden barrels and pizza cooked by the metre above the Bay of Naples. These towns hold kitchens rated by the most demanding of the guides, and each can be reached without a car.
The prettiest villages with a serious restaurant in LiguriaLigurian villages of slate and painted stucco where the kitchen is as good as the view: trofie with pesto pounded in marble, anchovies from the boats below, Vermentino from terraces cut into the hillside. Each has passed the national assessment of Italy's most beautiful villages, and each holds a table the strictest guides bother to list.
The best towns inside a nature park that have a serious restaurant in LazioLazio's regional parks run from volcanic lake craters to coastal dunes and tufa gorges, and inside their boundaries are towns with kitchens the strictest guides bother to list. Porchetta, lake fish, buffalo mozzarella and Tyrrhenian red prawns, eaten within park limits.
The best hidden towns with a food festival that have a serious restaurant in ToscanaTuscan towns where an autumn sagra built around one ingredient, chestnut flour, wild boar, new oil, truffle, eel from the lagoon, sits in the same streets as a kitchen the strictest guides take seriously. Small places with big tables, from the Maremma coast to the Casentino woods.
The best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in VenetoVeneto eats well and runs on rails: radicchio from the Treviso plain, lagoon fish at Chioggia, Amarone from the Valpolicella hills, all of it within reach of a regional train and a table that the strictest guides take seriously.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit inside a nature park in PugliaPuglia's protected country, the dune woods, the Murgia grassland and the trulli-studded pastures of the Itria Valley, keeps some of the region's most serious kitchens within its boundaries. These are towns where a nature park map and a restaurant booking belong on the same trip.
The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in VenetoInland Veneto rises from the plain into vine terraces, chestnut woods and the limestone wall of the Prealps, and the hill towns along that line keep kitchens serious enough for the strictest guides. Radicchio, Monte Veronese, Prosecco Superiore and Amarone come from within a short drive of the table.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that you can reach by train in LombardiaLombardia eats well beyond Milan: risotto with saffron and marrow, pizzoccheri under Valtellina snow, lake perch and butter, casoncelli in a broth that tastes of the Bergamo hills. These are towns with a restaurant of real ambition and a station within walking distance of the table.
The prettiest hidden villages with a serious restaurant in ToscanaStone villages across Tuscany, from the Casentino to the tufa country of the Maremma, that combine a recognised architectural core with a kitchen serious enough to be listed by the strictest Italian guides. Pici, chestnut flour, wild boar, Vin Santo and hillside terraces well away from the main road.
The 7 best towns inside a nature park that have a serious restaurant in ToscanaTuscan towns that sit inside a protected park and still set a serious table, from the pine forest and dunes of the Maremma coast to the hot springs under Monte Pisano. Wild boar, Bolgheri reds, cinta senese and sea bass, cooked by kitchens the strictest guides bother to list.
The best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in LazioLazio beyond the capital eats well and runs on rails: volcanic hills of the Castelli Romani, the Tyrrhenian coast around the Gulf, Sabine olive country and Etruscan tufa, each with a station and a kitchen worth sitting down in.
The best towns inside a nature park that have a serious restaurant in LiguriaLiguria's regional nature parks run from the Monte di Portofino headland to the Magra river flats and the beech woods of the Val Bormida, and inside their boundaries are towns where the kitchens are held to guide-level standards. Park walking, sea or river below, and a table worth booking at the end of it.
The 10 best hill towns with a serious restaurant in PugliaInland Puglia, where the Murge limestone rises away from the sea and the kitchens take themselves seriously: burrata and podolica beef, orecchiette rolled by hand, lamb turned over embers, and dining rooms the toughest guides have singled out. Whitewashed hill towns with tables worth planning a day around.
The best hidden towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in AbruzzoAbruzzo runs from Adriatic sand to the high passes of the Apennines, and the regional railway threads most of it. These are the smaller stops along that line where the kitchens are worth the trip on their own: mutton on the grill, saffron, pecorino, arrosticini, pastry that comes out of a wood oven.
The 6 best hill towns with a serious restaurant in SiciliaInland Sicilia cooks differently from the coast: mountain lamb, wild fennel, ricotta still warm, bitter greens from the terraces. These are hill towns of pale limestone and dark lava stone where a kitchen worth planning a day around sits behind an unremarkable door.
The best small olive oil towns with a serious restaurant in ToscanaTuscan hill towns where the olive harvest still sets the calendar in November, and where the new oil, green and peppery, arrives on the table of a restaurant good enough to be worth the drive. Stone villages, terraced groves, and kitchens that cook with what the mill pressed that week.
The 7 best small wine towns with a serious restaurant in PiemonteWine villages across the Langhe, Roero and the Gavi hills where the cellar and the kitchen carry equal weight: Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Cortese poured beside plin, raw veal and tajarin in dining rooms the strictest guides bother to list.
The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheInland Marche runs on brick, travertine and truffle: hill towns above the Metauro, the Chienti and the Tronto where the tables worth booking sit behind plain doorways on the main square.
The best hill towns with a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of TerniInland Umbria and the Tiber valley north of Terni, where hill towns of grey stone and volcanic tufa keep kitchens serious enough to draw the attention of the most demanding restaurant guides: black truffle, wild pigeon, farro soup, olive oil pressed on the slope below the walls.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of NapoliWithin an easy drive of Napoli, the Campanian table runs from Vesuvian tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella to sea urchin pulled off the Punta Campanella rocks, and these towns each hold a kitchen the strictest guides take seriously.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that you can reach by train within 90 minutes of PescaraAlong the Adriatic line north and south of Pescara, and inland up the valley towards the Maiella, are towns where the kitchens are taken seriously and the station sits within walking distance of the table. Brodetto, arrosticini, saffron, sugared almonds and cellars of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, all without hiring a car.
The best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of PisaRegional trains out of Pisa run north to the marble towns and the Versilia coast, east into the Arno valley and the truffle hills, and each stop on this list keeps a kitchen the strictest guide takes seriously. Lunch, a station, no hire car.
The best hidden hill towns with a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of PerugiaInland Umbria and its Tuscan border country, where stone hill towns above the olive terraces keep kitchens good enough for the strictest guides: torchio pasta, pigeon, Sagrantino and truffle in the cold months.
The 6 best hidden towns with a serious restaurant that you can reach by train within 90 minutes of PerugiaUmbria and the Sienese hills within easy reach of Perugia by train, where small stations open onto towns with kitchens serving lake fish, pecorino, torta al testo and pici, and dining rooms good enough to be worth the journey alone.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of RomaWithin an easy drive of Rome, the volcanic hills, tufa gorges and Etruscan plateaux hold kitchens working at a level that would draw a queue in the city: porchetta cut on the counter, lake fish, artichokes in spring, and dining rooms named by the most demanding of the guides.
The prettiest hidden villages with a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of PerugiaUmbrian and eastern Tuscan hill villages built in pale travertine and rough sandstone, where the church key still hangs behind the bar and the kitchen down the lane cooks lentils, pigeon and Sagrantino with real intent. All of them sit within an easy drive of Perugia.
The 7 best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of TorinoPiedmont's regional trains run out of Torino Porta Nuova into the Langhe, the Roero and the Monferrato, where hazelnut hills, Nebbiolo cellars and autumn truffle markets sit within walking distance of the station. These are towns where you can arrive without a car and still eat at a table the strictest guides take seriously.
The 8 best hill towns with a serious restaurant in LazioInland Lazio is volcanic tufa, chestnut woods and hill towns built above their own valleys, and in each of these the kitchen is the reason to make the drive: guide-listed tables serving porchetta, lake fish, wild herbs and the region's coarse, honest pasta.
The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of RiminiInland from the Adriatic, the hills behind Rimini run into Montefeltro and the Marche, where piadina stands give way to kitchens working truffle, brodetto and hand-rolled pasta at a level the strictest guides recognise. These are the towns within easy driving distance where a serious table sits inside a small centre of brick and sandstone.
The best small towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in PiemontePiemonte eats seriously well outside its cities, and much of it sits on a working railway line: lake towns on Maggiore and Orta, a mountain station under the Maritime Alps, a Langhe village built on Verduno pelaverga. Small places with a guide-listed kitchen and a platform within walking distance of the table.