Recognitions
10 Bandiera Arancione towns nobody has heard of
Ten towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €500 in Bova to €2,500 in Macugnaga.
The smallest comuni holding the Touring Club's Bandiera Arancione. Population stands in for fame here: the smaller the town, the shorter its reach. 10 towns shown.
Table no. 25 · Ranked by residents · 10 towns
The Touring Club's Bandiera Arancione goes to small inland towns that meet a long checklist of quality standards. It is Italy's most rigorous obscure honor: hard to earn, unknown outside the country.
We took the smallest holders in our catalogue, on the theory that population is a fair proxy for fame. The flag flies anyway.
- 1.Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena126 residentsSavona · LiguriaBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.1 h 33 min from Genoa · homes €710 to €1,050 a m²The catch: It has lost 20% of its people since 2015.
- 2.Usseaux174 residentsTorino · PiemonteBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.1 h 32 min from Turin · homes €680 to €1,000 a m² in the centerA Val Chisone village at 1,416 meters with four scattered borgate and more than forty murals painted across the stone facades.The catch: January nights average 7 degrees below zero.
- 3.Seborga284 residentsImperia · Liguria2 h from Genoa · homes €1,650 to €2,400 a m² in the center
- 4.Vallo di Nera334 residentsPerugia · UmbriaBest for truffle season. It belongs to the national association of truffle towns.51 min from Terni
- 5.Labro346 residentsRieti · LazioBest for a day out from Terni. It is 26 min by car.26 min from Terni · homes €650 to €900 a m² in the center
- 6.Triora389 residentsImperia · LiguriaBest for a ski week. There is a mapped ski area in the comune.2 h 28 min from Genoa · homes €670 to €900 a m² in the centerThe witches' village at 776 meters in the upper Valle Argentina, where the Inquisition put around 200 women on trial between 1587 and 1589.
- 7.Bova454 residentsReggio Calabria · CalabriaBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.1 h 13 min from Reggio Calabria · homes €500 to €730 a m² in the center
- 8.Fenestrelle471 residentsTorino · Piemonte1 h 24 min from Turin · homes €870 to €1,300 a m² in the centerA village below the largest alpine fortress in Europe, three kilometers of stone climbing the ridge above it.The catch: January nights average 5 degrees below zero.
- 9.Etroubles476 residentsAosta Valley · Aosta ValleyBest for a stage of a long walk. The Via Francigena passes through.1 h 51 min from Turin · homes €1,550 to €2,100 a m² in the centerThe catch: January nights average 4 degrees below zero.
- 10.Macugnaga496 residentsVerbano-Cusio-Ossola · PiemonteBest for everyday life on foot. Eight of the ten everyday services we look for are mapped within 500 meters of the center.1 h 59 min from Novara · homes €1,700 to €2,500 a m² in the centerA Walser village at 1,327 meters at the foot of the east wall of Monte Rosa, founded in the 13th century by colonists from Valais.The catch: January nights average 6 degrees below zero.
THREE OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN LIGURIA
We write letters from the Italian towns we visit: the town, what is worth eating there, and when to turn up. It is free, and you can leave whenever you like.
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