Best time
10 comuni for January, when Italy belongs to Italians
Ten towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €395 in Geraci Siculo to €2,700 in Pescocostanzo.
Comuni whose visiting calendar marks January as a best month. 10 towns shown, ranked by recognitions held.
Table no. 39 · Ranked by residents · 10 towns
In January Italy belongs to Italians, and these towns wear the month well: thermal pools steaming against the cold, mountain kitchens in full season, city crowds a rumor from elsewhere.
Each is marked best in January in our calendar. The light is short and the tables are yours.
- 1.San Casciano dei Bagni1,421 residentsSiena · TuscanyBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.1 h 6 min from Perugia · homes €740 to €1,050 a m² in the centerA hilltop borgo at 582 meters above 42 hot springs that produced the largest Etruscan bronze hoard of the last fifty years.
- 2.Scanno1,681 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a swim. The comune's beach holds a Blue Flag.1 h 20 min from Pescara · homes €800 to €1,200 a m² in the centerA 1,057-meter Sagittario valley village where women in black still walk the alleys photographed by Cartier-Bresson and Giacomelli.
- 3.Sardara3,744 residentsMedio Campidano · SardiniaBest for a soak. The comune has thermal baths.57 min from Cagliari · homes €550 to €800 a m² in the centerA Campidano thermal town where Nuragic well-temples, Roman Aquae Neapolitanae and a hilltop Arborea castle share the same hot springs.
- 4.Caramanico Terme1,727 residentsPescara · AbruzzoBest for a long lunch. A food guide lists Locanda del Barone here.1 h 1 min from Pescara · homes €550 to €820 a m² in the centerA 650-meter Majella spa village at the confluence of the Orfento and Orta rivers.
- 5.Levico Terme8,297 residentsTrento · Trentino-Alto AdigeBest for everyday life on foot. Eight of the ten everyday services we look for are mapped within 500 meters of the center.30 min from Trento · homes €1,900 to €2,300 a m² in the centerA Habsburg spa town in the Valsugana at 520 meters, built on arsenic-iron thermal waters.
- 6.Viterbo66,393 residentsViterbo · LazioBest for a trip without a car. The train stops in the commune.58 min from Terni · homes €800 to €1,250 a m² in the centerThe medieval capital of the Tuscia, papal seat from 1257 to 1281, when five popes were elected here, and home to the longest conclave in Church history.
- 7.Barrea688 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.2 h 2 min from Pescara · homes €760 to €1,100 a m² in the centerA 1,066-meter spur above an artificial lake at the heart of the Abruzzo National Park, with a Samnite necropolis and an 11th-century di Sangro castle.
- 8.Pescocostanzo1,085 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.1 h 25 min from Pescara · homes €2,150 to €2,700 a m² in the centerA planned Renaissance town at 1,395 meters on the Quarto Grande plateau, with bobbin lace, wrought iron, and the wood ceilings of a five-nave church.The catch: January nights average 3 degrees below zero.
- 9.Geraci Siculo1,664 residentsPalermo · SicilyBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.1 h 46 min from Palermo · homes €395 to €580 a m² in the centerA Madonie ridge village at 1,077 meters, capital of the Ventimiglia marquisate from 1258 and the first marquisate granted in Sicily.The catch: It has lost 15% of its people since 2015.
- 10.
Abetone Cutigliano1,829 residentsPistoia · TuscanyBest for a ski week. There is a mapped ski area in the comune.1 h 17 min from Prato · homes €1,250 to €1,700 a m² in the centerThe Apennine ski pass at 1,388 meters where the Granduca's two stone pyramids of 1778 mark the old Tuscan-Modenese border.The catch: It has lost 15% of its people since 2015.
FOUR OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN ABRUZZO
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.