Best time
10 towns at their best exactly when Venice is at its worst
Ten towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €400 in Roccamandolfi to €2,700 in Pescocostanzo.
Venice peaks in July and August. These comuni mark those exact months as their best. 10 towns shown, ranked by recognitions held.
Table no. 43 · Ranked by residents · 10 towns
July and August are Venice's hardest months, the lagoon city at maximum load. The same weeks are other towns' finest hour: mountain comuni in full season, coastal towns living their actual summer.
Each of these marks July or August as a best month in our calendar. Go where the season points, not where the queue does.
- 1.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.
- 2.Triora389 residentsImperia · LiguriaBest for a slow weekend. The Touring Club gives it its orange flag for small inland towns.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.
- 3.Lama dei Peligni1,021 residentsChieti · AbruzzoBest for truffle season. It belongs to the national association of truffle towns.1 h 17 min from Pescara · homes €455 to €680 a m² in the centerA 669-meter Majella village known for chamois, the Cavallone cave, and a prehistoric burial dug from Fonterossi dated 7000 to 5000 BC.The catch: It has lost 22% of its people since 2015.
- 4.Sante Marie1,059 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a trip without a car. The train stops in the commune.1 h 8 min from Rome · homes €510 to €760 a m² in the centerA 950-meter Marsica village and the trailhead of the Cammino dei Briganti, the seven-day brigand trail through the Cartore band's territory.
- 5.Nicolosi7,696 residentsCatania · SicilyBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.29 min from Catania · homes €640 to €950 a m² in the centerThe southern gateway to Etna at 698 meters, twice destroyed by the 1669 eruption.
- 6.Monte Sant'Angelo11,006 residentsFoggia · PugliaBest for a World Heritage site. UNESCO lists a site in the comune.56 min from Foggia · homes €700 to €1,100 a m²The Gargano peak at 843 meters, the oldest western shrine to an archangel, UNESCO since 2011.
- 7.Livorno153,154 residentsLivorno · TuscanyBest for a soak. The comune has thermal baths.homes €1,600 to €1,700 a m² in the centerTuscany's working port and Medici-planned 'New City', a 16th-century planned town built on reclaimed coast, with a Venice-like canal quarter, the Quattro Mori monument, and a 1.5-km seafront promenade that locals call the world's most beautiful balcony.
- 8.Barrea688 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a ski week. There is a mapped ski area in the comune.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.
- 9.Roccamandolfi801 residentsIsernia · MoliseBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.2 h 2 min from Naples · homes €400 to €600 a m² in the centerAt 850 meters at the foot of Monte Miletto, a Matese village of brigand legends, Lombard ruins, and a Tibetan bridge over the Callora canyon.The catch: It has lost 15% of its people since 2015.
- 10.Pescocostanzo1,085 residentsL'Aquila · AbruzzoBest for a long lunch. Food guides list two tables here.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.
FIVE 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.
