By geography

What kind of place is it

Every town in the catalogue sits in one of these. The line between a hill town and a mountain town is a real one: hill towns run around 400 metres, mountain towns around 800 and inside a named range. A cliff town above the sea counts as coastal, because the sea is why you would go.

375 towns
Hill towns
The ridge and hilltop borghi, sitting around 400 metres. Vineyards below, one road up, walkable once you are there. Good in almost any season.
Pictured: Montalcino
219 towns
Mountain towns
Towns inside a named range: the Alps, the Dolomites, the Apennines, the Pollino, the Aspromonte. Around 800 metres and up, where the season decides the trip.
Pictured: Calascio
196 towns
Coastal towns
Towns on the sea. A cliff town high above the water counts here rather than under mountains, because the sea is why you would go.
Pictured: Maratea
53 towns
Lake towns
Towns on the northern lakes and the quieter volcanic ones further south. Water without the coast road.
Pictured: Varenna
18 towns
Islands
Towns you reach by ferry. Small catalogue, and the getting there is most of the point.
Pictured: Procida

All 1,000 towns

The slow-trip planner

Plan a slow trip across the towns travelers skip.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

The Sunday letter

The 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip.

Every Sunday we send one letter. The week's town, what is worth eating there, and when to turn up. It is free, and you can leave whenever you like.

From across Italy

Five towns to begin with