Slow trip

10 slow days of food and wine: Bevagna, Pompei, Imola, and Montalcino

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10 days based in Bevagna, Pompei, Imola and Montalcino, in April, built around food and wine. Bevagna gets 3 days, with Spoleto, Norcia and Montefalco nearby. Pompei gets 4 days, with Furore, Vietri sul Mare and Positano nearby. Imola gets 1 day, with Ravenna, Sasso Marconi and Cervia nearby. Montalcino gets 2 days, with San Casciano dei Bagni, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Montepulciano nearby.

10 days · April · food & wine-first · moderate walking

Bevagna

Bevagna, 3 days

Base yourself in Bevagna and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 15 from 103 candidates

Hill towns in the province of Perugia. Prosciutto di Norcia IGP, Borghi Più Belli d'Italia, and TCI Bandiera Arancione.

Getting around

Rent a car for this corner. Only 1 of the 4 towns has a railway station; the day trips assume driving.

Your timing

April sits in this corner's best window: open, temperate, and short of the crowd months.

Day 1 · Arrive in Bevagna

Settle in. Bevagna is your base for the next 3 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Bevagna

Province: Perugia

Bevagna

Roman Mevania on the Umbrian plain at 225 meters, four medieval quarters that compete every June in a reconstructed market of the 13th century.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Day 2 · Day trip to Montefalco

First outing. Head to Montefalco for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Bevagna for dinner.

Montefalco

Province: Perugia

Montefalco

The hilltop wine capital of Umbria at 472 meters, where Sagrantino is grown almost nowhere else.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Day 3 · Day trip to Spoleto

Last day trip in this corner, to Spoleto. Make a day of it, then back to Bevagna.

Spoleto

Province: Perugia

Spoleto

Lombard ducal capital at 396 meters under the Rocca Albornoziana, where a 230-meter aqueduct bridge crosses to Monteluco and Menotti founded the Festival in 1958.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Pompei

Pompei, 4 days

Base yourself in Pompei and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 25 from 77 candidates

Coastal towns in the provinces of Napoli and Salerno. UNESCO listed and Borghi Più Belli d'Italia.

Getting around

Pompei, your base, is on the rail network. 2 of the 4 towns here have a station; the rest need wheels. A rental car makes this corner simple, a rail-plus-taxi version takes patience.

Day 1 · Arrive in Pompei

Settle in. Pompei is your base for the next 4 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Pompei

Province: Napoli

Pompei

The Roman city buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD, dug back up since 1748, and a modern town around Bartolo Longo's 1876 sanctuary.

Picked for:food and wine · coastal

Day 2 · Day trip to Vietri sul Mare

First outing. Head to Vietri sul Mare for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Pompei for dinner.

Vietri sul Mare

Province: Salerno

Vietri sul Mare

The eastern end of the Amalfi Coast at 80 meters, the ceramics town since the fifteenth century, the gateway between Salerno and the cliff road.

Picked for:art and history · coastal

Day 3 · Day trip to Furore

Out again, this time to Furore. Same rhythm: leave after breakfast, return for evening in Pompei.

Furore

Province: Salerno

Furore

The Amalfi Coast village with no piazza and no center, scattered on rock walls 300 meters above the only fjord in southern Italy.

Picked for:food and wine · coastal

Day 4 · Day trip to Positano

Last day trip in this corner, to Positano. Make a day of it, then back to Pompei.

Positano

Province: Salerno

Positano

The vertical village of the Amalfi Coast, terraced houses climbing four hundred meters to the Lattari ridge under a tiled Byzantine dome.

Picked for:art and history · coastal

Imola

Imola, 1 day

Base yourself in Imola and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 7 from 28 candidates

Coastal and plain towns in the provinces of Bologna and Ravenna. Bandiera Blu coast.

Getting around

Imola, your base, is on the rail network. 4 of the 4 towns in this corner have a railway station. Check whether they share a line, and the timetables, before you plan it without a car: rural frequencies run thin, especially on Sundays.

Day 1 · Arrive in Imola

Settle in. Imola is your base for the next 1 day. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Imola

Province: Bologna

Imola

Bologna's Romagna twin, a medieval brick centro anchored by the Caterina Sforza-fortified Rocca, with the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (the Imola F1 circuit) wrapping the Santerno river at the southern edge of town.

Picked for:food and wine · plain

Montalcino

Montalcino, 2 days

Base yourself in Montalcino and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 9 from 83 candidates

Hill towns in the province of Siena. Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Chianti Classico DOCG, TCI Bandiera Arancione, and wine territory.

Getting around

Rent a car for this corner. Only 1 of the 4 towns has a railway station; the day trips assume driving.

Your timing

April sits in this corner's best window: open, temperate, and short of the crowd months.

Day 1 · Arrive in Montalcino

Settle in. Montalcino is your base for the next 2 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Montalcino

Province: Siena

Montalcino

A walled hill town at 564 meters above the Val d'Orcia, the last fortress to hold out for the Sienese Republic and the birthplace of Brunello.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Day 2 · Day trip to Montepulciano

First outing. Head to Montepulciano for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Montalcino for dinner.

Montepulciano

Province: Siena

Montepulciano

A Renaissance hill town at 605 meters on a limestone ridge, aging its Sangiovese-based red in vaulted cellars beneath the palazzi.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

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