Slow trip

28 slow days of art and history: Deruta, Framura, and Catania, without a car

Deruta's ceramic workshops sit in the hills above Perugia, where potters still hand-paint plates using techniques unchanged since the Renaissance, and a month across three bases lets you move slowly enough to watch the spring light change the color of the glazes. From the Renaissance frescoes of Spello to the Greek ruins of Siracusa, you'll follow art backward through time, staying long enough in each place to know the rhythm of the market days and which bars the locals actually frequent. By May, the crowds haven't arrived yet, and you can walk into a ceramics studio in Deruta or sit in a Catanian piazza at dusk without performing tourism.

28 days · April or May · art & history-first · easy walking

Deruta

Deruta, 7 days

Base yourself in Deruta and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 5 from 29 candidates

Hill towns in the province of Perugia. Borghi Più Belli d'Italia and olive oil country.

Getting around

Deruta, your base, is on the rail network. 4 of the 4 towns in this corner have a railway station, so a car-free version of this corner is realistic. Check Trenitalia timetables before you commit a day: rural frequencies run thin, especially on Sundays.

Your timing

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

While you're there

Deruta — Buongiorno Ceramica, MayAnnual Italian Ceramic Festival weekend in the home of Deruta majolica with workshops and open ateliers across Italy's oldest ceramic-arts town.
Spello — Infiorate di Spello, MayCorpus Christi weekend (May-June) flower-petal carpets created overnight by 1,000 people along the medieval streets to celebrate the Eucharistic feast.
Castiglione del Lago — Coloriamo i Cieli, April–MayInternational kite and hot-air balloon festival on Lake Trasimeno's shores, with environmental and peace themes, since over 25 editions.

Day 1 · Arrive in Deruta

Settle in. Deruta is your base for the next 7 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Province: Perugia

Deruta

A hill town at 218 meters on the left bank of the Tiber, the maiolica capital of central Italy since the late thirteenth century.

Picked for:art and history · hill town · Buongiorno Ceramica, May

Day 2 · Day trip to Spello

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

Province: Perugia

Spello

Augustan Hispellum sits at 280 meters on Monte Subasio, its Roman gates still standing over streets that Pinturicchio once painted a chapel for.

Picked for:art and history · hill town · Infiorate di Spello, May

Day 3 · Day trip to Castiglione del Lago

Out again, this time to Castiglione del Lago. Same rhythm: leave after breakfast, return for evening in Deruta.

Province: Perugia

Castiglione del Lago

Trasimeno's western promontory, once the lake's fourth island, fortified in 1247 and later frescoed for a marquis of Corgna.

Picked for:art and history · lakeside · Coloriamo i Cieli, April

Day 4 · Day trip to Foligno

Last day trip in this corner, to Foligno. Make a day of it, then back to Deruta.

Province: Perugia

Foligno

A valley town at 235 meters on the Topino, where Dante's Divine Comedy was first printed in 1472.

Picked for:nature and walking · hill town

Day 5 · Day in Deruta

A slower day. Stay in Deruta. Walk side streets, find the market, take a long lunch.

Day 6 · Day in Deruta

A slower day. Stay in Deruta. Walk side streets, find the market, take a long lunch.

Day 7 · Day in Deruta

A slower day. Stay in Deruta. Walk side streets, find the market, take a long lunch.

Framura

Framura, 15 days

Base yourself in Framura and make these your day trips.

5 towns · qualifying pool of 11 from 27 candidates

Coastal towns in the provinces of La Spezia and Genova. national park territory, Bandiera Blu coast, and UNESCO listed.

Getting around

Framura, your base, is on the rail network. 5 of the 5 towns in this corner have a railway station, so a car-free version of this corner is realistic. Check Trenitalia timetables before you commit a day: rural frequencies run thin, especially on Sundays.

Your timing

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

While you're there

Monterosso al Mare — Festa del Limone, MayMid-May Cinque Terre festival since 1967 with lemon-themed decorations, limoncino, marmalades and lemon sweets across the Paese Vecchio's caruggi.
Camogli — Sagra del Pesce di Camogli, MayAnnual May fish fry in a giant 4-metre frying pan since 1952, honoring San Fortunato patron of fishermen.

Day 1 · Arrive in Framura

Settle in. Framura is your base for the next 15 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Province: La Spezia

Framura

Five hamlets between sea level and 300 meters on the Riviera di Levante, with Byzantine watchtowers built against Saracen incursions.

Picked for:art and history · coastal

Day 2 · Day trip to Levanto

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

Province: La Spezia

Levanto

The sixth Cinque Terre, a beach town and Cittaslow at the gateway of the national park, with a surf break and a striped Gothic church.

Picked for:nature and walking · coastal

Day 3 · Day trip to Monterosso al Mare

Out again, this time to Monterosso al Mare. Same rhythm: leave after breakfast, return for evening in Framura.

Province: La Spezia

Monterosso al Mare

The westernmost and largest of the five villages, where Eugenio Montale spent the childhood summers that became Ossi di seppia in 1925.

Picked for:art and history · coastal · Festa del Limone, May

Day 4 · Day trip to Lavagna

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

Province: Genova

Lavagna

The Tigullio town that gave its name to slate, and its counts to a line of popes.

Picked for:nature and walking · coastal

Day 5 · Day trip to Camogli

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

Province: Genova

Camogli

A fishing village on the Golfo Paradiso whose nineteenth-century fleet of a thousand white sails made it Italy's third maritime power in the Mediterranean.

Picked for:nature and walking · coastal · Sagra del Pesce di Camogli, May

Day 6 · Day trip to Vernazza

Last day trip in this corner, to Vernazza. Make a day of it, then back to Framura.

Province: La Spezia

Vernazza

The middle village of the coast, the only one with a natural harbor, buried under four meters of mud in October 2011.

Picked for:art and history · coastal

Day 7 · Day in Framura