Slow trip

28 slow days of nature and walking: Orvieto, Brugnato, and Cefalù

28 days based in Orvieto, Brugnato and Cefalù, in April and May, built around nature and walking. Orvieto gets 8 days, with Spello, Deruta and Tivoli nearby. Brugnato gets 10 days, with Levanto, Monterosso al Mare and Camogli nearby. Cefalù gets 10 days, with Lipari, Sciacca and Pantelleria nearby.

28 days · April or May · nature & walking-first · easy walking

Orvieto

Orvieto, 8 days

Base yourself in Orvieto and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 12 from 55 candidates

Hill towns in the provinces of Terni, Perugia, and Roma. Ceramics tradition and Borghi Più Belli d'Italia.

Getting around

Orvieto, your base, is on the rail network. 3 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.

Your timing

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

While you're there

Orvieto · Festa della Palombella, MayPentecost-day Holy-Spirit reenactment since 1404 where a white dove descends along a wire from a tabernacle to the Duomo amid fireworks, paired with Orvieto in Fiore.
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.
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.

Day 1 · Arrive in Orvieto

Settle in. Orvieto is your base for the next 8 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Province: Terni

Orvieto

Etruscan Velzna on a 325-meter tufa butte, later a medieval refuge of popes.

Picked for:nature and walking · hill town · Festa della Palombella, May

Day 2 · Day trip to Deruta

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

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:nature and walking · hill town · Buongiorno Ceramica, May

Day 3 · Day trip to Tivoli

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

Province: Roma

Tivoli

A travertine town on the Aniene falls twenty-five kilometers east of Rome, holding two separate UNESCO sites: Hadrian's villa below and the Villa d'Este above.

Picked for:nature and walking · hill town

Day 4 · Day trip to Spello

Last day trip in this corner, to Spello. Make a day of it, then back to Orvieto.

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:nature and walking · hill town · Infiorate di Spello, May

Day 5 · Day in Orvieto

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

Day 6 · Day in Orvieto

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

Day 7 · Day in Orvieto

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

Day 8 · Day in Orvieto

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

Brugnato

Brugnato, 10 days

Base yourself in Brugnato and make these your day trips.

5 towns · qualifying pool of 16 from 48 candidates

Coastal towns, around a plain-town base, in the provinces of La Spezia and Genova. Bandiera Blu coast and national park territory.

Getting around

4 of the 5 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.

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 Brugnato

Settle in. Brugnato is your base for the next 10 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Province: La Spezia

Brugnato

The medieval ecclesiastical capital of an inland Ligurian valley, seat of a diocese from 1133 to 1820, with a co-cathedral built over a Columban monastery.

Picked for:nature and walking · plain

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 Brugnato 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 Brugnato.

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:nature and walking · coastal · Festa del Limone, May

Day 4 · Day trip to Lerici

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

Province: La Spezia

Lerici

A fishing harbor under a Pisan-Genoese castle, with the frazione of Tellaro hanging over the rocks at the commune's southern edge.

Picked for:nature and walking · coastal

Day 5 · Day trip to Vernazza

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

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:nature and walking · coastal

Day 6 · Day trip to Camogli

Last day trip in this corner, to Camogli. Make a day of it, then back to Brugnato.

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 7 · Day in Brugnato

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

Day 8 · Day in Brugnato

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

Day 9 · Day in Brugnato

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

Day 10 · Day in Brugnato

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

Cefalù

Cefalù, 10 days

Base yourself in Cefalù and make these your day trips.

5 towns · qualifying pool of 16 from 26 candidates

Coastal towns across 5 provinces, among them Palermo, Messina, and Agrigento. UNESCO listed.

Getting around

Cefalù, your base, is on the rail network. 2 of the 5 towns here have a station; the rest need wheels. A rental car makes this corner simple, a rail-plus-taxi version takes patience.

Your timing

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

Day 1 · Arrive in Cefalù

Settle in. Cefalù is your base for the next 10 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Province: Palermo