Slow trip

28 slow days of art and history: Orvieto, Monterosso al Mare, and Catania

A month built around three coastal and hilltop bases lets you move slowly enough to attend Easter processions in Orvieto's duomo, watch fishermen repair nets in Vernazza's harbor, and walk through the Greek temples of Siracusa without the summer crowds. April and May offer the light that Renaissance frescoes and Baroque facades were built to catch, before the heat that clears out the smaller towns. The real work happens in the margins—a morning spent in Deruta's pottery workshops, an afternoon following the Via dell'Amore footpath as it crumbles toward Monterosso, a sunset view of Mount Etna from a café in Noto where you're the only visitor.

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

Orvieto

Orvieto, 10 days

Base yourself in Orvieto and make these your day trips.

5 towns · qualifying pool of 12 from 55 candidates

Hill towns in the provinces of Terni, Perugia, and Roma. ceramics tradition.

Getting around

Orvieto, 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

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 10 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:art and history · 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:art and history · hill town · Buongiorno Ceramica, May

Day 3 · Day trip to Viterbo

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

Province: Viterbo

Viterbo

The medieval capital of the Tuscia, papal seat for five popes between 1257 and 1281 and home to the longest conclave in Church history.

Picked for:art and history · hill town

Day 4 · 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:art and history · hill town

Day 5 · 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:art and history · hill town · Infiorate di Spello, May

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.

Day 9 · Day in Orvieto

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

Day 10 · Day in Orvieto

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

Monterosso al Mare

Monterosso al Mare, 14 days

Base yourself in Monterosso al Mare and make these your day trips.

5 towns · qualifying pool of 17 from 48 candidates

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

Getting around

Monterosso al Mare, your base, is on the rail network. 4 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 Monterosso al Mare

Settle in. Monterosso al Mare is your base for the next 14 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

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 2 · Day trip to Levanto

First outing. Head to Levanto for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Monterosso al Mare 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 Vernazza

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

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 4 · Day trip to Lerici

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

Province: La Spezia

Lerici

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

Picked for:art and history · coastal

Day 5 · Day trip to Camogli

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

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 in Monterosso al Mare