Slow trip

21 slow days of food and wine: Pompei, Andria, Palazzolo Acreide, and Oliena

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21 days based in Pompei, Andria, Palazzolo Acreide and Oliena, in May and June, built around food and wine. Pompei gets 10 days, with Ravello, Vietri sul Mare and Amalfi nearby. Andria gets 4 days, with Matera, Vieste and Monte Sant'Angelo nearby. Palazzolo Acreide gets 4 days, with Lipari, Noto and Siracusa nearby. Oliena gets 2 days, with Carloforte, Mamoiada and Dorgali nearby.

21 days · May or June · food & wine-first · moderate walking

Pompei

Pompei, 10 days

Base yourself in Pompei and make these your day trips.

5 towns · qualifying pool of 26 from 77 candidates

Coastal towns in the provinces of Napoli and Salerno. Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGP, UNESCO listed, and Cittaslow certified.

Getting around

Pompei, 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

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

While you're there

  • Pompei · Festa della Madonna del Rosario di Pompei (Supplica), MayMay 8 and first Sunday of October worldwide noon recitation of Bartolo Longo's Supplica at the Marian sanctuary founded in 1876.
  • Ravello · Ravello Festival, JuneSummer (late June to early August) music and arts festival since 1953 inspired by Wagner's 1880 visit, in Villa Rufolo and Niemeyer Auditorium with the iconic August 15 dawn concert.
  • Vietri sul Mare · Festa di San Giovanni Battista, JuneJune 24 patron-saint feast on the Amalfi Coast with procession through the ceramic town and midnight fireworks from the sea.
  • Amalfi · Regata Storica delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare, May–JuneHistorical regatta and parade rotating between Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice commemorating medieval maritime rivalries.

Day 1 · Arrive in Pompei

Settle in. Pompei is your base for the next 10 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 · Festa della Madonna del Rosa…, May

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 · Festa di San Giovanni Battis…, June

Day 3 · Day trip to Ravello

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

Ravello

Province: Salerno

Ravello

A ridge town above the Amalfi Coast where Wagner found Klingsor's garden in 1880.

Picked for:food and wine · coastal · Ravello Festival, June

Day 4 · Day trip to Amalfi

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

Amalfi

Province: Salerno

Amalfi

The first Italian maritime republic and the coast it named, six meters above the sea between cliffs that close around the duomo's steps.

Picked for:art and history · coastal · Regata Storica delle Antiche…, May

Day 5 · 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

Day 6 · Day in Pompei

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

Day 7 · Day in Pompei

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

Day 8 · Day in Pompei

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

Day 9 · Day in Pompei

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

Day 10 · Day in Pompei

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

Andria

Andria, 4 days

Base yourself in Andria and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 11 from 73 candidates

Coastal and hill towns, around a plain-town base, across 4 provinces, among them Barletta-Andria-Trani, Foggia, and Matera. Olive oil country and UNESCO listed.

Getting around

Andria, 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.

Your timing

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

While you're there

  • Vieste · Festa di Santa Maria di Merino, MayMay 9 patron procession carrying the Madonna statue from the cathedral to the seaside Sanctuary of Merino, accompanied by St George.

Day 1 · Arrive in Andria

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

Andria

Province: Barletta-Andria-Trani

Andria

Frederick II's favorite Apulian city, the birthplace of burrata, ruling the Murge plateau eighteen kilometers north of its most famous castle.

Picked for:food and wine · plain

Day 2 · Day trip to Matera

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

Matera

Province: Matera

Matera

Cave dwellings carved into limestone since the Paleolithic, called the shame of Italy in the 1950s and made European Capital of Culture in 2019.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Day 3 · Day in Andria

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

Day 4 · Day in Andria

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

Palazzolo Acreide

Palazzolo Acreide, 4 days

Base yourself in Palazzolo Acreide and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 10 from 54 candidates

Towns, around a hill-town base, in the provinces of Siracusa and Messina. UNESCO listed and historic city centers.

Getting around

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.

Your timing

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

While you're there

  • Palazzolo Acreide · Festa di San Paolo, JuneJune 28-29 patron feast of the UNESCO Baroque town with the Sciuta unveiling of the 16th-century statue and rose petals showered from a helicopter.
  • Noto · Infiorata di Noto, MayFive-day third-weekend-of-May flower-petal carpet art along Via Corrado Nicolaci using 400,000 petals, with Baroque costume procession and parallel Primavera Barocca events.

Day 1 · Arrive in Palazzolo Acreide

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

Palazzolo Acreide

Province: Siracusa

Palazzolo Acreide

An 8,000-resident hilltop town on the Iblei plateau at 670m, rebuilt entirely in late Baroque after the 1693 earthquake and founded over the Greek Akrai colony in 664 BC, with a Greek theater and a cluster of rock carvings unlike anything else nearby.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town · Festa di San Paolo, June

Day 2 · Day trip to Noto

First outing. Head to Noto for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Palazzolo Acreide for dinner.

Noto

Province: Siracusa

Noto

The capital of Sicilian Baroque, rebuilt entirely in golden limestone after 1693.

Picked for:art and history · plain · Infiorata di Noto, May

Day 3 · Day trip to Siracusa

Last day trip in this corner, to Siracusa. Make a day of it, then back to Palazzolo Acreide.

Siracusa

Province: Siracusa

Siracusa

Ortigia island, wrapped in honey-coloured Baroque stone, sits at the heart of the city Cicero called the most beautiful in the world, on the eastern Sicilian coast south of Catania.

Picked for:art and history · coastal

Day 4 · Day in Palazzolo Acreide

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

Oliena

Oliena, 3 days

Base yourself in Oliena and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 6 from 39 candidates

Hill towns in the provinces of Nuoro and Sud Sardegna. Wine territory, national park territory, and TCI Bandiera Arancione.

Getting around

Rent a car for this corner. The day trips assume driving.

Your timing

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

While you're there

  • Carloforte · Girotonno, May–JuneInternational four-day bluefin tuna festival on San Pietro island with live cooking by starred chefs and the historic tonnara catch.

Day 1 · Arrive in Oliena

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

Oliena

Province: Nuoro

Oliena

A Supramonte village at the foot of the massif's highest peak, source of Cannonau Nepente, base camp for Tiscali and the Lanaitto valley.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Day 2 · Day trip to Dorgali

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

Dorgali

Province: Nuoro

Dorgali

A Supramonte town at 387 meters, with a coastal frazione, a Nuragic village hidden in a sinkhole, and a limestone gorge cut through the massif to the south.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

Day 3 · Day trip to Mamoiada

Last day trip in this corner, to Mamoiada. Make a day of it, then back to Oliena.

Mamoiada

Province: Nuoro

Mamoiada

The Barbagia village where the Mamuthones come out on January 17, twelve men in black sheepskins carrying thirty kilos of cowbells.

Picked for:food and wine · hill town

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