Slow trip
14 slow days: Siracusa, Pompei, Bevagna, Vittorio Veneto, and Chiavari
Sicily's southeast corner yields to the Amalfi's vertical gardens, then inland Umbria's truffle markets and medieval hill towns, before the Venetian foothills and finally the Ligurian coast where fishing villages still haul their catch at dawn. May arrives without the summer crush, when producers pour new wines and restaurants source what grew that morning. Spend two weeks moving between five bases, each anchored by a town but radiating outward to vineyards, markets, and tables where the cook knows the farmer who grew what you're eating.
14 days · May · food & wine-first · moderate walking
Siracusa
Siracusa, 2 days
Base yourself in Siracusa and make these your day trips.
4 towns · qualifying pool of 10 from 54 candidates
Coastal towns in the provinces of Siracusa, Catania, and Messina. UNESCO listed and historic city centers.
Getting around
Siracusa, 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
May sits in this corner's best window: open, temperate, and short of the crowd months.
While you're there
- 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 Siracusa
Settle in. Siracusa is your base for the next 2 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.
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 Siracusa for dinner.
More options in this corner
Catania
Province: Catania
Sicily's second city and the cultural anchor of the Ionian coast — a UNESCO late-Baroque centro storico rebuilt in lava-black stone after the 1693 earthquake, sitting at the foot of Etna with a 17th-century elephant fountain (U Liotru) as its civic symbol.
Picked for: art and history · coastal
Taormina
Province: Messina
A terrace on Monte Tauro above the Ionian, with Etna on the southern horizon.
Picked for: sea and coast · spring travel
Pompei
Pompei, 5 days
Base yourself in Pompei and make these your day trips.
7 towns · qualifying pool of 27 from 75 candidates
Coastal towns in the provinces of Napoli and Salerno. Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGP, UNESCO listed, and Borghi Più Belli d'Italia.
Getting around
Rent a car for this corner. Pompei, your base, is on the rail network. Only 2 of the 7 towns have a railway station; the day trips assume driving.
Your timing
May 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.
- Amalfi — Regata Storica delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare, MayHistorical 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 5 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.
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.
Day 3 · Day trip to Furore
Out again, this time to Furore. Same rhythm: leave after breakfast, return for evening in Pompei.
Day 4 · Day trip to Ravello
Out again, this time to Ravello. Same rhythm: leave after breakfast, return for evening in Pompei.
Day 5 · Day trip to Amalfi
Last day trip in this corner, to Amalfi. Make a day of it, then back to Pompei.
More options in this corner
Positano
Province: Salerno
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
Massa Lubrense
Province: Napoli
The Sorrentine Peninsula's largest commune by area, stretching from Sorrento across Punta Campanella to the Gulf of Salerno, Capri three miles offshore.
Picked for: food and wine · coastal
Bevagna
Bevagna, 3 days
Base yourself in Bevagna and make these your day trips.
5 towns · qualifying pool of 16 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. Bevagna, your base, has no station, so plan to arrive by car. Only 1 of the 5 towns have a railway station; the day trips assume driving.
Your timing
May sits in this corner's best window: open, temperate, and short of the crowd months.
While you're there
- Gubbio — Corsa dei Ceri, MayUNESCO-listed May 15 race carrying three 5-metre, 300kg wooden ceri up the mountain to St Ubaldo, drawing 100,000 spectators each year.
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.
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.
Day 3 · Day trip to Spoleto
Last day trip in this corner, to Spoleto. Make a day of it, then back to Bevagna.
More options in this corner
Norcia
Province: Perugia
Birthplace of San Benedetto at 604 meters on a Sibillini plateau, leveled by the 2016 earthquake and rebuilt stone by stone.
Picked for: food and wine · hill town
Gubbio
Province: Perugia
Pre-Roman Ikuvium of the Umbri, where seven bronze tablets carry the longest text of the Umbrian language.
Picked for: food and wine · hill town · Corsa dei Ceri, May
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto, 2 days
Base yourself in Vittorio Veneto and make these your day trips.
4 towns · qualifying pool of 9 from 53 candidates
Hill towns in the province of Treviso. wine territory, Borghi Più Belli d'Italia, and TCI Bandiera Arancione.
Getting around
Rent a car for this corner. Vittorio Veneto, your base, is on the rail network. Only 0 of the 4 towns have a railway station; the day trips assume driving.
Your timing
May sits in this corner's best window: open, temperate, and short of the crowd months.
While you're there
- Follina — Secolare Sagra di Pentecoste, MayCenturies-old Pentecost pilgrimage where Alpago wool-traders walk to Follina Abbey to thank the Madonna for clearing the harvest-killing fog, with concert and Cistercian liturgy.
- Farra di Soligo — Borghi e Bollicine - Primavera del Prosecco, MaySpring Prosecco wine show in Farra's hamlets (Col San Martino, San Pietro di Barbozza) as part of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene UNESCO hills' Primavera del Prosecco.
Day 1 · Arrive in Vittorio Veneto
Settle in. Vittorio Veneto is your base for the next 2 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.
Day 2 · Day trip to Follina
First outing. Head to Follina for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Vittorio Veneto for dinner.
More options in this corner
Asolo
Province: Treviso
A walled hill town at 205 meters that Caterina Cornaro ran as her court after trading Cyprus to Venice in 1489.
Picked for: food and wine · hill town
Cison di Valmarino
Province: Treviso
A Prosecco hills borgo at 261 meters under the dolomite rock of CastelBrando, the largest inhabited castle complex in Europe.
Picked for: food and wine · hill town
Farra di Soligo
Province: Treviso
An 8,477-resident comune in the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG zone, with the three medieval Torri di Credazzo crowning a hilltop above its vineyards and Cittaslow plus Città del Vino status alongside it.
Picked for: food and wine · plain · Borghi e Bollicine - Primave…, May
Chiavari
Chiavari, 3 days
Base yourself in Chiavari and make these your day trips.
5 towns · qualifying pool of 16 from 53 candidates
Coastal towns in the provinces of Genova and Savona. Bandiera Blu coast, olive oil country, and wine territory.
Getting around
Chiavari, 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
May sits in this corner's best window: open, temperate, and short of the crowd months.
While you're there
- 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 Chiavari
Settle in. Chiavari is your base for the next 3 days. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.
Day 2 · Day trip to Lavagna
First outing. Head to Lavagna for the day. Take the slow road, leave time to wander, be back in Chiavari for dinner.
Day 3 · Day trip to Sestri Levante
Last day trip in this corner, to Sestri Levante. Make a day of it, then back to Chiavari.
More options in this corner
Noli
Province: Savona
The fifth Italian maritime republic from 1192 to 1797, a walled coastal town with the Romanesque basilica of San Paragorio outside its gates.
Picked for: art and history · coastal
Camogli
Province: Genova
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: sea and coast · Sagra del Pesce di Camogli, May
Refine
Not quite right?
Answer 5 more questions to narrow your plan further.
Share
Share this plan.
Send the link to whoever you’re travelling with, or keep the trip as a PDF.
This is a permanent link — it will always show the same plan.
About this plan
This plan is generated by a free informational tool. The towns, drive times, and recurring events come from public Italian institutional sources, compiled and verified at the time of writing. Italy changes; opening hours, prices, road conditions, festival dates, and accommodation availability shift faster than we can keep current.
Confirm anything time-sensitive directly with official sources before you travel. Comune websites, regional tourism boards, and the festival organisers themselves are the authoritative references for dates, prices, and access conditions. Our role is to point you at the towns and the reasons; the logistics of any specific visit remain yours.
This is not a licensed travel service under Italian Codice del Turismo or EU Package Travel Directive 2015/2302. We do not sell, book, or coordinate transport, accommodation, or activities. No contractual relationship is created by reading or sharing this page. We accept no liability for trip outcomes, missed connections, closed venues, road conditions, weather, or any other factor outside the published catalogue.
Plans are stored as part of the publicly accessible catalogue; sharing one means anyone with the URL can see it. The data describes places as compiled. See “About the data” in the footer for sourcing details and our verification standard.