Slow trip

7 slow days of nature and walking: Spoleto, Riva del Garda, Corigliano-Rossano, Oliena, and Chiavari

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7 days based in Spoleto, Riva del Garda, Corigliano-Rossano, Oliena and Chiavari, in October, built around nature and walking. Spoleto gets 1 day, with Norcia, Trevi and Montefalco nearby. Riva del Garda gets 1 day, with Malcesine, Brentonico and Trento nearby. Corigliano-Rossano gets 2 days, with Roseto Capo Spulico, Altomonte and Spezzano della Sila nearby. Oliena gets 1 day, with Galtellì, Orosei and Dorgali nearby. Chiavari gets 3 days, with Lavagna, Sestri Levante and Levanto nearby.

7 days · October · nature & walking-first · moderate walking

Spoleto

Spoleto, 1 day

Base yourself in Spoleto and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 8 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. Spoleto, your base, is on the rail network. Only 1 of the 4 towns has a railway station; the day trips assume driving.

Your timing

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

While you're there

  • Trevi · Sagra del Sedano Nero e della Salsiccia, OctoberThird-Sunday-of-October market exhibition celebrating the Slow Food Presidium black celery alongside a sausage festival.

Day 1 · Arrive in Spoleto

Settle in. Spoleto is your base for the next 1 day. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Spoleto

Province: Perugia

Spoleto

Lombard ducal capital at 396 meters under the Rocca Albornoziana, where a 230-meter aqueduct bridge crosses to Monteluco and Menotti founded the Festival in 1958.

Picked for:nature and walking · hill town

Riva del Garda

Riva del Garda, 1 day

Base yourself in Riva del Garda and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 6 from 24 candidates

Lakeside and mountain towns in the provinces of Trento and Verona. Wine territory and olive oil country.

Getting around

Rent a car for this corner. Only 1 of the 4 towns has a railway station; the day trips assume driving.

Your timing

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

While you're there

  • Brentonico · Festa della Castagna di Castione, OctoberChestnut festival on Brentonico plateau with prized Monte Baldo marroni and Trentino dishes

Day 1 · Arrive in Riva del Garda

Settle in. Riva del Garda is your base for the next 1 day. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Riva del Garda

Province: Trento

Riva del Garda

The north tip of the lake at 73 meters, where the Trentino mountains close in on the water and a Habsburg port town stayed bilingual into the twentieth century.

Picked for:food and wine · lakeside

Corigliano-Rossano

Corigliano-Rossano, 1 day

Base yourself in Corigliano-Rossano and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 10 from 43 candidates

Coastal and hill towns in the province of Cosenza. Bandiera Blu coast, national park territory, and olive oil country.

Getting around

Rent a car for this corner. Corigliano-Rossano, your base, is on the rail network. Only 1 of the 4 towns has a railway station; the day trips assume driving.

Your timing

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

Day 1 · Arrive in Corigliano-Rossano

Settle in. Corigliano-Rossano is your base for the next 1 day. Take the afternoon to walk the centro, find your bearings, eat something local.

Corigliano-Rossano

Province: Cosenza

Corigliano-Rossano

The Sibari plain city merged in 2018 from two older towns, one built around a Norman castle and the other around a Byzantine manuscript tradition.

Picked for:nature and walking · coastal

Oliena

Oliena, 1 day

Base yourself in Oliena and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 4 from 39 candidates

Hill and plain towns in the province of Nuoro. Wine territory, TCI Bandiera Arancione, and national park territory.

Getting around

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

Your timing

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

Day 1 · Arrive in Oliena

Settle in. Oliena is your base for the next 1 day. 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:nature and walking · hill town

Chiavari

Chiavari, 3 days

Base yourself in Chiavari and make these your day trips.

4 towns · qualifying pool of 18 from 53 candidates

Coastal towns in the provinces of Genova and La Spezia. Bandiera Blu coast and olive oil country.

Getting around

Chiavari, your base, is on the rail network. 4 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

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

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.

Chiavari

Province: Genova

Chiavari

The Tigullio capital between Portofino and the Cinque Terre, a 27,000-person Genoese trading town built around a thirteenth-century grid of porticoed streets.

Picked for:food and wine · coastal

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.

Lavagna

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 3 · Day trip to Sestri Levante

Last day trip in this corner, to Sestri Levante. Make a day of it, then back to Chiavari.

Sestri Levante

Province: Genova

Sestri Levante

The Tigullio town of two bays, split by a peninsula where a river once silted an island to the shore.

Picked for:food and wine · coastal

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