Italy has almost eight thousand municipalities, and most count fewer than five thousand souls. It is there, away from the beaten paths, that the country keeps its soul: stone villages where time has slowed without quite stopping.
The ten not to miss
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio) — the "dying town" lives on a crumbling tuff pedestal, connected to the world by a footbridge. At dawn, above the fog of the badlands valley, it looks like a floating island.
Matera (Basilicata) — the Sassi are not a village but a carved city, inhabited for nine thousand years. Sleeping in a cave hotel is an experience you will not forget.
Pienza (Tuscany) — a humanist pope's dream: the Renaissance "ideal city" overlooking the Val d'Orcia, with Italy's finest pecorino cheese.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata) — set into the spires of the Lucanian Dolomites, linked to neighbouring Pietrapertosa by the "Angel's Flight", a zipline at 120 km/h.
Positano (Campania) — the pastel cascade of the Amalfi Coast. Yes, it is famous. No, it never disappoints in person.
And then San Gimignano with its towers, Alberobello and its trulli, Orta San Giulio on its silent lake, Santo Stefano di Sessanio restored stone by stone, Riomaggiore plunging into the Cinque Terre sea.
BigItalia's tip
Villages are at their best out of season and out of hours: arrive when the coaches leave, stay the night, find the trattoria without a tourist menu. That is where Italy happens.