Most tourists prefer the Italian sea coast, ski resorts or big cities, with their museums and architectural masterpieces. For those who want to see mountain peaks and alpine meadows, lemon groves and vineyards of Tuscany, ancient towns and medieval castles, we advise you to rent a car and go along one of the following routes.
1. Road S163 along the Amalfi Coast: sea, quiet bays and mountain serpentine
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The Amalfi Coast is located in southwestern Italy, near Naples, on the Sorrentino Peninsula. In 1997, all 40 kilometers of the coast were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The S163 highway, which has more than once been called the most beautiful road in Italy, runs along a mountain serpentine through lemon groves and ancient towns, next to beaches, bays and vineyards. The towns and fishing villages on the coast are special – they, like bird’s nests, are attached to almost vertical cliffs and hang over the sea.
S163 passes through six (Pirano, Amalfi, Minori, Maggiori, Cetara and Vietri sul Mare) of the sixteen coastal settlements. The remaining ten are located a few kilometers from the road. If possible, we recommend visiting them all, because each of them is unique: Amalfi has a cathedral of the rare Norman-Byzantine style and an ancient arsenal, Minori has excellent restaurants and pastry shops, as well as sandy beaches. Ravello lies higher than other cities, from its viewing platforms you can see the entire coastline, and Conca dei Marini has a huge grotto with stalactites, medieval towers, a monastery and churches.
2. Chianti Road in Tuscany: vineyards, cathedrals, castles and hills
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Chianti is the most famous Italian wine and is made from the Sangiovese grapes in Tuscany. This region is famous for its excellent wine and cuisine, amazing nature and rich cultural heritage. You can visit nature reserves and medieval cities, taste the best wines and see ancient castles and monasteries by taking the Chianti road (Via Chiantigiana) S222, which connects Siena and Florence.
Italian guidebooks advise leaving Florence and, passing wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves, slowly driving from one medieval town to another. Impruneta has ancient wineries and oil presses, a Renaissance cathedral and a Medici villa painted by Giovanni Manozzi. Greve in Chianti is famous for its wine cellars with the most valuable variety of Chianti – Chianti Classico, ancient frescoes, castles and taverns decorated with terracotta. Panzano is surrounded by cypress and olive groves, and in the center of the city there is a medieval castle.
3. A path through the Dolomites in northeastern Italy: lakes, pink mountains and medieval castles
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The Dolomites are one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Europe, included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List. These mountains have an amazing color – during the day they are almost white, and at sunset they turn hundreds of shades of red and pink. Le Corbusier, one of the most famous architects of the 20th century, called them the most beautiful architectural creation in the world. The 110-kilometer road from Bolzano to Cortina d’Ampezzo, called the Grande Strada delle Dolomiti,
runs near the highest peaks, lakes and waterfalls, through alpine meadows and ancient cities.
The road begins in South Tyrol, in the city of Bolzano, where there are medieval castles and a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, and the archaeological museum houses the mummy of Ötzi, the Tyrolean Ice Man, who lived in the mountains about 5,300 years ago. Further the path lies through Lake Carezza, whose waters shimmer in different colors, and the Catenaccio mountain range, which is called the “gateway to the Dolomites”. Further the path lies along winding mountain roads, through ski resorts, pine forests and past the ancient Andraz castle. Shortly after the castle, the road descends into the Ampezzo Valley, to the resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the Winter Olympic Games were held in 1956.
4. Three roads of ancient Sicily: sea, volcano, ancient Greek ruins and lush baroque
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Sicily is washed by three seas, it has the cleanest beaches, excellent cuisine and amazing architecture. Ancient Greek and early Christian monuments coexist with Baroque churches, gloomy catacombs and modern new buildings. And here is the only active volcano in Europe. Three roads pass through the most beautiful places and main attractions of the island: S114, S115, S113.
S114 runs along the east coast, connecting Messina and Syracuse. The road passes along the coast and plains, next to Mount Etna, through the medieval hilltop Taormina, and the port of Catania with baroque cathedrals, marble fountains and houses made of black volcanic stone.
Route S115 goes from Syracuse to Trapani in the west of the island, through quiet villages and forests, along the coast and valleys with the ruins of ancient cities. In the Val di Noto, the road passes through the baroque cities of Ragusa and Noto to the coast, turns to the medieval town of Agrigento and then leads to the Valley of the Temples – the most famous ancient Greek ruins on the island.
S113 connects two seaports – Trapani in the north-west of Sicily and Messina – in the north-east, running through the mountains and the northern coast through Palermo, the capital of the island and Tindari, a quiet city with ancient Roman ruins and medieval monasteries, which is surrounded by beaches and caves.
5. The road around Lake Como in Lombardy: the Alps, castles, parks and villas of the kings
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Lake Como is one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe, located 40 kilometers from Milan, in northwestern Italy. For centuries, European aristocrats came here to relax, and today their villas with huge gardens, parks and luxurious interiors are popular attractions in the region. The lake is surrounded by the Alps, on its shores there are luxurious villas of the 18th-20th centuries, parks, medieval churches, museums, ancient castles and a rampart. Como has a rare elongated shape, in which some see an inverted Y, while others see the silhouette of a running man. The length of the road along the banks and surrounding areas is 140 kilometers.
You can start the route in any of the cities on the lake shore. If you wish, you can not go around the lake in a circle, but use the ferry that connects 4 cities (Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio, Cadenabbia) at different ends of the lake. We recommend visiting the following places: Castello di Vezio, from where you can see the entire lake from a bird’s eye view, and the observation deck in Bellagio, which, according to local residents, offers the best view of Como. One of the Star Wars episodes was filmed at Villa Balbianello in Lenno, English kings lived at Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, and Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo is famous for its park and painting masterpieces. The most beautiful cities on the route are Como and Lecco, with medieval cathedrals, town halls, houses and beautiful embankments.
If you are looking for a place to stay in a new city, we recommend paying attention to the OneTwoTrip hotel vertical – set the minimum distance to the center in the filters and you will quickly find the nearest hotels near the most interesting locations.
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