Eight routes by car or 'camper' through Italy (all equally appealing)

There are few places as interesting as Italy to explore by road.

And if it is by car or

camper

, the better: we will have more autonomy and freedom to get off the conventional routes and discover the best of the country.

Romantic cities and historical monuments, tasty gastronomy and a landscape that ranges from snow-capped peaks and fairy-tale lakes to remote places and spectacular coasts;

from Alpine peaks to hilltop Tuscan towns or fishing villages on the Amalfi Coast.

Some of the world's most famous landmarks alternate with little-known gems that keep the excitement of discovery going.

On four wheels and with accommodation in tow, Italy is covered with routes for all tastes, from visits to

gourmet

cities and historic vineyards to days of sun and beach on the less crowded coasts or hiking through beautiful national parks.

Here are eight

road trip

proposals to explore the country.

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Robinson Crusoe Islands Adventure

1. The idyllic Italian lakes

Many writers, from Goethe to Hemingway, have praised the Italian lakes, fringed by spectacular snow-capped mountains and dotted with luxurious villas and lush gardens.

With five days and up to a week traveling the roads, we can get an idea of ​​its enormous appeal.

On Lake Maggiore, the palaces of the Borromean Islands form a fleet of beautiful vessels, while the leafy slopes of Lake Como evoke Arab sheikhs and James Bond film sets.

At Lake Maggiore you can take an excursion through the silent forests of the Cannobina Valley and in the town of Stresa you can recover your strength in a nostalgic belle

époque

café .

In Como, we can dream of becoming Napoleon or Agent 007 in a golden villa on the water's edge, while, inland, Bergamo is equally classic, although less pretentious.

But there is much more.

The town of Stresa, on Lake Maggiore.Christine944 (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

An impressive stop on this route along the lake roads is, for example, Verbania, the capital of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.

In reality, there are two Verbanias: Pallanza, a labyrinth of winding alleys and boarding point to the Borromean Islands, and Intra, with a larger, more modern port for ferries.

Between the two is the nineteenth-century Villa Taranto.

In 1931, the royal archer and Scottish captain Neil Boyd Mc Eacharn bought the villa from the Savoy family and began planting 20,000 plant species;

Today it is one of the best botanical gardens in Europe.

More information in the new guide

The best car and camper routes in Italy

from Lonely Planet and on loneyplanet.es.

Sheltered by a mountain, the medieval town of Cannobio is five kilometers from the border with Switzerland and it shows.

And following the route, there is Varese, the prosperous provincial capital south of the Campo dei Fiori mountains, where in the 17th century Milanese nobles began to build second homes, such as the sumptuous Palazzo Estense (although it is not open to the public, you can stroll through its Italian-style gardens), or like the spectacular Villa Panza mansion.

But the best-known place of the lakes is Como, a city built at the height of the silk industry, elegant and full of pleasant walks through its narrow streets in the medieval center.

It remains the leading manufacturer of silk products in Europe, as told in its Museo della Seta, which unravels its industrial history.

On the other side of the marina, a funicular goes up the hill to the small village of Brunate, from where the views of the lake are splendid.

And it is also impossible to resist the charm of Bellagio's lake coast, with its little boats, its labyrinth of stone stairs, its fields of cypress trees and its well-kept gardens.

The best way to enjoy Bellagio is to walk very calmly.

Thus, some of the most beautiful mansions on the lake are discovered, such as the neoclassical Villa Melzi d'Eril, with gardens that descend to the shore, decorated with classical statues that appear among the azaleas.

A style similar to that of the Villa Carlota in Tremezzo, from the 17th century, with its botanical gardens with pergolas of interwoven orange trees and beautiful rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.

The town of Tremezzo, on Lake Como.© Marco Bottigelli (Getty Images)

A true reflection of Bellagio, on the opposite bank is Varenna.

This is another town full of charm, wrapped in lush vegetation, with narrow streets and pastel-colored houses piled up on the slopes.

2. Piedmont for 'gourmets'

Piedmont is a fantastic proposal to dedicate a week to.

If, in addition, we choose autumn to travel its roads, we can make a stop at the different gastronomic festivals that have made the region a

gourmet

paradise .

Its mountains, valleys and towns showcase northern Italian specialties, with sweet hazelnuts, rare white truffles,

arborio

rice and

nebbiolo

grapes that are made into

barolo

and

barbaresco wines.

Michelin stars shine in the Po River basin, and rightly so.

It is best to organize an epicurean route and counteract excess calories with walks and bike rides.

You can start in Turin, the city that offered the world the first chocolate bar.

It is also famous for hosting one of the greatest mysteries (the Holy Shroud), for its extraordinary Egyptian Museum and because it played a decisive role in the creation of the Italian State.

This varied history can be followed at the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano.

Apart from the national story and the intriguing Shroud, about which you can learn more at the Museo della Sindone, this city is often visited for its chocolate.

Organizing the trip to coincide with the Cioccolatò festival is a good start.

Chocolate aside, Turin is home to the revolutionary

slow food

supermarket Eataly, which occupies a former factory, sells an astonishing range of sustainable foods and drinks and hosts regular tastings and cooking workshops.

Vineyards around the village of La Morra, in the province of Cúneo, in the Piedmont region.carlo alberto conti (Getty Images)

From the Piedmontese capital, a road route can take us through Cúneo, a refined city with a Renaissance arcaded square and the monumental Piazza Galimberti, where the market stalls are set up every Tuesday.

Then you can stop in Bra, where one of the temples of new gastronomy awaits: the small Osteria del Boccondivino, with walls covered in wine bottles, and the first

slow food

restaurant in the 1980s.

In the same courtyard is the headquarters of Slow Food International, with a small bookstore with guides to all the restaurants and producers in Italy accredited by the organization.

Just outside Bra, in the town of Pollenzo, is the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences), which offers three-year courses in gastronomy and food handling.

Next door are the Wine Bank and a winery-library of Italian wines.

The circuit through the wines and gastronomic delights of the region is completed with stops in Barolo, in its Castello Falletti, today the Barolo Wine Museum, and in Alba famous for its truffles, and surrounded by the fertile hills of the Langhe, with rows of vineyards and orchards full of grapes, hazelnut trees and wineries.

Exploring them on foot or on two wheels is a rare pleasure, among chestnut groves, vineyards, and wineries and truffle hunting excursions (prices vary depending on the number of participants).

3. From Trieste to Sappada, traveling through Friuli-Venezia Giulia

On the northeastern edges of the country, the roads of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region leading from Trieste to Sappada reveal a unique cultural heritage, which over the centuries has been influenced by its Austrian and Slavic neighbors.

You start from Triestey, reaching the only point in Austria from where you can see the sea, you go up to Cividale del Friuli, where you can visit the only European mosaic school in Spilimbergo, taste Tocai wine of Hungarian origin in Collio and finish in the mountainous Sappada.

It is a perfect route to dedicate a week (about 200 kilometers) and discover a border land, multilingual, multicultural and full of history.

Trieste is a city that is worth a trip in itself.

It flourished under Habsburg auspices between 1382 and 1918, attracting writers and philosophers such as Thomas Mann and James Joyce to its lively cafés in Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia.

There they enjoyed the open character of Trieste, a meeting point of Latin, Slavic, Jewish and Germanic cultures.

The Borgo Teresiano neighborhood reflects this cultural hodgepodge and on Via San Francesco d'Assisi you can visit the synagogue and the Chiesa di Santo Spiridione, an incredible Serbian Orthodox temple.

Not far away, Aquilea is an obligatory stop.

Colonized by Rome in 181 BC, it was one of the largest and richest cities in the Empire.

Devastated by Attila's Huns in 452, its inhabitants fled south and west, where they founded Grado and then Venice.

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, a smaller town arose above the Roman city with the construction of the current basilica, which preserves some of the largest and most spectacular mosaic floors in the world.

In addition to the basilica, among the scattered remains of the Roman city are the ruins of Porto Fluviale, the old port, and the columns of the ancient forum on Via Giulia Augusta.

We are in a region where some of the best white wines in Italy are produced, with local varieties such as

Friulano,

Istrian Malvasia and

Ribolla Gialla

.

A mosaic of vineyards surrounds the town of Cormòns.

Even in season, it's easy to visit dozens of family-owned wineries and taste rare vintages with vintners.

The next 18 kilometers to Cividale del Friuli are the most spectacular of the route, driving along a secondary road that runs through the vineyards and passes several small villages.

Cividale, founded by Julius Caesar in 50 BC, invites you to take a morning walk through its picturesque stone streets or take a photo on the Ponte del Diavolo, which divides the town in two.

View of the Ponte del Diavolo, in the city of Cividale del Friuli.Photo by Bernardo Ricci Armani (Getty Images)

But the spiritual and gastronomic center of the area is Udine, although it reluctantly ceded its capital status to Trieste in the 1950s, with a walled medieval center around Piazza della Libertà, which many consider the most beautiful Venetian square on the continent.

More Venetian echoes resonate in the Tiepolo frescoes in the Oratorio della Purità, or in the castle.

In the nearby San Daniele del Friuli, on top of a hill, the stop is justified by the splendid views of the landscape, but above all because the sweet and dark

prosciutto di San Daniele

is produced here , the gastronomic jewel of the Friuli from which They give all the pertinent explanations in La Casa del Prosciutto, opened in 1906.

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And the route ends in Sappada, voted one of the most beautiful villages in Italy and worthy of a sustainability award in 2019. Sappada (Plodn, in the local dialect) is a picture-postcard alpine village nestled in a sunny hillside, between the spectacular peaks of the Dolomites.

It is located on the border of Veneto, Carnia and Carinthia (Austria), and was founded by families from Eastern Tyrol.

It is a unique linguistic island and its inhabitants proudly preserve their culture and traditions.

Visitors are attracted by its exquisite restaurants, mountain excursions and excellent winter skiing facilities.

4. Through the Venetian Dolomites

The road through the Venetian Dolomites passes through one of the most sophisticated and least visited rural stretches in Italy.

Some of the most beautiful medieval walled villages and towns in the Veneto region are here, and a little further north prosecco

vines

carpet the rolling slopes of the Alps.

All this, crowned by the great Italian star of ski resorts: Cortina d'Ampezzo, always fashionable, expensive and impressively beautiful.

A seven-day

camper

route can take us to magical corners such as Treviso, Asolo, Possagno or Belluno.

Treviso is the starting point.

With medieval walls, canals, cobbled alleys and frescoed churches, this city has always been overshadowed by the proximity of Venice, but it is a great place to experience authentic Veneto life away from the crowds.

Like its neighbor, it is surrounded by water: its walls are surrounded by a moat with waters from the Sile River, which runs to the south of the city.

Green parks, weeping willows and water wheels give it charm, as does its fish market.

To complete the visit with an authentic experience, you must visit a traditional

osteria

, such as Osteria Dalla Gigia or Hostaria dai Naneti.

Viewpoint of the Dolomites in Cortina d'Ampezzo, in the Italian region of Veneto.Nora Carol Photography (Getty Images)

Driving leisurely through flat fields and small towns you reach Asolo, one of the most beautiful enclaves in Italy, on a hillock with splendid views of mountainous landscapes.

It has traditionally been a wealthy city, which in 1489 became the small kingdom of Caterina Cornaro, queen of Cyprus, who, in return, ceded her island to the Republic of Venice.

The queen filled the city with artists and intellectuals, such as Gentile Bellini and the humanist Pietro Bembo, who gave it a refined and cosmopolitan air that has endured over the centuries.

Later other bohemians would arrive, such as the American novelist Henry James, the English poet Robert Browning, the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, the Italian actress Eleonora Duse or the English adventurer Freya Stark.

There is a small museum and a castle, but the most pleasant thing is to stroll through the romantic alleys and visit the garden of Villa Freya with dreamlike views, and stay at the Villa Cipriani, where Robert Browning and Lord Guinness lived, which has a

spa

and a swimming pool with fabulous views.

It was also here that Andrea Palladio managed to synthesize the classical past without copying it, creating buildings that, in their day, were suggestive, practical and of incomparable elegance.

Wine is another of the protagonists of the route.

Valdobbiadene occupies the central part of prosecco land

,

with vines on its slopes and is a point to follow the Strada di Prosecco and discover some of the best wineries in the area, such as Cantina Bisol, where generations of the Bisol family have served wines Galley since 1542.

5. Discovering Etruscan Tuscany and Lazio

Long before Rome existed, the Etruscans had already forged a great civilization in the rugged mountains of southern Tuscany, Umbria and northern Latium.

A road route, lasting three or four days, crossing these little-known areas of the country opens a window to the spectacular natural landscape and the amazing Etruscan treasures.

It is a surprising route that goes from the peaks of Tuscany to the evocative tombs that dot the green slopes of Lazio.

You can start in Chiusi, in the Etruscan core of Tuscany, in an area where archaeologists continue to excavate tombs.

The spectacular collection of finds on display at the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Chiusi is perfect for getting in the mood before embarking on this route.

Baptismal font of the cathedral of the city of Chiusi, Tuscany.Alamy Stock Photo

But it is in the nearby town of Sovana where the most important Etruscan tombs discovered in Tuscany are located.

Its necropolis is an archaeological park that covers lands around the towns of Sovana, Sorano and Vitozza, with finds as important as the monumental Tomba Ildebranda or two sections of original Etruscan road, the Via del Cavone and the Via Cava di Poggio Prisca.

Pitigliano emerges from a rocky wall, with dizzying ravines on three sides.

It is a pleasant network of curved stairs, cobbled alleys and picturesque stone houses in which there is no shortage of an interesting archaeological museum with its collection of Etruscan finds.

The town also has an interesting Jewish history, which can be learned about at La Piccola Gerusalemme.

Sunset view of the medieval town of Pitigliano, Tuscany, Italy.Alamy Stock Photo

Thirty kilometers further on, bordering the largest volcanic lake in Italy, you reach Bolsena, already in the Lazio region, which was an important medieval pilgrimage destination since a miracle took place there in 1263 that led Pope Urban IV to create the feast of Corpus Christi.

Aside from the lake, the main reason to stop here is to visit the Rocca Monaldeschi, a 13th century fortress.

Better known and visited is Viterbo, founded by the Etruscans, later taken by the Romans and, later, an important medieval city that was briefly the papal seat in the 13th century.

Its Etruscan past is displayed in its Museo Nazionale Etrusco, one of the most interesting places in the well-preserved

centro storico

.

6. Through the green heart of Italy: a route through Umbria and the Marches

From ghostly caves to the wild, green Sibillini Mountains, this tour winds its way through the rural heart of Umbria and the Marche.

There are few places as far off the tourist trail as this area of ​​central Italy.

The small roads pass through wheat fields;

Dark mountains in the distance offer shade, and medieval mountain villages cling to the forested slopes.

But not everything is nature;

There are also art galleries, basilicas and opera in summer.

In about four days by road you can visit its most striking places.

Yours is to start in Perugia, the largest city in Umbria and the most cosmopolitan, university-based and with an impeccable medieval center.

Its historic center, which appears to have not changed in more than 400 years, rises in a tangle of cobblestone streets, arched staircases and

piazze

framed by solemn churches and magnificent Gothic palaces.

One of the streets of Perugia during the annual festival dedicated to chocolate that is held every year.Flavio Vallenari (Getty Images)

Spoleto is the next stop, presided over by a medieval fortress, with a beautiful Romanesque Duomo and surrounded by the wide Apennines, with their frozen peaks in winter.

Altogether, it is impressive.

Before leaving the town, you must photograph the medieval Ponte delle Torri, a 10-arch bridge that spectacularly spans a leafy, deep ravine, a scene beautifully captured by JMW Turner in an oil painting from 1840.

The city of Gubbio, our next destination, looks like something out of a medieval fresco.

Angular, sober and imposing, its gray buildings squeeze into the steep slopes of Mount Ingino in a jumble of roofs, Gothic towers and 14th-century turrets.

There are unforgettable views from the Funivia Colle Eletto, a pretentious chairlift with precarious-looking metal baskets, on its way up to the Basilica di Sant'Ubaldo, a magnificent medieval church in which the body of Saint Ubaldo is displayed.

The 19-kilometer route to Costacciaro ends at the Parco Regionale del Monte Cucco along a panoramic road that winds down the eastern margins of the park, with views that change at every turn, passing through picturesque villages and forests inhabited by wolves, lynxes and wild boars. .

The landscapes are also impressive in the Parco del Conero, south of Ancona, the main city and port of the Marche.

The limestone cliffs rise above the Adriatic and the crescent-shaped bays, with white pebbles, are hidden behind pine forests, oak groves, beech forests, broom trees and oleanders.

Trails run through this 60 square kilometer regional park, which is still under the radar of many travelers and retains a tranquil air not seen anywhere else on the Marche coast.

Its highest peak is Mount Conero (572 meters), which plummets into the sea and offers fertile terrain for the vineyards that stretch down its slopes to the horizon, the origin of the excellent Rosso Conero, a full-bodied red wine.

Monument to those who fell in the First World War in the Italian city of Ancona, in the Marche region. Natalia SERDYUK (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the south of the park, the resort town of Sirolo, surrounded by cliffs, is a great base from which to explore the area.

The best way to see the coves is a boat trip.

Further on, back inland, Macerata is an obligatory stop, which combines the charming landscape of a mountain village with student energy: it has one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1290, and numerous Renaissance

palazzi

such as the Loggia dei Mercanti, an arcaded building commissioned for Cardinal Alexander Farnesio, built in 1505, which originally housed merchants traveling to sell their merchandise.

About 40 kilometers away awaits Sarnano, the typical Italian mountain town, with a labyrinth of medieval alleys that spreads down the hill.

It is a good base for exploring the Sibillini Mountains, protected by the Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini.

From here, the road winds its way through overhanging trees and oversized hedges until it emerges into a landscape of forested peaks receding into the distance.

The charming Ascoli Piceno marks the end of the road.

7. Driving along the Cilento coast

Lined with cliffs, the Cilento peninsula is one of the least explored coastal strips in the country.

After prospering under the command of the Greeks and Romans, Cilento was abandoned for centuries, left at the mercy of pirates.

Today, its fishing villages and hilltop towns live largely untouched by uncontrolled development, despite its long, sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters.

The three imposing temples of Paestum are among the best preserved in Magna Graecia, the Greek colony that dominated much of southern Italy.

The Greeks capitulated to the Romans in 273 BC, but Poseidonia, as it was known, remained a prosperous trading port until the fall of the Roman Empire.

From Paestum, the road begins to wind its way through the hills of Parco Nazionale e Vallo di Diano, Italy's second largest national park.

This is an area full of discoveries: near Castelcivita you can explore the Grotte di Castelcivita, a prehistoric cave complex.

And for hikers, the village of Sicignano degli Alburni, crowned by a medieval castle, constitutes a good base to undertake the demanding ascent of Mount Panormo (1,742 meters) or to dare to take a walk through the medieval old town of Postiglione, dominated by an 11th century Norman castle.

Interior of the Grotte di Castelcivita, a prehistoric cave complex in the Italian region of Campania.Alamy Stock Photo

One of the first stops on the route is Agropoli, an ancient town that watches over the northern flank of the Cilento peninsula and offers spectacular views across the Gulf of Salerno to the Amalfi Coast.

And then it is the turn of Santa Maria di Castellabate, which, high up and strongly defended, preserves a historic center with the typical air of southern Italy, one of the most charming towns on the Cilento coast.

From the top of its castle, the fishing district of Castellabate spreads out in a labyrinth of streets studded with arcades, small squares and the occasional palace.

The historic center of the fishing village of Santa Maria di Castellabate.Alamy Stock Photo

Another tastefully restored fishing village is Acciaroli, visited by many readers of Ernest Hemingway, who spent time here in the early 1950s and was inspired by a local sailor for his work

The Old Man and the Sea

, or That's what they say around here.

And another tiny coastal village is Pioppi, which has gained culinary fame as the spiritual birthplace of the Mediterranean diet.

The American doctor Ancel Keys lived here for more than 30 years, during which he dedicated himself to observing the vigorous residents and studying the health benefits of their diet.

It is very nice to enjoy the atmosphere of Piazza de Millenario before having a picnic on the pebble beach (just a stone's throw away).

8. The Itria Valley and the Baroque of Southern Italy

This valley is only an hour by road from Bari, one of the big cities in southern Italy, but it seems light years away.

This is an agricultural region of quiet back roads, fruit fields and ancient olive trees sprouting from the reddish soil.

At the top of the hills there are attractive villages with whitewashed historic centers and the curious

trulli

(circular stone houses) appear in the middle of a rocky landscape.

At the end of the route awaits Lecce, the birthplace of the Baroque in Apulia.

The cathedral of Lecce, in the Italian region of Apulia.Andrea Pistolesi (Getty Images)

Bari is the capital of the Apulia region, a city of noisy boulevards with shops and majestic municipal buildings, and with a large student population that gives life to the squares

,

bars and cafes.

Much of the checkerboard layout of the center is from the 19th century, but it is in the old town, known as the Bari Vecchia, where the main attractions are: the Basilica di San Nicola, a colossal Romanesque cathedral that contains the relics of Saint Nicholas;

and the nearby and imposing Castello Svevo (Swabian), which evokes the golden age of Apulia during the rule of the Swabian king Frederick II.

Driving through the typical Apulian countryside, between dry stone walls, fruit fields and olive trees, you reach the Grotte di Castellana, the longest natural underground network in Italy.

On the short 17 kilometer climb to Alberobello you see the extraordinary

trulli

in the fields and olive groves on both sides of the road.

Recognized by UNESCO since 1996, the regional capital of the

trulli

has more than a thousand of these houses with conical roofs, many of them clustered on the hillside of the Rione Monti neighborhood.

Locorotondo is another of the towns on the route, perched on a cliff overlooking the valley, which boasts one of the most beautiful historical centers in Apulia.

And although it is sparse in traditional attractions, it is worth it for its circular

historic center

(Locorotondo derives from “round place”), where everything is painted an immaculate white and the streets—paved with smooth ivory-colored stones—expand around the church of Santa Maria della Greca.

The characteristic 'trulli', in Alberobello (Italy). Matteo Colombo (Getty Images)

But the main town in the Itria Valley is Martina Franca, known for its elegant baroque buildings and its delightful old town, a set of winding streets, blinding white houses and flowery wrought iron balconies.

At the top of another hill rests Cisternino, considered one of the

borghi più belli

(most beautiful villages) in Italy.

Wrapped in some nondescript neighborhoods, there remains a

historic center

reminiscent of a kasbah.

It is also famous for

fornelli pronti

(literally, “prepared ovens”), and in many butcher shops and

trattories

you can choose a cut of meat that will be served fresh from the oven within a few minutes.

Embraced by an ocean of olive trees, refined Ostuni stretches across three hills.

The town, which marks the end of the

trulli

region and the beginning of the hot and arid Salento, is invaded every summer by tourists looking for its good restaurants and bars.

The historic center is ideal for spending time, but if you feel like exploring there are a couple of places that are worth it: the impressive cathedral, from the 15th century, with an atypical Gothic-Romanesque façade, and the small Museo di Civiltà Preclassiche della Murgia, which displays discoveries from a nearby Paleolithic funerary area, including the skeleton of a 25,000-year-old woman nicknamed Delia.

And the route ends in Lecce, the “Florence of the South,” a lively university town famous for its baroque architecture in a highly ornate 17th-century local style, a riot of gargoyles, asparagus columns and mischievous pixies.

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