Central Italy: overview

Places to visit in Central Italy

Rome

Once the heart of a great empire and a focal point of European culture, Rome has attracted poets, artists, writers and travellers for thousands of years. Lord Byron called it the ‘City of the Soul’. Poetic hyperbole perhaps, but the description still strikes a chord among visitors today. Read more about Rome's top attractions...

Umbria and the Marches

Umbria, the birthplace of St Benedict and Francis of Assisi, seems bathed in a mystical glow. The undulating landscape, harmonious hilltowns, luminous frescoes and enigmatic churches only serve to underline its lofty otherness. The Marches (Le Marche) are no slouch in the spirituality stakes either, with their low-key churches counterpointed by the grandeur of the Sibillini mountainscape. Read more about Umbria's highlights...

Abruzzo 

For years this region’s wild beauty was hidden from the world by the Apennines, but now, with regular flights to Pescara, this once hidden corner is emerging from the shadows. With the Alpine peaks of the Gran Sasso, the splendours of the national parks, the medieval hill towns and the great stretch of Adriatic coastline, Abruzzo and Molise have much to offer.

Abruzzo National Park

Founded in 1923, Abruzzo’s Parco Nazionale covers 777 sq km (300 sq miles) and is home to some of Europe’s rarest animals. The hillside town of Civitella Alfedena is known as the ‘village of the wolves’, and sightings of wolves and lynxes living in semi-captivity are frequent. A short drive downhill leads to Pescasseroli, characterised by Alpine buildings and a traditional centro storico; this is the base camp for trekkers and nature-lovers, where local guides can be arranged for mountain trips. Also of note, across the valley from Civitella Alfedena and sitting above a deep-blue lake, is the medieval town of Barrea, with terracotta rooftops.

Gran Sasso Park and Santo Stefano 

Route 261, towards L’Aquila, offers one of the most spectacular drives in Abruzzo, following the Aterno Valley past medieval villages, each with a ruined castle and church. Along this road the Gran Sasso mountain starts to dominate – this majestic rock is the high point of the Apennines, at 2,914m (9,560ft). 

Just inside Gran Sasso Park is the medieval hamlet of Santo Stefano, which was on the way to being a ghost town until an entrepreneur bought the empty buildings and created a ‘diffuse hotel’, with some 40 period rooms set in different houses throughout the village, with each faithful to its medieval origins. It has been called the most beautiful village in Italy. 

High above Santo Stefano is Rocca Calascio, a picturesque little hamlet, beyond which stretch the plains of Campo Imperatore, an Alpine highland with a soundtrack of cowbells and bleating sheep. In summer, its dried ravines and river beds contrast with vivid green pastures, making it an ideal place to trek, walk and cycle.

Molise

Molise broke away from Abruzzo in 1963, and has been a separate entity ever since; it enjoys the lowest profile of any Italian region. Although clinging onto Abruzzo’s coat-tails, Molise shares a similarly wild spirit. Molise is a place for lapping up the rural, sleepy lifestyle, rather than the sites. Foodies will appreciate the robust red wines and ricotta-filled ravioli, as well as the fish soup, truffles, mushrooms and Caciocavallo cheese. Families will head to the wild coastline and the sandy beaches on the Adriatic. The cities are often disappointing but beyond those, Molise is frontier country: catch it while it lasts.