10 Underrated Italian Villages to Add to Your Travel Bucket List | Architectural Digest

If you’re planning a trip through Europe, don’t forget to consider these Italian villages. “To visit them is to participate in Italy’s beauty while helping keep these enchanting places alive,” says Fiorello Primi, president of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” association (I Borghi più belli d’Italia). While you know Rome, Florence, or Milan, Primi’s organization has spent the past 20 years promoting the heritage of the country’s smaller towns. So far, it has highlighted more than 300 villages across the country.

Though cliché narratives may suggest these places are on a clear path to extinction, Primi argues that’s not the case. “They are not soulless stones. With proper care and attention, they can stay alive for a long time,” he says.

With that in mind, our friends at AD Italy posed a challenge to the association. AD asked them to choose not the 10 best villages—a list that would likely consist of some well-known default favorites—nor those in the greatest danger of disappearing. Instead, we wanted a list of 10 magnificent villages from all over Italy with a noteworthy characteristic, a unique appeal, or an intriguing side. And the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” delivered.

“Small towns are the backbone of the country,” says Giorgio Palmucci, president of Enit, Italy’s national tourism agency. That said, there are hundreds of other Italian villages worthy of being on this list, so consider this more a start than a definitive ranking. Disclaimer out of the way, see below the 10 villages Primi’s organization promises will be well worth the trip.