An Italian travel expert shares the best hidden-gem destinations in Italy to visit in the offseason
Joey Hadden
- Visiting Italy in the offseason offers unique experiences and fewer crowds.
- Seasonal foods like mushrooms and chestnuts replace summer staples like tomatoes.
If you visit Italy in the offseason, you probably won't be eating tomatoes.
That's according to Maria Nuzzolillo, an Italian native from San Lupo who created a tour company called Vita Villaggi with her husband, Dan, specifically for under-the-radar destinations in Italy.
"Italians are very seasonal," she said. "In the fall and winter, you will eat mushrooms, chestnuts, walnuts, and the delicacies around the holidays — things that you wouldn't be able to taste in July."
Besides avoiding crowds, visiting Italy outside summer, the peak season, will give you a different take on the country.
"The deciduous trees will lose their leaves," she said. "In the vineyards, the grape vines will go from bright-green leaves to subtle orange and yellow."
Nuzzolillo said Italy's hidden-gem destinations are the most charming spots in the country in fall and winter. Fall is the tourism sector's shoulder season, while winter is the offseason.
"You get to participate in the harvests and festivals. You can go fruit picking and taste the local specialties without the tourist veil," Nuzzolillo said. "The beauty of Italy, especially if it's off the beaten path, is that even though towns may be half a mile away from each other, each has their own unique take on the holidays and the fall."
Nuzzolillo shared with Business Insider her favorite spots in Italy that you've probably never heard of — and why you must visit in the fall or winter.
The hub of Italy's hidden-gem mecca in the Campania region is the city of Benevento.
"Everybody knows Campania because of Naples, Pompei, and the Amalfi Coast," Nuzzolillo told BI. "But you just have to go about an hour in to see places that no tourist goes."
Nuzzolillo said the Sannio wine region north of Naples is a hidden-gem oasis that includes the 2,500-year-old city of Benevento and the towns and villages surrounding it.
"Benevento is a lovely little city with a UNESCO Heritage church — Church of Santa Sofia — and a Roman theater that is still used today for special events such as operas," she said. "It has an amazing pedestrian-only area with shops and restaurants open year-round, regardless of summer or winter."
On the other hand, she added, most shops and restaurants on the Amalfi Coast close in the offseason.
About an hour north of Benevento, the village of Cusano Mutri has sat at the foot of the Matese Mountains since the Middle Ages.
Castello Medievale towers over the settlement that's locally known for its fall harvest.
"Cusano Mutri is a little hidden town that's famous for their porcini mushrooms," Nuzzolillo said. "And they have a monthlong festival dedicated to the porcini mushrooms."
She added that the mushrooms are celebrated because you can't get them elsewhere.
"Even though it's very close to where I was born, the mushrooms are not found in my town," she said. "They're only found in the mountains of Cusano."
Nuzzolillo said Cusano Mutri is also great for hiking and horseback riding.
Sant'Agata de' Goti is a cliffside town about an hour west of Benevento.
"Sant'Agata has a beautiful historic center," Nuzzolillo told BI. "There are 20 churches in the historic center from different periods and thus different architecture and art."
The town that's been around since the Middle Ages is home to a unique holiday treat.
"There's this very special biscuit — Nfrennula — and it's only made in this town," Nuzzolillo said.
The pretzel-like pastry made with fennel has a dedicated festival in the fall, similar to the porcini mushrooms in Cusano Mutri.
San Marco dei Cavoti is a commune 25 minutes northeast of Benevento.
The commune has been around for over 500 years and has a rich culinary history. Nuzzolillo recommends taking a day trip there from Benevento during the offseason.
"We go to San Marco for the Torrone," Nuzzolillo said, referring to the holiday treat that's essentially a cluster of nougat and nuts.
"There are all sorts of bakeries that make it all over Italy," she said. "But in our area, there are little family-owned mom-and-pop shops that make very high-end artisanal delicacies for the holidays."
Nuzzolillo said a trip to San Marco requires a rental car.
"Benevento makes the most sense for overnight stays as it is reachable by train and has a rental car agency," she said.
Nuzzolillo said the town she grew up in 40 minutes northwest of Benevento is a hidden gem, too.
"Our home in Italy is in a little village of 650 people called San Lupo. It's a medieval town," she said. "It's been there for a thousand years and is the only town in Italy that grows a species of beans called the queen bean." She added that the heirloom bean is also known as a Regina bean.
"They're prized and appreciated all over Italy because they're a very rare species of bean," she said.
Like San Marco, Nuzzolillo said San Lupo is worth a day trip from Benevento in the fall or winter.
Nuzzolillo recommends these off-the-beaten-bath destinations because they can provide a more unique experience than a hot spot like Venice or Rome.
"When you have a very touristy area, things are aimed to please the masses," she said. "But when you go off to a hidden gem, you get really down into the real, authentic, day-to-day rhythm of a place."
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