Italy’s hot spots are being overwhelmed with tourists. These hidden places offer an escape without the crowds

By Silvia Marchetti, CNN

(CNN) — Want to visit Italy but have been put off by the idea of peak season tourists crowds surging through Rome, Florence and Venice?

Can’t afford the ever-increasing prices of hot spots such as Capri or Tuscany?

Don’t worry. There’s far more to Italy than the places that usually feature on travel itineraries. Explore a little farther, and there are scores of extraordinary places where tourists are a rare site.

They might require a little extra effort to reach, but these secret spots where traditions and old lifestyles survive offer a chance to experience the authentic soul of Italy.

Here are some of the best:

Lake Posta Fibreno (Lazio)

To get here, you need to get lost in the isolated area of Ciociaria, a wild terrain once known for banditry. It straddles the regions of Lazio and Campania, just south of Rome.

Posta Fibreno is a tiny, isolated hamlet, in the province of Frosinone, which feels magically frozen in time. Surrounded by fields of grazing sheep, it consists of just a few farmhouses, a bar and a fish tavern.

The main highlight is its dreamy lake dotted with water lilies, a beautiful setting that seems imported from somewhere far more exotic than this lost corner of Italy. Ancient liana trees dangle their branches into the sparkling green water as friendly geese and swans drift by.

There are paddle boats and dinghies for rental to explore the lake, and soft grass to lie down on for a waterfront picnic. It’s a great place to mingle with locals, relaxing and strolling along the lake shores.

San Candido (Trentino-Alto Adige/Süd Tirol)

The first thing that greets visitors in this Alpine village that straddles Italy’s border with Austria is the sweet scent of warm strudel and orange punch, sold at the stands of an open-air market of cured meats and wool-lined clogs.

Located in Trentino Alto Adige (or Sud Tiröl for German speakers, who call the village Innichen), San Candido barely feels like Italy, something that’s compounded by the fact hardly anyone here speaks Italian.

This skiing haven was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it was annexed by dictator Benito Mussolini, but locals are still proud of their Teutonic origins.

Narrow cobbled streets connect frescoed, pastel-color cottages with painted images of giants, warriors, forest monsters, snow queens and dwarves who, according to local lore, sprayed the peaks of the surrounding Dolomites with pink crystals.

Millennia ago, San Candido’s location was once underwater in a tropical ocean, and its skiing slopes are a former coral reef. The local museum showcases dinosaur fossils unearthed on the nearby glaciers.

Calcata (Lazio)

There’s been a settlement at what is now one of the Lazio region’s best-kept secrets since prehistoric times. Modern-day Romans know about Calcata, escaping their city for detox day trips when it all gets a bit too much.

The scenery is spellbinding. This tiny hamlet is perched precariously over a precipice — first-time visitors could be forgiven for thinking it’s about to slide down the rust-colored cliffs it sits on, plunging into a deep chasm covered with woods.

Below is a pristine river where pagan tribes once carried out human sacrifices.

One narrow path leads to a stone arched entrance. Here, ancient cave dwellings cut out from the rock are barely distinguishable from naturally formed features.

The hamlet, where a hippie community has flourished over the years, is a car-free labyrinth of moss-covered cobbled alleyways, tunnels and wall openings that overlook the thick jungle-like canyon.

Mount Circeo (Lazio)

Located along the coast between Rome and Naples, Cicero rises up into the sky and stretches out into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The alluring peak has been worshiped as a sacred promontory since the dawn of time. It’s said our cave-dwelling ancestors made human sacrifices here, and even carried out acts of cannibalism. A few skulls have been unearthed in its sea grottoes.

Don’t let that put you off. Mount Circeo is a protected natural reserve that’s great for trekking, canoeing and snorkeling.

It’s surrounded by pristine beaches and lakes as well as pastureland tended by grazing buffalo, watermelon fields and kiwi plantations,

Ancient Romans loved to come here to detox in lavish villas and thermal baths. It’s claimed that, in Homer’s classical poem “The Odyssey,” it’s where sorceress Circe bewitched Odysseus, turning his men into pigs. Locals claim that the mount has the shape of a sleeping woman. Today, locals still like to joke that thick woodland here is inhabited by dozens of wild boars.

Pentedattilo (Calabria)

Italy is dotted with some 20,000 ghost towns but Pentedattilo is probably one of the most fascinating.

Located in deep rural Calabria (the toe of Italy’s boot), it can be easily explored on foot. It rises on the slopes of rocky Mount Calvario, shaped like a giant hand with five fat fingers pointing to the sky (In Greek Pentedattilo means “five fingers”).

Once home to a bustling community, the village was struck by a series of earthquakes leading to its total abandonment in the 1970s when locals fled in search of a better life, leaving their old stone dwellings behind.

Many families simply moved further down the hill, where a new town was built. That means, unlike most other Italian ghost towns, Pentedattilo isn’t completely dead. In recent times there’s been a revival led by local youth groups and the opening of artisan boutiques and a small tavern. A series of art festivals also help bring the place back from the grave in summer.

A handful of die-hard residents, mostly artists and yoga enthusiasts — as well as plenty of cats — now live in the abandoned district.

Sirolo (Marche)

Known as a “pearl of the Adriatic,” this elegant little seaside village is a great, and cheaper, alternative to the eye-wateringly expensive island of Capri — plus it boasts a pair of faraglioni (sea stacks), just like Capri.

Built right on the top of the pristine Conero sea promontory in east-central Italy’s lesser-known Marche region, it’s an ideal, quiet vacation spot for beach-lovers who want to get away from sweaty sunbathers and screaming kids.

Sirolo has a glorious past. Its medieval district, totally car-free, is a maze of circular narrow alleyways that connect aristocratic palazzos to an overhanging castle, tower and walled walkway.

The tiny central piazza is considered one of the most romantic spots of the entire Conero Riviera, offering spectacular panoramic sunsets.

At Due Sorelle (the “two sisters”), a stunning pebble beach is enclosed by the two sea stacks and can only be reached by sea using canoes or the help of local fishers.

Gravina (Puglia)

Italy’s southern city of Matera, which took a starring role in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” has gained fame in recent years on account of its incredible cityscape of cave homes dug out from steep-sided cliffs.

Nearby Gravina is a hundred times more fascinating. Locals know that the key adrenaline action scenes in the latest James Bond movie was shot here, not in Matera where it was supposedly set.

Located in Puglia, Gravina is carved out from the flanks of a huge canyon, with dwellings made from layers of caves and cracks formed across millennia by the erosion of prehistoric limestone.

Cavemen once inhabited these grottoes, which have now turned into dwellings.

Gravina’s old district is a labyrinth of rock churches and sanctuaries. The most breathtaking highlight is the pedestrian Madonna della Stella aqueduct-bridge, an ancient arched structure 90 meters long and 37 meters high. This is where James Bond jumps off a bridge in the movie “No Time to Die.”

The bridge offers great views of the town and the below canyon. An unusual must-see is La Gnostre, a narrow circular spiral-like alley without an exit where locals hang out at night.

Underground treasures can be explored on guided tours across a network of tunnels, cavities, old granaries, olive presses, cellars and wells.

Gravina hosts one of Europe’s oldest events, the Saint George’s Fair held each April since 1294, with musical performances and gourmet products.

Tenno (Trentino-Alto Adige/Süd Tirol)

Visitors flocking to northern Italy’s huge Lake Garda often miss this hidden beauty spot, far from the noisy destinations loved by VIPs.

In Tenno, silence rules.

Built during the middle ages, Tenno’s overhanging castle boasts spectacular views of Garda and the surrounding Alps from a seldom-seen perspective.

The village is in a cluster of stone houses and narrow cobblestone alleyways built at the feet of the majestic castle. A must-see is the nearby lesser-known Lake Tenno, known for its turquoise-purple waters.

A long staircase leads to the grassy shores of the lake, ideal for a quick refreshing dip in summer or a winter picnic.

From here, a 20-minute walk connects to the hamlet of Canale di Tenno, listed as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Being here is like stepping back in time. Locals call it “a portal into the past.” The fairy-tale, dreamy vibe is enhanced by painted old stone dwellings with balconies overlooking the alleyways.

At Christmas there’s an artisan market, while in summer history fans enjoy the Rustico Medioevo festival, where medieval life is re-enacted.

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