The unseen 99%: hidden Italy mapped by the community

The Italy we all know is made of icons: the Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, the Grand Canal. They are symbols that tell millennial stories, which fascinate millions of travellers every year. But there is another Italy, far more vast and surprising, just waiting to be discovered. An authentic Italy, made up of villages asleep in the hills, paths hidden in nature, unknown beaches and silences full of meaning. This guide was born from this, from listening to the hundreds of responses from our community, a people of curious, passionate and attentive travellers, who told us their favourite places, those off the radar of mass tourism.

This is how this guide came into being: a shared journey into the hidden heart of our country, a celebration of the invisible but profoundly true beauty of lesser-known Italy.

From Florence to Naples, from Venice to the Cinque Terre, Italy is increasingly in the spotlight of global tourism. But what happens if we move off the beaten track? To answer this question, we at Visit Italy have launched the “99% of Italy” campaign and asked you, our community, to share the secret, authentic, surprising places of our country. The result is a rich mosaic of hidden gems, spontaneous tips, and unexpected landscapes. This guide is precisely the result of those hundreds of replies received in DM and stories: a collective journey, from the community for the community.

The aim is not just to discover new places, but to change perspective: to overcome overtourism and rediscover the silent Italy, the one that is not found on billboards, the one that only reveals itself if you slow down, listen and look closer. Here, then, are five trajectories to explore the 99% of Italy that is still (almost) secret.

The beauty of Italy often hides far from the lights of the metropolises, in those small towns that tell ancient stories in a whispered voice. In Spello, the balconies burst with flowers, while the cobbled streets are the scene of a daily life that endures. Buonconvento and San Quirico d'Orcia are medieval treasure troves immersed in the Tuscan countryside, where every stone speaks of tranquillity and measure. Vinci preserves genius amidst olive trees and silence.

Then there are jewels set in central Italy, Orvieto suspended on a cliff, Assisi pulsating with spirituality even off the canonical routes, and Urbino nestled between hills and knowledge. And then there are smaller villages in which the most authentic Italy is to be found: Lunigiana, with its parish churches and castles, the Cilento of peasant roots and crystal-clear sea, and the inland Marche, where centres such as Corinaldo, San Severino or Falconara Marittima surprise with their resistant sobriety.

These places do not shout to be noticed but wait for someone to reach them to rediscover the luxury of slowing down, losing oneself, listening, because behind every curve, in these villages, an Italy that excites can be hidden.

The Italian coastline conceals corners of the authentic Mediterranean, still far from the spotlight, where you need only step away from the crowded beaches to encounter a coastline that still knows how to surprise. In Abruzzo, the Costa dei Trabocchi narrates a suspended dialogue between sea and wooden architecture, in particular with Ortona; in Tuscany, the promontory of Monte Argentario alternates dramatic cliffs and contemplative silences. In Liguria, the hidden coves of Bergeggi seem carved into the rock for those seeking tranquillity and crystal-clear water, while Sperlonga and Palinuro, in Lazio and Campania respectively, offer landscapes suspended between myth and memory.

In Apulia, in addition to the famous Polignano and Monopoli, there are pearls such as Castro, with its sea caves and crystal-clear waters where boats seem to fly, Nardò and its Baroque piazza, Ceglie Messapica and its Mediterranean scents, the jagged coastline of Peschici and the wilder Gargano. In Sicily, the enchantment is multiplied: Marzamemi with its golden lights at sunset, Erice looking down on the sea from above like an ancient sentinel, Cefalù with its houses on the sea, the Egadi Islands with Favignana and their sunny tranquillity and blue waters.

And then there is Sardinia, that of Ogliastra, of the lunar landscapes of Sulcis, of beaches hidden among the rocks and villages where slow life is practised like Ulassai. It is here, in these less explored fragments, that the Italian coast restores the full sense of the journey: an intimate encounter with nature, silence and beauty that does not need excessive clamour.

Not only the Dolomites - still magical - but also Val Badia in autumn, the peaks around Cortina d'Ampezzo, the paths climbing from Alleghe up to the Civetta, or the rarefied atmospheres of Auronzo di Cadore, framed by the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the Alpine landscapes continue towards Val di Funes and the Passo Rolle, where every glimpse seems like a painting.

Among the lakes, those of Garda, Iseo, Orta and Maggiore often emerge in the community's messages, but it is above all their small outlooks that strike the heart: Argegno and Tremezzo on Lake Como, Malcesine and Torri del Benaco on Lake Garda, Pella and Ronco on Lake Orta, and then Angera and Laveno on Lake Maggiore.

The hills, too, have much to tell: among the rows of vines in the Langhe and Roero, where La Morra and Neive seem suspended in time; among the vineyards of Montepulciano, Montalcino and San Casciano dei Bagni, or along the panoramic curves that lead to Radicondoli, Volterra, Certaldo, and the fairytale towers of San Gimignano and Monteriggioni. And again, the hills of Cingoli and Piticchio in the Marche, or the green ridges of Brisighella in Romagna.

This is vertical and hilly Italy, sometimes mysterious, often silent, always exciting: an Italy that is revealed by walking slowly, where the landscape is not just the background, but the living protagonist of the journey.

There is an Italy that lives in memory and matter, made up of agricultural landscapes, forests, sheep-tracks and silences, and an Italy made up of ancient gestures, daily rituals and silent wonders. Molise - often cited with affection - returns with towns such as Agnone, home of bells, or Frosolone, suspended between mountains and craftsmanship, but also Pietracupa, set among the rocks and charged with a secular sacredness. From the Latium Sabina, with its parish churches and olive groves, to the Frusinate, where villages such as Veroli and Arpino guard millenary stories and stones, the centre of Italy reveals itself to be intimate and surprising.

Even the Matese mountains and the Campania-Molise Apennines return in the words of those in search of pure landscapes, where woods, sheep-tracks and pastures alternate with motionless villages. But it is Umbria, the true green heart of Italy, that emerges as the undisputed protagonist, literally ‘everywhere in Umbria’, wrote the community: from Spello to Perugia, from Castelluccio di Norcia to Montefalco, from Bevagna to Trevi, from Gubbio to Panicale, places where art, spirituality and nature coexist in a rare measure.

But that's not all, Franciacorta appears as a corner of rural elegance, Valtellina combines strong flavours and scenic valleys, and the hinterland of Romagna, like Bertinoro, recounts an agricultural and hilly beauty that resists the rush of the world. It is in these territories that art leaves the museum to live in the landscapes, in the streets, in the faces.

This is not just a campaign; it is a paradigm shift. 99% of Italy is not invisible: it is just waiting to be rediscovered. Thanks to the voice of our community, this guide aims to be an emotional and collective map for a slower, respectful, and authentic tourism. Beauty, after all, hides where you least expect it. And often, it is right behind your home.

But what surprised us about the answers:

- Umbria and Marche are the most mentioned regions, even with an “everywhere in Umbria”.
- The villages beat the big cities: from Vinci to Radicondoli, from Castro to Pietracupa.
- Some names are obsessively repeated: Capri, Alberobello, Polignano - but true rarities emerge among them.
- Sardinia is very popular, but especially in its less fashionable part (South, Ogliastra, inland areas).
- The goliardic and playful desire to keep these places secret and untouched.