As any real Italy buff will tell you, Tuscany, Venice and the Cinque Terre are so last millennium. Long-weekenders in the know have started to explore more recherché parts of the peninsula, which offer all the cultural sights, the ten-megapixel rolling landscapes and the unbeatable food and wine that we have come to expect of il bel paese – but with vastly reduced odds of bumping into your next-door neighbour outside that rustic bar in the piazza.
One hot tip is the area inland from the Adriatic resort of Rimini – easily reached by road or rail from Bologna. Up to now, Rimini’s hinterland has mostly been seen by tourists as day-trip territory, with bored beachniks taking a day out from sunbathing to head for San Marino, the tiny duty-free Ruritania that clings to the peak of Monte Titano. But there’s much more to southern Romagna than this. With its ruined fortresses and dramatic, arid mountainscapes, the Val Marecchia looks like something out of Tolkien’s Middle Earth; while to the south, on the border with Le Marche, the Val Conca is a little piece of Tuscany that has migrated north-east, complete with vines, olive trees and walled hilltowns. Head for Montefiore Conca, with its imposing castle and vibrant ceramic workshops, or stop over at the Castello di Montegridolfo (+39 0541 855350, montegridolfo.com), an entire fortified village that has been converted into a laid-back hotel by fashion designer Alberta Ferretti.
Sicily is also in the ascendant right now. The lazy fishing port of Sciacca, on the southwest coast, will be given a shot in the arm when Rocco Forte Hotels (roccofortehotels.com) opens the new €129 million Verdura hotel, spa and golf resort nearby in 2008. But for our money, the really interesting area is the far south – an easy two-hour drive from Catania airport – which takes in the honey-gold Baroque towns of Noto, Modica and Ragusa, as well as wild back country. Ragusa in particular is worth a visit: the charming old town, Ragusa Ibla – with its cluster of churches, medieval alleyways and aristocratic palazzi – is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets, and also has a destination restaurant, Ciccio Sultano’s sublime Duomo (+39 0932 651 265, ristoranteduomo.it). South of Ragusa, the landscape of hog-backed hills, deep gullies and scattered feudal farmsteads has a world’s-end feel. One of these castle-farms, which once belonged to the Knights of Malta, is now the luxury Eremo della Giubiliana hotel (+39 0932 669 119; eremodellagiubiliana.it).
It’s perhaps less in line with the Anglo-Saxon penchant for hills and cypresses, but the misty Po Valley landscape around Mantova – a short hop from Verona – is hugely atmospheric. Home in on Sabbioneta, which enjoyed a brief reign as an ideal city in the 16th century, thanks to scholar-prince Vespasiano Gonzaga, before returning to life as a sleepy rural village. The contrast between those lofty aspirations and the present-day reality is utterly charming.
British Airways flies to Bologna, Catania and Verona from London Gatwick. Visit ba.com
