If you’re planning a trip to Italy as a foreigner this Easter, the statistics say you’re probably aiming at some combination of the major cities of Rome, Florence and Venice.

Data collected by the hotel and holiday homes portals Booking.com and Airbnb reveals Italians’ own favoured Easter holiday destinations within Italy this year – and some of the findings might come as a surprise.

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According to Booking.com’s 2024 rankings, the number one most sought-after destination for Italian holidaymakers this Easter is Rome: a not-unexpected choice, given its status as the capital of Christendom.

Coming in second, however, is Naples, a city often overlooked by foreign visitors who, if they visit at all, tend to pass through in a rush on the way to well-known tourist islands like Capri or Ischia.

If you want to experience Italian Easter traditions to their fullest, however, Naples is one city that shouldn’t be overlooked.

On Maundy Thursday, locals engage in the struscio (which can be literally translated as ‘shuffle’), in which the faithful traditionally visit seven of the city’s main churches while showing off their finest clothes; while on Good Friday you can find reenactments of the Via Crucis, Christ’s long walk to Golgotha with the cross.

Over the long weekend you’ll be treated to local delicacies like mussels soup, savoury casatiello pie, fellata cold cuts and cheeses, and sweet Neapolitan pastiera. The archaeological park of Pompeii remains open throughout the weekend, as will most museums.

READ ALSO: What’s open in Italy over Easter weekend?

In third place on Booking.com’s list is Florence, in sixth place the Piedmontese regional capital of Turin, the birthplace of the gianduja chocolate, in eighth place Milan, and in tenth place Venice.

Four of the top ten Easter destinations for Italians were abroad: these include Paris (#4), Barcelona (#5), Budapest (#7), and London (#9).

Airbnb, meanwhile, has released its own list of the top ten Italian holiday destinations among Italians for March and April 2024.

For Easter weekend itself, the Alpine town Livigno on the border with Switzerland, a popular ski resort, tops the list, followed by Turin and Bergamo, both within easy reach of the Alps.

The most popular spring destination overall for the months of March and April, meanwhile, was Imola in Emilia-Romagna, which in May hosts the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, followed by Amalfi.

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Here’s the list in full:

1. Imola
2. Amalfi
3. Assago
4. Riccione
5. Livorno
6. Livigno
7. Florence
8. Sanremo
9. Montepulciano
10. La Thuile

The number of Italians searching for accommodation close to nature and outside major cities has doubled since last year, the site found, while there was a 119 percent increase in the number of 25-29-year-olds booking the weekend away.