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DISCOVER ITALY

Six of the coolest places to go in Italy to avoid a heatwave

If you're wilting in Italy's latest heatwave, here are six places you can go to stay cool.

Dolomites, Italy
Mountain resorts on the Dolomites are among the best locations for those looking to get away from the summer heat. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Italy is known for the beauty of its beaches, the crystal-clear water of its seas, and of course, the hot weather. Millions of foreign visitors visit every summer to bask under the sun at Italian seaside resorts.

But what if you’d rather avoid the intense heat – and the crowds – while visiting Italy?

The diversity of the country’s landscape means that those preferring temperatures in the low 20s over the 30s (and sometimes 40s) of the summer heat have a plethora of cool-weather havens to choose from.

Here are just six possible destinations to consider when planning your escape from the heat.

Vigo di Fassa, Trentino Alto-Adige

Summer in the Dolomites is generally fairly cool but there’s a place in Trentino Alto-Adige where temperatures are particularly brisker than elsewhere. Located around 40km east of Bolzano and sat at an elevation of 1,382m, Vigo di Fassa enjoys temperatures which are significantly lower than in the surrounding comuni (municipalities). Suffice to say that in August, the hottest month of the year, daily averages are usually below 20C.

But Vigo di Fassa is not just your average mountain location offering reprieve from the summer heat. It is also one of the most picturesque villages in the entire country and it happens to be a short drive from popular attractions such as Lake Carezza, the Ciampedìe plateau, and Sass Pordoi, a rock summit commonly known as ‘terrazza delle Dolomiti’ (the Dolomites’ terrace).

In short, this is the perfect place for nature lovers and hiking enthusiasts.

Sappada, Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Sappada is an enchanting mountain resort on the Carnic Alps, just south of the border with Austria. Located at the foot of the imposing Mount Peralba, the village offers visitors some truly breathtaking views of the surrounding Dolomite massifs as well as a magnificent natural landscape comprising extensive green pastures, thick coniferous forests and an array of alpine lakes.

Besides being a natural paradise for outdoors enthusiasts, the town is also brimming with folklore and local traditions, with a number of events and festivities occurring over the course of the summer.

Yet again, as in the case of the aforementioned locations, the town’s elevation (1,250m above sea level) keeps the temperatures relatively cool over the course of the summer, with the local thermometer rising above 22C only on very few occasions.

Castelluccio di Norcia, Umbria

From the heights of the Dolomites we move down across the country and stop on the Umbrian Apennines, which are home to Castelluccio di Norcia. Reaching an elevation of 1,452m above sea level, Castelluccio (literally, ‘little castle’ in Italian), is one of the coolest towns in Umbria, with temperatures hovering around 21C throughout the summer.

Besides being an unparalleled oasis of peace and tranquillity, the Umbrian town offers a variety of hiking trails to several renowned attractions, including Grotta della Sibilla (Sibyl’s Cave) and Lake Pilate.

READ ALSO: Nine alternative places to visit in Italy in 2023

The most popular time to visit Castelluccio is between the end of May and mid-July, when the fields surrounding the town are coloured by red lentil flowers, making the landscape look almost as it it had been painted.

At this time of year however you can also expect to sit in long lines of traffic as throngs of visitors admire the view from their cars.

Vallombrosa, Tuscany

The Vallombrosa forest has long been one of the best-kept secrets of Florence residents. When the heat becomes unbearable in the city – and it often does over the summer – the locals retreat to a 1,270-hectare reserve about 30km southeast of the region’s capital.

Why? Vallombrosa is a cool and shady natural haven where the beauty of uncontaminated forest land merges with majestic man-made creations such as the Benedictine Abbey of Vallombrosa and the Castle of Sammezzano. 

The forest is also filled with trails that are granted to give hikers the time of their lives. One of them, the Setteponti trail, will even take you as far south as Arezzo.

Pescasseroli, Abruzzo

Nestled at the heart of Abruzzo’s National Park on the Marsicani Mountains, Pescasseroli is one of the most scenic small towns in Italy. With its array of traditional houses, churches and artisan shops, the burg’s centro storico is a sight for sore eyes. 

Pescasseroli also enjoys relatively cool summers as its elevation (1,167m above sea level) rarely allows temperatures to exceed 26C, even in August. So, regardless of when you choose to visit, it’s always a good time to saddle up and discover the natural wonders the surrounding national park has to offer. 

READ ALSO: How to choose a camping holiday in Italy: A guide for the uninitiated

Plus, scattered across Pescasseroli are also a number of traditional restaurants where you’ll be able to enjoy the local cuisine.

Ulassai, Sardinia

Yes, it is indeed true. Even Sardinia, which is globally known for the beauty of its beaches and seaside resorts, has something to offer to cool weather lovers. Sat at 775m above sea level, Ulassai (province of Nuoro) is one of the ‘fresher’ spots in the island, offering an alluring way out of the summer heat domineering pretty much elsewhere. 

The village is perched atop a huge limestone massif known as Bruncu Matzeu and allows visitors to enjoy stunning views of Sardinia’s eastern coast and the Tyrrhenian Sea extending beyond it. Ulassai also offers a number of natural attractions, including the imposing Lequarci Falls and the Su Marmuri Cave. In short, this is the perfect spot for those who love nature and local history.

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ITALIAN HISTORY

Five pre-Roman sites to visit in Italy

From the mountains of Lombardy to the shores of Sicily, there are traces of pre-Roman civilisations scattered across Italy - if you know where to look.

Five pre-Roman sites to visit in Italy

The Romans may be Italy’s best-known ancient civilisation, but with Rome tracing its foundations back to 753 BC, they were far from the first to get here.

From the Etruscans to the Greeks, a suprising number of early human societies left their mark on the Italian peninsula, with temples, fortifications, theatres and graveyards.

Here are five historic sites you can visit in Italy that pre-date the Romans.

Etruscan necropoli of Cerveteri and Tarquinia

The Etruscan civilisation, with its heartlands in modern-day Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria, at one time dominated Italy until it was wiped out in the Roman-Etruscan wars in the 4th century BC.

These days not much remains of the Etruscans beyond earthenware and sarcophagi, but we do have some impressive necropolises or ‘cities of the dead’ that served as graveyards.

READ ALSO: Four civilizations in Italy that pre-date the Roman Empire

One of the best preserved is in Tarquinia, where not far outside the medieval city walls you’ll find a complex with hundreds of painted tombs depicting ancient life.

Another is the Necropoli della Banditaccia in nearby Cerveteri, a sprawling cemetery containing thousands of large domed tombs in a city-like plan designed to mimic an actual living city.

A 7th century painted Etruscan tomb discovered outside Rome in June 2006. Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP.

Matera’s Neolithic caves

Used as a filming location for Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew or The Passion of the Christ thanks to its strong resemblance to ancient Jerusalem, Matera in southern Italy is believed to be Europe’s oldest continually-habited settlement.

Outside of the cave dwellings carved into the rock which form the residences and hotels you’ll find in the old town’s Sassi districts today, the city is surrounded by caves that have been dated as far back as 7000 BC, to the Neolithic and even the Paleolothic eras.

You can see traces of prehistoric settlements and and Neolithic graveyards and villages in the Murgia Materana regional park surrounding the city.

Caves dating back to the Neolithic area surround the ancient city of Matera. Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP.

Sardinia’s nuraghi

Sardinia’s Nuragic civilisation lasted from around 1,800 BC in the Bronze Age to Roman invasion and colonisation in around the first century BC, but today few traces of it remain beyond the stone structures – nuraghes or nuraghi in Italian – from which it takes its name.

READ ALSO: Five surprising facts you didn’t know about Rome

Around 7,000 nuraghi, truncated cone-like edifices made from stacked stones and boulders, dot the island’s landscape. Historians debate their function: they might have served as fortresses, residences, temples, astronomical observatories, or a combination of any of these.

The Su Nuraxi di Barumini nuraghe complex in the south of the island is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site, and is considered one of the best examples of the architecture.

An aerial view of Nuraghe Arrabiu, one of the largest nuraghi on Sardinia. Photo by Joran Quinten on Unsplash

Valcamonica’s pre-historic stone carvings

In Italy’s mountainous northern Lombardy region you can find one of the world’s largest collections of petroglyphs, or rock carvings, spanning eight millennia and dating as far back as the Epipaleolithic era, around 10,000 years ago.

The 300,000-odd carvings, found in multiple locations across the 90km-long valley, were Italy’s first recognised World Heritage site, coming under UNESCO protection in 1979.

Today, there are eight archeological parks you can visit to see the engravings in person, with the 140 rocks in the Naquane National Park of Rock Engravings considered some of the best preserved.

A British Museum employee dusts a carved stone dated 2,500 BC, from Capo di Ponte, Valcamonica, for a 2022 exhibition. Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP.

Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples

From architecture to military strategy, the Romans were heavily influenced by the Greeks – which is no surprise considering that large parts of southern Italy were once part of ancient Greece.

‘Magna Grecia’, ‘Great[er] Greece’ as the Romans called it, started being settled by the Greeks from around the eighth century BC, and at its height stretched across modern-day Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Campania and Basilicata.

READ ALSO: Did you know…? These parts of Italy were once part of ancient Greece

Scattered across southern Italy are the remains of Greek settlements, including soaring temples and ancient theatres.

One of the most renowned and impressive examples of these is the Sicilian city of Agrigento’s ‘Valley of Temples’, where you’ll find seven temples within just a few miles of each other.

The Greek Temple of Concordia in Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples was built in the 5th century BC. Photo by ludovic MARIN / AFP.

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