Italy Away From The Bucket List

[notyourcommodity]

I read a great article in National Geographic recently about sights in Italy away from people's usual ticket bucket list items.

The four places mentioned in the article as great places to see were:

Lecce - called the "Florence of the South" which sounded rather lovely!

Matera - looks super interesting - there's a bunch of cave like prehistoric dwellings!

Cisternino - part of the region that produces around 40% of all of Italy's olive oil.

Paestum - referred to as the Ancient Greece of Italy!

The online version of the article is here:

Italy Beyond the Bucket List – Intelligent Travel

Do any of these places sound appealing to you? I always like to deviate away from the typical tourist places so I think I'd definitely head to some of these places if I was in the area!

 

[Gabe]

You missed Alberobello, the one I would go to with the Trulli and Hobbit houses. Italy has many hidden gems and I think most people prefer to keep them hidden so that they can preserve them. I usually do explore and go off the beaten track when I can, but you always need a bit of Italian and always check with a local because they will know more. The local bar is always the place to find anything from a lift to a telephone.

 

[pwarbi]

As @Gabe said, there's many places in Italy that if you explore away from the beaten track you'll uncover and fall in love with.

While Italy is famous for its tourist destinations and landmarks, it's also famous for it small tranquil villages that are hidden away, so there's always something and somewhere to enjoy.

 

[notyourcommodity]

You missed Alberobello, the one I would go to with the Trulli and Hobbit houses. Italy has many hidden gems and I think most people prefer to keep them hidden so that they can preserve them. I usually do explore and go off the beaten track when I can, but you always need a bit of Italian and always check with a local because they will know more. The local bar is always the place to find anything from a lift to a telephone.

Wow, Gabe - I had never even heard of Alberobello before but just had a look online at some pictures. It looks incredible! Such a unique and charming place. I wonder why it's not more well known with tourists, but like you said it might be a preservation-type thing where they are just looking to keep them hidden rather than being a full-blown tourist hotspot.

 

[pwarbi]

I'd imagine that a lot of the little town and villages, the people that live there would rather keep them free from toursists to be honest.

That's not to say that they won't be welcome, just as long as they don't stay around for too long of course!

 

[notyourcommodity]

I'd imagine that a lot of the little town and villages, the people that live there would rather keep them free from toursists to be honest.

That's not to say that they won't be welcome, just as long as they don't stay around for too long of course!

I can kind of understand their perspective - it would be hard to have somewhere be your home, and wanting to be able to relax there, but have hoards of tourists coming through all the time. I guess if I think about something like that happening to where I live (which it wouldn't because there's nothing really noteworthy here, but let's pretend!) then it would feel a bit like my tranquil peaceful place was being invaded!

I guess for that reason they must feel like keeping their hidden gems well hidden indeed!

 

[Joie d'Etre]

I think that tons of tourists would be more than just a personal inconvenience -- it would probably change the very feeling of those places and then, as they would be focusing energies on touristic economy, they would lose their charm and all that. Though let's be realistic -- even if there was a sudden trend to go to there, tourists would still converge mostly in bigger cities. Cities with airports, big train stations, big museums and festivals and the like. You probably need a car for visiting these cities and, well... traffic jams in tourist/vacantion seasons can be quite the killer in Italy! And who really has the luxury to take time off out of the high season time?

I'd definitely wanna go there. We drove down the French riviera this summer and my favorite places were the smallest ones. I would be really happy to do the same with Italy ... but the highways are really expensive. And frankly, with the way I've seen people drive in Rome, I'd be a bit scared to take anything but the big highways!

 

[notyourcommodity]

Very good point there @Joie d'Etre - I even look at the sleepy beach town that I used to vacation at when I was a kid - my family would go there each year. Back then, it was tiny - very small, very relaxing, a one supermarket kind of town. Nowadays, it's exploded into having malls and outlet shopping and everything. It certainly doesn't have that charm of a relaxing vacation spot like it used to.

 

[pwarbi]

I can understand that the local people want to keep their village or town as it is, but at the same time if you look at what money the tourist industry brings in, there's also a reason to welcome more tourists at the same time.

At the end of the day it's a fine balance between welcoming more tourists and income into the town, but at the same time keeping its history and not losing its heritage.

 

[Joie d'Etre]

Well with the world being more and more connected and tourism increasing year after year, I guess we really can't expect that charming little places stay very small and charming forever... but even without heritage and history being lost (it usually isn't -- Paris, Berlin, London, Rome, all the big cities of Europe have a bunch of tourists but you cannot say tourists would kill history, quite the opposite), there is for sure a loss of something.

@notyourcommodity yeah in Quebec we have a song called 'La rue principale' (the main street) that is completely about the changes in the main street of the town as it goes from a pop'n'moms shops and kids biking around and tons of small town things happening to a big street with a mall and all the changes around it. and then the mcdonalds.

 

[notyourcommodity]

@notyourcommodity yeah in Quebec we have a song called 'La rue principale' (the main street) that is completely about the changes in the main street of the town as it goes from a pop'n'moms shops and kids biking around and tons of small town things happening to a big street with a mall and all the changes around it. and then the mcdonalds.[/QUOTE]

I love shopping at pop'n'mom shops whenever I can. I just figure it's helping out a family business rather than supporting the CEO of some big multi million dollar corporation. But it's sad that most places seem to be deviating away from that and we're certainly seeing more big corporations around the place instead.

 

[Joie d'Etre]

@notyourcommodity yeah in Quebec we have a song called 'La rue principale' (the main street) that is completely about the changes in the main street of the town as it goes from a pop'n'moms shops and kids biking around and tons of small town things happening to a big street with a mall and all the changes around it. and then the mcdonalds.

I love shopping at pop'n'mom shops whenever I can. I just figure it's helping out a family business rather than supporting the CEO of some big multi million dollar corporation. But it's sad that most places seem to be deviating away from that and we're certainly seeing more big corporations around the place instead.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. I mean, for the normal person, you always hear that it cannot work with their budget because in small shop, everything is more expensive than in malls (or than online!). But it was kind of cool to see it happening in Rome -- people shopped around the corner, went to small eateries and then the economy sort of stayed in the neighbourhood since then those shop owners and cooks would come visit their place etc. It had a nice feel to it.

 

[Gabe]

Tourism is a major source of income and many places tolerate it because they need it. In smaller rural areas where work is scarce, people will welcome tourists, but they won't create tourist places (like a tourist menu) or open longer. I have been to some of these smaller places and they are nice, but the average tourist will go for a day trip. Most people like the choice a tourist resort provides, like longer hours and a choice of shops and eateries, and these smaller places won't provide that so many won't stay. In some ways that controls tourism.

 

[Joie d'Etre]

and these smaller places won't provide that so many won't stay. In some ways that controls tourism.

That's actually a good point. I have not thought much about it -- I mean, in general, Europe's opening hours keep puzzling me. Not used to groceries closing at 8PM or being closed on Sundays! But I always just shrugged it off. It did not occur to me that this sort of inconvenience, when increased, would have such an influential impact on tourism. Good insight!

 

[notyourcommodity]

Tourism is a major source of income and many places tolerate it because they need it. In smaller rural areas where work is scarce, people will welcome tourists, but they won't create tourist places (like a tourist menu) or open longer. I have been to some of these smaller places and they are nice, but the average tourist will go for a day trip. Most people like the choice a tourist resort provides, like longer hours and a choice of shops and eateries, and these smaller places won't provide that so many won't stay. In some ways that controls tourism.

This has actually been the case for quite a number of small towns that I've visited in various countries. Despite having attractions that I was interested in, it was incredibly difficult (or impossible) to find overnight accommodation so there was really no other choice but to go there just for the day. I can absolutely see how this would impact tourism.