The best places in Southern Italy for an unforgettable trip you’ll love

Expert travel guide to help you pick the best places in Southern Italy for a first visit and travel tips about what to see in each, best time to go, what type of travelers they are most suited to.

The South of Italy is a beautiful, varied, culturally vibrant place to visit and, for many, a place of the heart, people long to go back to over and over again

The Italian South is made of very different realities.

Not only you have different regions here, each with its own peculiarities, food and cultural influences, but even within the same region the differences can be staggering.

Here, landscapes range from remote and mountanous to long stretches of sandy beaches to volcanic islands, and towns that go from small villages to bustling metropolis, with anything in between.

So, when you plan a trip to the South of Italy, you want to narrow down what the best places in the South of Italy are, depending on the trip that you want.

This guide helps you to do just that. I am Italian (from Rome) and I travel regularly to the South of Italy as I adore it there.

Based on my personal experience, these are the best places to visit in the South of Italy for an unforgettable trip.

Puglia – the heel of Italy

Puglia is the region that makes the heel of the Italian boot, a long stretch of land reaching out into the blue waters of the Southern Mediterranean, which laps its beautiful coastline on three sides.

Puglia offers a variety of landscapes and is is a great destination for travelers who want to visit small towns, enjoy the coast (high and sandy), love food and art.

Places I recommend you visit in Puglia are:

Bari province – this is a stunning area of Puglia, blessed with lovely coastlines, pretty towns and fantastic Unesco World Heritage Sites such as Alberobello and its trulli and Castel del Monte.

Famous villages in this area are Alberobello, Monopoli, Polignano al Mare, Ostuni and the famous whitewashed Puglia ‘white towns’; the coast here is a mix of sandy and rocky coves, ideal for swimming, snorkeling and boat tours.

Lecce and Salento – Lecce is a stunning art city in the south of Puglia, famous for baroque architecture so artistically significant, it gave the city the nickname ‘Florence of the South. An south of Italy must see.

The Lecce province is also wonderful and is home to some of the best beaches in Italy, where you find light colored sand and crystal clear waters with light blue tones reminiscent of those from the caribbean or the Maldives (there is actually a locality called Salento’s Maldives!)

Gargano Peninsula – the Gargano peninsula is a stunning area of Puglia, in the north of the region, blessed with a stunning high coastline and forested areas that make up the well known Gargano National Park.

This area is exceptional for visitors who want to enjoy boat tours and a sea and sun vacation between the mainland and the stunning Tremiti Islands.

Best time to go: late spring – summer for beach / swimming / boat tours; all year round for sightseeing.

Find here >>> my travel guide to Puglia

Matera – stunning otherwordly cave town you won’t believe is real

Matera is a place like no other for appearance, feel and history.

The town is located in Basilicata, a small region in the South of Italy still vastly ignored by tourism both local and international, and is one of the most ancient in the world.

However, its ancient origins are not what make it known: the reason why Matera is so unique is that the city is excavated in the side of the mountains so it is literally a cave town, with houses dug right into the rocks!

This introduction might make you picture Matera as a derelict place or an archaeological sites but it is all but.

Despite a long history of poverty, Matera is now a thriving town with a stunning center, very beautiful accommodation options, incredible restaurants, flawlessly developing within its unique landscape and still retaining the incredible charm of its long history and unique architecture.

Best time to visit: March to October for milder weather, although you can come here all year round.

Find here >>> all my tips to visit Matera

Sicily – the dream destination you’ll never stop exploring

Sicily is one of the most beautiful places in Italy and, dare I say, of Europe.

It is the biggest island in the Mediterranean and a place with so much variety, you can explore it for weeks and never be done.

Sicily was home to some of the most significant civilizations in the Mediterranean and the island has memories and influences from all of them: The Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans all called this stunning island their home and you can feel their presence in the stunning archaeological sites, architecture and food of the island.

On top of this, Sicily has stunning beaches and minor islands, perfect for sea and sun lovers!

The best places to visit in Sicily are:

Siracusa and its province – located in the Eastern part of Sicily, Siracusa is an ancient town blessed with stunning coastline, a beautiful historic center and a fantastic archaeological park.

The town itself is perfect for history lovers, while the nearby beach of Fontane Bianche and the pretty town of Marzamemi are great for coast lovers.

Noto Valley – the Noto Valley, Val di Noto, is a small valley in the south east of Sicily with a cluster of stunning baroque towns so beautiful and unique, they are now Unesco World Heritage Site.

Ragusa Ibla, Noto, Scicli and Modica are wonderful for culture lovers and even more special for fans of Camilleri and Montalbano, as these are the incredible towns the series is set and filmed in!

As well as art, this area has some lovely beaches in the area of Ragusa and Ispica (have a look at Sampieri or Scoglitti), exceptional for a sea and sun vacation with local feel.

Valley of the Temples (Agrigento) – The Valley of the temples is one of the best preserved archaeological sites of the classical Greek civilization and one of the most visually beautiful and awe inspiring places in Italy.

Once the ancient town of Akragas, the site has wonderfully preserved ruins of Greek temples, dating from the V century, and is one of the best places in the wold to learn about classical Greek times and admire the incredible aesthetic of the classic Greek civilization

Catania area – the area of Catania is one of the most visited in Sicily and attracts visitors on many accounts.

Catania itself is a beautiful city worthy of a visit. Nearby, the stunning Mont Etna offers the options of exciting excursion up the tallest active Volcano in Europe and delicious wineries for wine tasting.

Just South of the city, stunning Taormina has one of the most beautiful ancient theaters you’ll ever see, as well as proximity to areas of great natural beauty such as the Alcantara Gorges and the coast.

Palermo area – the area of Palermo offers incredible opportunities to curious visitors too.

Here, you can enjoy the city itself, you can admire the outstanding Duomo of Monreale, see the fabulous temple of Segesta, the incredible Trapani salt pans and you can even enjoy small town life and coastal beauty is beach locations such as Cefalu, San Vito Lo Capo and the Zingaro reserve.

You can find here >>> my recommended itineraries in Sicily to see my favorite spots!

Campania – much more than Positano!

Campania is beautiful and complex region most visitors know for its most famous tourist spot: Positano.

Positano and the Amalfi Coast in general are indeed stunning, so stunning it is hard to overstate how beautiful they are, however, there is more to the region than them! The best places to visit in Campania are:

Amalfi Coast and Capri – no need for introduction to this one! Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, Capri are stunning jewels in the crown of the Costiera and very much worth visiting. Find her >>> my tips for visiting the Amalfi Coast and those for Capri here.

Cilento – the are of Cilento is one of the most beautiful places in Southern Italy for a beach vacation, yet it is vastly overlooked by international tourism, which tends to flock to the better known Amalfi area.

Like all lesser beaten areas, Cilento is more local in feel, a little less glamorous but it is intensely beautiful and worth experiencing. Places not to be missed here are Paestum and its stunning Greek Temples, pretty Agropoli, the stunning coast and beaches of Palinuro and the beach areas of Marina di Camerota.

Pompeii, Hercolaneum, Vesuvius – very little introduction needed for three of the most popular spots in Campania, all very worth a visit!

Pompeii and Herculaneum are two stunning archaeological sites and two of the best places in the world to immerse yourself in the ancient Roman civilization and experience what an ancient city truly looked and felt like.

Vesuvius is the stunning volcano overlooking both and a fantastic place for an excursions; if you enjoy hiking, the short trail to the top offers outstanding view, while if you are more into wine tasting than hiking, you’ll love to know there are beautiful wineries here!

Last time we went, we did so with the kids. This was our experience.

Naples – Naples is the largest city in Campania and one of the biggest city in Italy.

Naples is a stunning city, blessed by a fabulous natural position between the bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius, and home to outstanding architecture and art.

The city is very different in vibe from most others and tends to receive polar opposite reactions form visitors: many adore it; many detest it.

The main reason for it is that Naples does not embody the mellow coastal atmospheres of the Amalfi Coast of the composed beauty of Florence.

Rather, Naples is a busy, chaotic, culturally complex Southern city with grit and an unapologetically individual personality you cannot fully appreciate until you experience it!

You may love it or not but, objectively, the city has incredible art and outstanding food and this is why it belong on my list of the best places in Southern Italy for visitors! It is also a fantastic place to use as a base to explore wonderful Procida, Ischia and Capri. I hope you give it a chance!

I hope you enjoyed this list and it gave you ideas of great locations in Southern Italy for your next adventure. Safe travels!

Best places in Southern Italy – Pin this!