As an Italian Enthusiast, my quest has always been to experience authentic Italian culture. If I had the choice to spend an evening at a well-known commercial vineyard in Tuscany for a fancy wine tasting, versus an evening at a local’s apartment in a small Pugliese city where homemade wine is served, I would choose the latter option (at least most of the time). Mass tourism, while great for the Italian economy, is not always great for the tourist when the goal is to capture authentic Italian lifestyle without running into a souvenir shop on every corner.

Don’t get me wrong, I think all Italian Enthusiasts should visit cities of mass tourism, like Venice, Florence, Rome, Milan, Naples, etc., as there are life-changing treasures in all those cities; however, smaller cities which may lack the art of Michelangelo, or churches the size of football fields, deserve no less attention. In fact, the experience derived visiting smaller, less-known Italian cities (less-known to tourists) will only result in a deeper and more fulfilling appreciation of the country as a whole.