Italy's hot spots are full of tourists. These hidden spots offer an escape from the crowds

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Do you want to visit Italy but are tired of the sight of high season tourist crowds passing through Rome, Florence and Venice?

Can't afford the ever-increasing prices of hot spots like Capri or Tuscany?

Don't worry. There is much more to Italy than the places that usually appear on travel guides. Explore a little, and there are many unusual places where tourists are rarely seen.

They may require more effort to reach, but these secret places where traditions and ancient ways of life survive offer the opportunity to experience the true spirit of Italy.

Here are some of the best:

Lake Posta Fibreno (Lazio)

To get here, you need to get lost in the secluded area of ​​Ciociaria, a wild place once known for robbery. It runs through the regions of Lazio and Campania, south of Rome.

Posta Fibreno is a small, remote town, in the province of Frosinone, that feels surprisingly frozen in time. Surrounded by fields of grazing sheep, it has just a few farmhouses, a pub and a fish tavern.

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The highlight is its dreamy pool with water lilies, a beautiful place that seems to come from a place far more exotic than this lost corner of Italy. Ancient liana trees hang their branches over the green water as friendly geese and ducks pass by.

There are rowboats and dinghies for rent to explore the lake, and soft grass to lie on for a waterfront picnic. It's a great place to hang out with the locals, relax and take a walk on the lake shore.

San Candido (Trentino-Alto Adige/Süd Tirol)

The first thing that greets visitors to this Alpine town that straddles the Italian-Austrian border is the aroma of warm strudel and orange punch, sold at open-air market stalls for chilled meat and wool-lined clogs.

Located in Trentino Alto Adige (or Sud Tiröl for German speakers, who call the town Innichen), San Candido doesn't feel like Italy, something compounded by the fact that no one here speaks Italian.

This ski resort was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it was taken over by dictator Benito Mussolini, but the locals are still proud of their Teutonic origins.

Small cobbled streets are connected to fresco cottages, pale in color and painted images of giants, warriors, forest monsters, ice queens and dwarves, according to local history, sprinkle the peaks of the surrounding Dolomites with pink crystals.

A thousand years ago, the San Candido area was once submerged in a tropical ocean, and the ski resorts were a source of coral. A local museum displays dinosaur fossils excavated from nearby ice shelves.

Calcata (Lazio)

There has been a solution to what is now one of the best kept secrets in the Lazio region since ancient times. Modern Romans know about Calcata, fleeing their city on detox days when everything gets too much.

The place is amazing. This tiny house is perched on top of a cliff – first-time visitors could be forgiven for thinking it's about to slide down the rust-colored cliffs it sits on, into a deep, wood-covered hole.

Below is a clean river where pagan tribes once performed human sacrifices.

A single narrow path leads to a stone entrance. Here, ancient rock-cut cave dwellings are indistinguishable from naturally built features.

The hamlet, where a hippie community has flourished over the years, is a car-free labyrinth of moss-covered streets, tunnels and holes in the wall overlooking a dense jungle-like canyon.

Mount Circeo (Lazio)

On the coast between Rome and Naples, Cicero rises to the sky and stretches out to the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The attractive height has been worshiped as a sacred monument since the beginning of time. It is said that our ancestors who lived in caves made human sacrifices here, and even committed cannibalism. Several skulls have been excavated from its marine sites.

Don't let that get you down. Mount Circeo is a nature reserve ideal for hiking, boating and snorkeling.

Surrounded by pristine beaches and lakes as well as buffalo pastures, watermelon fields and kiwi plantations,

The ancient Romans loved to come here to detox in luxurious homes and hot baths. It is said that, in Homer's classic poem “The Odyssey,” this is where the witch Circe bewitched Odysseus, turning his men into pigs. Local people say that the mountain has the shape of a sleeping woman. Today, the locals still like to joke that the thick forest here is home to a large number of wild boars.

Pentedattilo (Calabria)

Italy is full of about 20,000 ghosts but Pentattilo is probably one of the most fascinating.

Located in the countryside of Calabria (the toe of Italy's boot), it can be easily explored on foot. It rises from the rocky slopes of Mount Calvario, shaped like a large hand with five fat fingers pointing toward the sky (Pentattilo in Greek means “five fingers”).

Once home to a bustling community, the town was hit by a series of earthquakes that led to its complete abandonment in the 1970s when locals fled in search of a better life, leaving their old stone dwellings behind.

Many families immediately moved to the bottom of the hill, where a new town was built. That means that, unlike other Italian ghost towns, Pentattilo is not completely dead. Recently there has been a revival led by local youth groups with the opening of artisan shops and a small tavern. A series of art festivals help bring the area back to the grave in summer.

A handful of hardy residents, mostly musicians and yoga enthusiasts – and a lot of cats – now live in the abandoned district.

Sirolo (Marche)

Known as the “pearl of the Adriatic,” this beautiful seaside town is a great, and cheap, alternative to the expensive island of Capri – and it boasts the faraglioni (sea stacks), such as Capri.

Perched high on the seaside promontory of Conero in east-central Italy's little-known Marche region, it's the perfect, quiet getaway for beach lovers looking to escape sweaty sunbathers and screaming kids.

Sirolo has a glorious past. Its medieval district, completely car-free, is a series of narrow circular tunnels that connect the royal palazzos to the overhanging palace, tower and walled walkway.

The small central piazza is considered one of the most romantic places in the entire Conero Riviera, offering spectacular sunsets.

In Because of Sorelle (“two sisters”), the amazing rocky beach is closed by two sea stacks and can only be reached from the sea using boats or with the help of local fishermen.

Gravina (Puglia)

The southern Italian city of Matera, which played a leading role in Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ,” has become famous in recent years for its spectacular appearance of cave houses dug into steep-sided cliffs.

Nearby Gravina is a hundred times more impressive. Locals know that the important adrenaline scenes in the latest James Bond movie were shot here, not in Matera where it was supposed to be set.

Located in Puglia, Gravina is carved into the sides of a great canyon, with settlements built from layers of caves and crevices created over the millennia by the erosion of former limestone.

Cavemen once lived in these places, which have now become settlements.

The old district of Gravina is home to rock churches and shrines. A striking highlight is the aqueduct-bridge Madonna della Stella, an ancient structure 90 meters long and 37 meters high. This is where James Bond jumps off the bridge in the movie “No Time to Die.”

The bridge offers great views of the city and the canyon below. A rare thing to see La Gnostrea circular tunnel with no exit where the locals hang out at night.

Underground treasures can be explored on guided tours through a network of tunnels, caves, old warehouses, olive presses, warehouses and wells.

Gravina hosts one of Europe's oldest fairs, the Saint George's Fair held every April since 1294, with musical concerts and delicious products.

Tenno (Trentino-Alto Adige/Süd Tirol)

Tourists flocking to northern Italy's Lake Garda often miss this hidden beauty spot, away from the noisy VIP spots.

In Tenno, peace rules.

Built during the middle ages, the hanging castle of Tenno has a spectacular view of Garda and the surrounding Alps from a perspective rarely seen.

The village is a cluster of stone houses and narrow cobblestone streets built at the foot of the imposing castle. A must-see is the little-known Lake Tenno nearby, known for its blue waters.

Long steps lead down to the lake's grassy shore, perfect for a quick refreshing dip in the summer or a winter picnic.

From here, a 20-minute walk connects to the hamlet of Canale di Tenno, listed as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Being here is like stepping back in time. Locals call it “the portal of the past.” A fairytale, dreamy vibe is enhanced by old painted stone houses with balconies overlooking the streets.

At Christmas there is an artisan market, and in the summer history fans enjoy Rustico Medioevo festival, where medieval life is recreated.

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