When the majority contemplates Italy, they imagine the old ruins of Rome, the renaissance in Florence or the canals of Venice. These are glittering cities, of course, but also congested, noisy and at times overwhelming.

You must venture into the smallest towns of Italy in order to find the other half of it, the one that talks in low tones and not in high ones.

Here, the time appears to stand still and the country has finally become able to listen to the heartbeat of the country in its most intimate, silent state.

It is a reminder that the best discoveries often lie beyond the crowded landmarks. The same way many travelers look for easier journeys with services such as Short Stay Parking Stansted, exploring these small towns offers a simpler, more personal way to experience Italy without the stress, but with all the beauty.

A Different Kind of Italy

My first experience with an Italian town that is not large was accidental. It happened as I was driving through the hills of Umbria, when I caught sight of a group of stone houses on a ridge, and caught the red-tiled roofs in the afternoon sun.

I stopped in curiosity, and dawdled up and down cobblestone streets that were so narrow I had to step off to the side to allow a passing scooter to go by. No big piazza with tourists, no queues in front of well-known museums.

In lieu, it consisted of laundry lines hanging on windows, a tiny cafe where a few locals are getting their espresso and the pleasant scent of bread being chased out of a family-run bakery.

Here I understood that the smallest towns in Italy do not have anything to do with show. They are about presence. You are not in a hurry to go through them and cross off sights, you take your time, you take them in and you associate.

Life at a Slower Pace

It is the simplicity of such towns that is their beauty. I found Santo Stefano di Sessanio in Abruzzo, the hill top village of the middle ages where time has nearly frozen still. Loitering through its quiet streets was like going centuries back.

The church bells and a few words of greeting at the hands of some old inhabitant sitting on a bench alone disturbed the quiet. I took a seat as well, and in a moment or two we were talking, stiltedly, on my meager Italian, and their forbearance.

Stories in the Stones

The smallest towns in Italy are also loaded with history that is usually not mentioned in guide books. A case in point is the weak municipality of Civita di Bagnoregio in Lazio, frequently referred to as a dying town as erosion has threatened to wipe it out of the surface.

But as one strolls its old streets, you feel like you are in a living memory. The stones that are used as houses, the arches, all appear to be talking about previous generations.

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Castelluccio, which is in theSibillini Mountains, is another gem. It is a place where nature and human life are in a fantastic harmony, so that it is known best during the spring flowering season when the fields with lentils change color to their fullest.

Why Small Matters

The visits to such places are deeply human. In large cities you have the sense of being seen, a tourist among thousands. In small towns you are an extension of the scenery, observed and embraced.

Storekeepers recognize you by sight and cafe people wave as you go by, and people talk to you not with sales talk but with real interest in where you have come.

These towns also educate you to travel in different ways. There is no list of sightseeing places so you can wander, to sit, to taste, to talk. You come to know how to move and take time, not in minutes but in moments, in the ringing of church bells, at dusk, or in the flavor of figs plucked fresh in a market, or in the laughter of a child running out of one narrow path into another.

Why You Should Visit

In the event that you are visiting Italy, you should not just visit the major cities. Give the towns space to be so tiny they do not always show up on maps.

They do not possess landmarks that are well-known all over the world but they possess something even more seldom- authenticity.

They are the locations where Italy is able to breathe at its own speed, where culture is not dead, and where you feel as a part of some community.