10 places where autumn gives a show

A few weeks separate us from the beginning of winter, but, thanks to some sunshine and a climate that is still not too rigid, we can still have the opportunity to go forward and get lost, perhaps during the weekend, in magical places where autumn gives the best of himself.

Camera under the arm, here is a unique show not only for the eyes, but also to restore the spirit, often canceled out by exhausting hours of work or tight rhythms.

Here are a dozen suggestions regarding all Italian places where you can breathe in the rhythms of colors, the autumn foliage, the scents of the earth and the magic of the middle season .

1. Among the mountains of painters, the Vigezzo Valley

They also call it Valle dei Pittori, an area of the Val D'Ossola where the Vigezzina railway passes, the blue train that offers breathtaking spectacles, and which, between suggestive bridges and forgotten villages, connects Italy with Switzerland.

Why not treat yourself to the last seats to visit the Santa Maria Maggiore Christmas markets? Tickets cost only 12 euros, starting from Domodossola.

2. Marche and the autumn in Montefeltro

Not only to support the earthquake areas, but also to visit an area rich in history, natural beauty and ancient villages, such as the one in Frontino, a true living room of Montefeltro, with its famous monuments such as the Monastery of San Girolamo, the Convent of Montefiorentino and the Old Mill . Here it is also a marvel for the palate!

3. Rome, between villas and castles

Autumn is perhaps the best time to visit Rome and its surroundings. In fact, Villa Ada deserves a special mention: with the second largest public park in Rome, on the Via Salaria, it dominates white and uncontested among the colors of autumn. Today this park has a very rich vegetation and a very varied fauna that includes squirrels, rabbits and parrots.

Even the Roman castles in this period have a unique charm, enjoyable also thanks to the numerous initiatives and excursions proposed by the local associations .

4. The Apennines between Pavia, Piacenza, Genoa and Alessandria

At the crossroads of these four provinces there are places that you don't expect, where autumn offers impalpable lights, ethereal mists, unforgettable foliage: from the Val Chiarone to Monte Penice, from the small villages close to the Trebbia bends, such as Ottone, Marsaglia, San Salvatore, up to the Monte Lesima observatory.

And still the Monte Chiappo, the Val Tidone, the splendid Staffora Valley . Undecided? All you have to do is look forward to a virtual tour of the wonderful shots of Valerio Maruffi, who gave us the image published here.

5. Pitigliano and the tuff

Built on blocks of Tufo, which reveal soft and intense colors in autumn sunsets, in the province of Grosseto we find Pitigliano, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Life seems to have stopped its rhythm here as in the times of the Etruscans, and it will not be difficult to stop and chat and enjoy the autumn with the locals. All around evocative spurs, cliffs, ravines and caves all dug into the tuff, interspersed at the bottom of the valley by lively waterways.

6. The magic of the Casentino forests

Shades of green give way to yellow and intense red: we are in the Casentino forest park, a blaze of lush vegetation and an almost pristine nature.

Autumn Slow will welcome you with its multisensory proposals, between the flavors of the undergrowth and the exciting roar of the deer that prepares for winter. Excursions, festivals, thematic workshops, including photography ones, will accompany everything.

7. Borgo di Rango in Trentino

If you want the mountain, here is still a place where you can forget civilization and enjoy a breathtaking foliage over the Giudicarie valley.

We arrived at the ancient village of Rango, in Trentino, a small peasant village carved into the rock, where a handful of houses winds through narrow alleys, old woodshed, porches lit by the lights of the Christmas markets, ready to give you a pot-pourri of handicraft, help and local products.

8. Borgo di San Leo, between Marche and Romagna

Set on a spur of rock, this marvelous village is tinged with the most fascinating colors during the autumn.

From here the view stretches over San Marino and Marecchia, and lingers for a moment on the impressive Romanesque Cathedral, imposing and precious, and on the millenary fortress of Montefeltro, once the prison of that singular character who was Cagliostro.

9. Valnerina, the autumn between towers and hermitages

In the Nera river valley, a landscape of green expanses extends between Terni, Macerata and Perugia, interspersing medieval towers, ancient abbeys and lost hermitages.

More than ever, now, for local people, it also means booking a night in one of the many agritursmi and enjoying nature, among the colors of beech, hornbeam, boxwood and maple.

10. Valpelline, in Valle d'Aosta, time has stopped

Among sloping rocks, grazing cows, pastures and multicolored trees that frame the valley and descend to the foot of the mountains, the warm atmosphere of the mountain is released from the villages and small perched villages, like Bionaz, with its few wooden houses, crossed from woods and surrounded by dams, like that of Place Moulin, which in autumn offers more than ever suggestive mirrors and reflections.