Italy's 'third tier' cities offer local flavor without the tourist crowds

Bari women dressed in medieval costumes for the feast of St.Nicholas

Mornings in Bari Vecchia, Bari's medieval old town, belong to the fruit and vegetable vendors, butchers and bakers catering to locals doing their morning shopping or kibitzing over an espresso at a sidewalk cafe.  

It won't be long before the tour groups arrive, and a new crop of vendors begin filling tiny donuts with chocolate Nutella, and taking orders for a chilled Aperol Spritz. 

As a port city on the Adriatic Sea and the capital of Southern Italy's Puglia region, Bari plays life down the middle, sometimes catering to groups who come to tour its castle and 12th-century basilica; other times turning its attention to its working-class population of fishermen and seamen.

Old Town Bari at night

Outside the walls of the old town, in the 19th century "new city," Bari takes on a sophisticated feel with fashionable shops and pedestrian streets lined with cafes serving avocado toast topped with eggs and smoked salmon.

Bari Vecchia once had a reputation as a gritty, no-go area, but that has changed as more visitors have discovered the Puglia region, and start their travels by train, plane or car in the capital city.

Inside the walls, along narrow pedestrian streets, Bari's nonnas (grandmothers) carry on a tradition of making pasta shaped like little ears (orecchiette) on tables set up outside their homes. And when evening approaches and the tour groups leave, and local residents take back the ancient quarter for their evening passeggiata.

A Bari nonna drying pasta on the sidewalk

Cries of "over-tourism" are buzzing around Italy these days with Instagram photos of crowds blocking the way into Rome's Trevi Fountain or human traffic jams in Positano and the Cinque Terre.

The answer for those who want to avoid this scene: Look towards  Italy's "third tier," cities  such as Bari or Sulmona, a mountain town in the Abruzzo region where my husband and I stopped recently on our way to and from visiting relatives.

Spend the night at a B&B instead of a hotel, and join the neighbors for an espresso on the curb outside their house that doubles as front porch, as we did in Bari. Or enjoy breakfast on a  rooftop overlooking snow-capped mountains, as we did in Sulmona. 

Famous sites might be scarce, but serendipity awaits. You might be invited to join in a  local feast day celebration,  or be waived onto a a bus by a driver even though you don't have a ticket.

The statue of St. Nicolas

We were familiar with Bari's devotion to St. Nicolas (remembered as Santa Claus for the good deeds he did for children), the former 4th century Orthodox Catholic bishop of Myra, Turkey, from a previous visit. His relics are held in a crypt below the Basilica of St. Nicolas where a special chapel has been set aside for Orthodox worshipers who look towards icons rather than statues in prayer. 

An icon of St. Nicolas on its way to a parade in Bari

On this visit, we happened to arrive at the start of a three-day festival commemorating the arrival of the saint's remains in Bari in 1018 when Italian sailors spirited his body away from Myra for fear of muslim desecration. 

Locals wait for the parade to start from Bari's 10th-century castle built by a Norman king

We were invited to join in the fun as hundreds of locals dressed in homemade medieval costumes paraded from the town center to the waterfront where the next day a statue of St. Nicolas would be put on a ship for a boat parade, followed by fireworks, a light show at the basilica and the arrival of dozens of food trucks.

Abruzzo

Moving on from Puglia, our destination was L'Aquila, Italy's Capital of Culture for 2026. L'Aquila was devastated by an earthquake in 2009 which destroyed much of the historic center and displaced thousands of people.

It's comeback story is impressive, although incomplete, with major renovations of churches and historic sites ongoing. Our plan was to spend a couple of days there exploring, but first, a detour by train to Sulmona.

Sulmona's 13th-century aqueduct

If Sulmona was is Tuscany, it might be overrun with tourists, but the town, known for its sugar-coated almond candies that appear at every Italian wedding, is hidden deep in the mountains of one of the country's least-visited regions.

The old town is a delightful mix of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, with a blend of history and modern charm. Actor George Clooney, drew attention to Abruzzo when parts of the movie "The American" were filmed in Sulmona in 2010.

The walk from the train station to our B&B in the historical center looked doable on a map, but the route was all uphill along a busy road with no sidewalks. We flagged down a bus, and seeing our suitcases, the driver waived us on even though we had no ticket  The bus was headed to a nearby town, but he was passing through Sulmona, so he dropped us off near the main square and its 13th century aqueduct.

From there it was a short walk, uphill again, to the B&B Il Marchese Del Grillo where the energetic owner, Marta, welcomes guests into antique-filled rooms in a restored 18th-century mansion.

Our room was two flights up from the entryway. The rooftop breakfast room was another six flights higher. The reward for this was a 360-degree view of the snow-capped Apennine mountains, and a made-to-order breakfast of croissants, scrambled eggs, prosciutto, fruit and local cheeses.

Sulmona with the Apennine mountains in the background

If you have ever attended an Italian wedding, you were probably given a bag of white sugar-coated almonds, called confetti. Chances are they came from Sulmona and Confetti Mario Pelino which has been producing them since 1783, now in its 7th generation of family owners. 

Edible confetti floral arrangements 

Copper basins are used to coat the almonds with layers of sugar

A walk outside the old town to its factory is a must-do pilgrimage to buy the candies, now sold in bright colors and some coated in chocolate and crafted in the shape of flowers. There's a free museum filled with antique equipment, and a viewing platform looking down on the factory where almonds are coated with layers of sugar in rotating copper basins. 

Almost any festive occasion in Italy calls for a brass band. While sitting at an outdoor cafe, we were lucky to catch a rehearsal for the graduation of new police recruits planned for the next day.

A member of the police band takes a rest

Led by a female commander wielding a sword, the recruits, wearing blue berets and holding machine guns, marched by in formation while a band of drummers, tuba and trumpet players led the way to where the ceremony would take place.

 "It's going to be crazy," our waiter told us. All the cafe tables were already reserved for the next afternoon. But for now, we had front-row seats. We ordered another glass of wine, and sat back to soak up the scene.