Udine
After going to Venice we stopped in Udine for a little detour and to experience another small town of Italy. For some reason, the small towns always have the most friendly locals and they feel far more safe to walk around. This city is in the very northern east of italy close to___. Around an hour drive to the Apls and 2-3 hours away from the Dolomites depending on the region you are headed towards. (another beautiful area you must visit!)
When traveling on the weekends to these small towns, there may not be a website to find out about the local markets but there is almost always a weekend market and we hit a little gem with the locals selling their antiques and collections of jewelry, shells, clothes and so much more. The people working at these stands are must more friendly and are often excited to see tourists because they are not common in those smaller areas. You will be able to find a market by asking around or just walking around the main plazas.
Another very close town to Udine that is a must stop at is San Danielle, one of the major producers of procuitto in the world. The whole town is centered around procuutto, you’ll see murals of priccutio across the walls and every single restaurant serves the cured meat delecacy. And it is at very reasonable prices. The most popular spot to go is but since we did not know to make a reservation, we ended up at but were so amazed with our experience here and would 100% go back again if we could.
Donnini
This town is only a 30 minute train from Santa Maria Novella and a little bit of a hike. If you are not trying to be almost in the middle of nowhere I would not go here. But one of my friends was working at a farm nearby and it had the sweetest people and some of the best bread of my life.
The town is probably 2 blocks wide and there isn’t much to see other than a small restaurant, mini market, and bakery. One of my favorite things that I saw here though was a little pond. There were people fishing and it just felt nice to get out of the big city. I would go back in a heartbeat and would definitely go walk there with a friend:)
Castaniello
The very first weekend, we took a trip out to this small beach town only around 2 hours away to explore around the area and it was definitely a favorite trip for all of us. You can see the city gets a little bit touristy during the warmer time but mainly by the Italians. It is a perfect first trip because you get to understand the train system and the Airbnbs in the area are very affordable I think we paid $30 a night per person.
One of the best memories was going to the local cafes in the morning to get a pastrie and some bread for the day and there are beautiful waterfront cocktail bars with amazing presentation. You must try their Hugo Spritz and Moscow Mule (in the photo below) and it’s perfect because going out is so much more affordable than the major touristy cities. Groceries was also a major save compared to Florence.
Another beautiful part of this town are the beaches around, a desolate area with old Italians taking their morning swims in the bluest Mediterranean water. Going for your morning swim is amazing and the warm weather and ocean will somewhat remind you of home. I would recommend to walk around the coast to find some hidden ledges to jump in because the best water access we found were not the beaches on the map!
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