Must-see attractions in Abruzzo & Molise

  • Roman ruins of Saepinum

    Saepinum

    Molise

    One of Molise’s hidden treasures, the Roman ruins of Saepinum are among the best preserved and least visited in the country. Unlike Pompeii and Ostia…

  • Museo Paleolitico di Isernia

    Molise

    Built around the adjacent 730,000-year-old archaeological site of La Pineta, this intriguing museum stands next to a pavilion that protects the site of…

  • San Vincenzo al Volturno, a Benedictine monastery

    Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Volturno

    Molise

    Founded in the 8th century, the Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Volturno is famous for its cycle of 9th-century frescoes by Epifanio (824–842) in the crypt…

  • Eremo di sant'Onofrio al Marrone, Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy.

    Eremo di Sant’Onofrio al Morrone

    Abruzzo

    This cliff-clinging hermitage with its 15th-century ceiling, 13th-century frescoes, narrow oratory and arched porticoes cowers under a massive rock face…

  • Santa Maria di Collemaggio basilica facade

    Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio

    Abruzzo

    With its distinctive chequerboard facade and strong links to Italy’s much admired hermit-pope Celestino V (whose remains are interred inside), the 12th…

  • Santuario di Ercole Curino

    Abruzzo

    Sitting below the Sant’Onofrio hermitage, this sanctuary was originally thought to be the house of Sulmona-born poet Ovid when it was first uncovered in…

  • Piazza Garibaldi

    Abruzzo

    The large town square is home to Sulmona's extensive Wednesday and Saturday morning market: you'll find fresh fish, veg, fruit and flowers, as well as the…

  • Palazzo d'Avalos

    Abruzzo

    The Renaissance Palazzo d’Avalos houses a quartet of museums: the Museo Archeologico, with its eclectic collection of ancient bronzes, glasswork and…

  • Abbazia di Santo Spirito Al Morrone

    Abruzzo

    It’s hard to miss this massive 13th-century Celestine abbey in Badia, close to the sheer western slopes of the Morrone mountains. Notable for its…

  • Museo Casa Natale Gabriele D'Annunzio

    Pescara

    The birthplace of controversial proto-fascist poet Gabriele D'Annunzio is small but excellently curated, with nine rooms displaying furniture, documents,…

  • Hotel Campo Imperatore

    Abruzzo

    Built in the 1930s, the Campo Imperatore is the hotel where Mussolini was briefly imprisoned in 1943, before his dramatic rescue by German paratroopers…

  • Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo

    Abruzzo

    L’Aquila’s valuable collection of art, sculpture and archaeology, previously housed in the San Giorgio castle, was mostly rescued after the 2009…

  • Loggia Amblingh

    Abruzzo

    More a promenade than a loggia (a walkway with columns and arches), this spectacular path tracks the edge of Vasto’s old town for 300m from the Palazzo d…

  • Basilica di San Bernardino

    Abruzzo

    A marvel of post-earthquake restoration, the 15th-century San Bernardino gleams like a salvaged Titanic brought to the surface to sail once more. Position…

  • Marinelli Pontificia Fonderia di Campane

    Molise

    Only in the Italian backwater of Molise do you get to learn about the ancient, if esoteric, art of bell-making. For more than 1000 years, local artisans…

  • Museo delle Genti d'Abruzzo

    Pescara

    An extensive (if slightly dated) display of Abruzzo culture that squeezes rather a lot into 13 interconnecting rooms, covering the Bronze Age to the…

  • Samnite Theatre-Temple Complex

    Molise

    About 30km northeast of Isernia, outside Pietrabbondante, the remains of a 3rd-century-BC Samnite theatre-temple complex reward a visit, as much as…

  • Riserva Naturale di Punta Aderci

    Abruzzo

    The Riserva Naturale di Punta Aderci is a 285-hectare area of unspoilt, rocky coastline north of Vasto. Sheltering both farms and woodland, the eponymous…

  • Museo del Lupo Appenninico

    Abruzzo

    This museum and info centre has an impressive amount of information (in Italian only) on the Appenine wolf and its role in myth and literature. There's…

  • Cattedrale di San Panfilo

    Abruzzo

    Slightly out of the centre, the Gothic-meets-baroque cathedral is like many things in Sulmona: understated and underrated. The fantastically restored…

  • Museo Civico Isernia

    Molise

    World War II doesn’t get a lot of coverage in Italy, which makes this small museum chronicling the events of 10 September 1943, when Isernia was heavily…

  • Ponte del Mare

    Pescara

    Surely one of the most attractive modern bridges in Italy, this sweeping curvaceous structure was built in 2009 to carry bikes and pedestrians across the…

  • Palazzo Fanzago

    Abruzzo

    The Palazzo Fanzago was designed by the great baroque architect Cosimo Fanzago in 1624. Look out for the carved wooden dragons under the roof and the…

  • Museo Sannitico

    Molise

    Samnite ceramics found in Castello Monforte are now on show at the small Museo Sannitico, along with weapons, armour and sculptures from local…

  • Castello Svevo

    Termoli

    Termoli’s most famous landmark, Frederick II’s 13th-century Castello Svevo guards the entry to the tiny borgo (medieval hamlet). It isn't open on a…

  • Castello Monforte

    Molise

    At the top of a steep tree-lined avenue sits this squat, quadrangular tower, much of which was built in the 15th and 16th centuries after the original…

  • San Giorgio

    Molise

    Built over the ruins of a pagan temple, and with a history that stretches back a millennium, St George's is probably Campobasso's oldest church. Fifteenth…

  • Castello Caldora

    Abruzzo

    The defining symbol of Pacentro, this unusual castle with its three oversized towers guards the foothills of Monte Morrone and is visible for miles around…

  • Museo Civico

    Abruzzo

    Inside the Palazzo dell'Annunziata is the four-in-one Museo Civico, with sections dedicated to archaeology, religious art, Abruzzese-Molisiano culture and…

  • Centro di Visita di Pescasseroli

    Abruzzo

    The Centro di Visita di Pescasseroli has an Apennine garden and a clinic for rescued animals who can no longer live in the wild on their own. Accommodated…

  • Collegiata di Santa Maria del Colle

    Abruzzo

    Rebuilt in the decades following a 1456 earthquake, the atmospheric Collegiata di Santa Maria del Colle combines a superb Romanesque portal with a lavish…

  • Museo dell'Arte Confettiera

    Abruzzo

    This museum is housed in the Fabbrica Confetti Pelino (established 1783), Sulmona's most famous manufacturer of confetti (the confectionery product, as…

  • Collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore

    Abruzzo

    In Guardiagrele's compact centro storico (historic centre), this striking church features a 14th-century arched portico and an austere Romanesque facade…

  • Museo d'Arte Moderna Vittoria Colonna

    Pescara

    In a country as art-heavy as Italy, this small, not particularly attractive building close to the seafront isn't what you'd call a big hitter, although it…

  • Centro Visite Museo Terre della Baronia

    Abruzzo

    The main visitor centre for the Gran Sasso national park also houses the Museo Terre della Baronia, a museum that showcases the environment, history and…

  • Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra

    Abruzzo

    On Piazza Garibaldi, housed in the refectory of the former Santa Chiara convent, this small museum has an eclectic collection of religious and…

  • Fontana delle 99 Cannelle

    Abruzzo

    L'Aquila's erroneously named 'fountain of 99 spouts' (there are actually only 93 of them) was one of the few monuments to quickly reopen after the…