This Hilltop Town Named Italy’s Prettiest Is Full Of Medieval Wonders, $12 Pasta, And Zero Crowds

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Even if you haven’t made it to Italy yet, you’re probably familiar with Rome‘s ancient sights and the millennia-old Colosseum, Venice‘s winding canals and soaring campanile, and Florence‘s distinctive red-tiled dome and Renaissance palaces.

Undoubtedly gorgeous as those may be, what if we told you this year’s crown in one of Italy’s best-known beauty contests went to somewhere you’ve probably never even heard of?

Every year, twenty historic Italian borghi—one representing each region of the country—compete for the coveted title of Borgo dei Borghi, or Village of Villages.

Tucked on a hilltop overlooking the lush Marche countryside, an unheard-of gem going by the name Cingoli was voted 2026’s winner.

The Balcony Of The Marche

Italy is peppered with untouched, virtually unspoiled towns that casual tourists drive right past. Cingoli is one of them.

Nicknamed the ‘Balcony of the Marche’, it sits high above a patchwork of rolling hills, with views stretching all the way towards the Adriatic on clear days, in a region Italians themselves have a tendency to sleep on.

Think of Marche as a bit like Iowa for Americans: rural, rarely the first place tourists think of, and somewhat mysterious unless you have roots there.

Unlike the Iowa stereotype, however, there’s more here than flat farmland and endless fields of corn and soybeans.

Cingoli has beautifully preserved town walls, quiet stone-paved streets, and a stately family palace built in 1599 by Bernardo Castiglioni, an exiled Milanese noble. If that’s not enough Old World lore to lure you out here, then the hearty local gastronomy might do the trick.

$12 Pasta, Anyone?

Marche has found its quiet, understated fame as the home of olive all’ascolana—crispy, meat-stuffed olives fried until golden—and as the region’s ‘balcony’, and arguably its prettiest hill town, Cingoli has no shortage of rustic eateries serving those alongside homemade pasta…

Smothered in wild-boar ragù.

A few minutes outside the Old Town, Osteria del Foro is a proper, family-run osteria serving pappardelle al cinghiale, tagliatelle with duck sauce, mixed grills, and other hearty Marche classics.

Homemade pasta dishes in this part of Cingoli generally cost around $12–18, and if you’re planning on washing yours down with a glass of Rosso Piceno, budget roughly $20–27 for a simple pasta-and-wine lunch.

That’s the thing with these sleepy, lesser-known Italian towns yet to be overrun by the throngs: they’re still refreshingly-authentic, and prices are set with locals in mind, as opposed to fedora-clad holidaymakers cruising down the Amalfi Coast.

Average Prices In Cingoli, Marche, For 2026

• Paper cone of olive all’ascolana: $5–8
• Stuffed crescia flatbread: $7–11
• Espresso: $1.50–2.50
• Glass of local wine: $4–7
• Homemade pasta dish: $12–18
• Three-course meal in a local trattoria: $29–41 per person
• Simple B&B or guesthouse: $65–105 per double room
• 3-star hotel: $90–135 per double room
• Country house or upscale agriturismo: $115–170 per double room

The Safer Side Of Italy

Something else I love about small Italian towns? There’s none of the usual big-city chaos you see in places like Rome, Milan, or Naples.

You’re far less likely to encounter the viral borseggiatrici here, mainly because their usual hunting grounds—crammed railway stations and landmark-packed city centers full of distracted visitors—simply don’t exist in Cingoli.

As for mugging and violent crime? Both are extremely rare.

Marche is one of Italy’s sleepiest, greenest, and most easygoing regions, and Cingoli is the perfect portrait of that deliciously slower pace.

In fact, for all the doom merchants on X making Italy sound like an all-out disaster, the country remains perfectly visitable.

Transport strikes and demonstrations do happen, as they do elsewhere in Europe, and the U.S. Department of State currently lists Italy at Level 2 due to terrorism, but there is no nationwide security crisis keeping ordinary tourists away.

Italy also scores an excellent 92 out of 100 on Travel Off Path’s Traveler Safety Index.

That’s based on recent visitors’ first-hand impressions, so it gives you a useful snapshot of how safe travelers actually felt on the ground alongside the official guidance.

What Not To Miss On A Visit To Cingoli

• Balcone delle Marche: the signature Cingoli panorama, looking across a patchwork of hills, farmland, and villages towards the Adriatic coast on clear days
• Palazzo Comunale: Cingoli’s handsome town hall. Upstairs, in the Sala degli Stemmi, you’ll find Lorenzo Lotto’s Madonna del Rosario, a monumental oil painting completed in 1539
• Collegiate Church of Sant’Esuperanzio: a 13th-century Romanesque-Gothic church dedicated to the town’s patron saint, with an intricately carved portal completed in 1295
• Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta: the main church in Cingoli, standing on the central square across from the Town Hall
• Palazzo Castiglioni: the family palace where Pope Pius VIII, born in Cingoli in 1761, first saw the light of day
• Church of San Filippo Neri: one of the prettiest small churches in Marche, with a lavish Baroque interior, colorful frescoes, gilded stucco, and four twisted altar columns

Check Local Travel Rules Before Flying To Europe This Fall

Before you go merrily booking those flights, you should know that, as of September 7, 2026, the temporary flexibility allowing border authorities to suspend biometric checks during excessive queues has expired.

The European Union’s new Entry/Exit System itself has been fully operational since April 10, recording Americans, alongside other non-European visitors, whenever they cross an external Schengen border.

During your first registration, this involves having your fingerprints and facial image taken.

Sounds invasive, we know, but this is designed to ensure visitors comply with the Schengen Area’s 90-days-in-any-180-day-period rule and don’t overstay their welcome.

If you’re still unsure which regulations apply at your destination, be it Italy or any other European country you may be visiting soon, head over to the Entry Requirement Checker to run a quick destination check before booking tickets.

Marche Beyond Cingoli

Cingoli is a cracking day trip, and even better as a one-night stop, but in all honesty, it’s not a full-blown destination in itself.

You can, however, use it as a base—provided you have a car—for exploring the wider Marche, one of Italy’s most underrated and remarkably diverse regions.

Oh, and unlike Venice, Florence, or Amalfi, Marche is actually calling for more American tourists. Don’t believe us? We’ve broken down why the region is actively courting U.S. visitors in this accompanying article.

Other incredible Marche towns and nature parks include:

• Conero: Marche at its most Mediterranean, with forested cliffs plunging into crystal-clear Adriatic waters and white-pebble coves
• Treia: an ocher-colored hilltop town centered around a picture-perfect, horseshoe-shaped Piazza della Repubblica
• San Severino Marche: an equally under-the-radar medieval town boasting one of the region’s prettiest squares
• Macerata: Marche’s cultured little provincial capital, packed with brick palaces and home to the Sferisterio, a landmark open-air arena
• Frasassi: a landscape of wooded limestone gorges, hiking trails, and the colossal Frasassi Caves, with underground chambers large enough to swallow a whole cathedral

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