The second part of my outstanding 2023 vacation brought me back to Italy. 

I’ve been a bit obsessed with seeing Civita di Bagnoregio for a few years. I saw a photo of it online and decided “That’s something I must see.”

I didn’t know its history, I didn’t know if there were ruins, Etruscan, Roman or otherwise, that one must see. I didn’t know if there were a fresco inside a church that was a must-see. I just wanted to go there because of how it’s perched on top of a hill and I have a thing for climbing hills with scenic views. (See: Mont Blanc trek, Dolomites 2016). 

But getting to Civita was a bit tricky. I went to Bologna right after the Mont Blanc trek ended, and stayed with my good friend Paola. Civita is 300k from there. So we decided to go to Orvieto the day before, stay there one night and hop a bus to Civita the next morning. 

That route took us directly to Florence on a fast train and then to Orvieto on a local train, which means it stopped in just about every small town on the way. The trip brought back more than a few memories of my first visits to Italy in the late 1980s and 90s, taking the slow trains to small towns.

My friend Pamela joined us in Florence. She is a tour manager based there with her own company: thewaytoitaly.com. 

Civita di Bagnoregio is a hilltop village in the comune of Bagnoregio in central Italy. It was founded by the Etruscans more than 2,500 years ago. Viterbo is close and Rome is 75 miles north. The only way to get to Civita is on the pedestrian bridge. The locals added a 5 euro toll in 2013. There are currently 16 residents.

The village was infamously known as the “dying city” because of the instability of its foundation. It has a history of erosion and surviving earthquakes and landslides. But it’s that very erosion, which continues today, that has led to the valley and the isolation of the town. However,  the locals told me that its “dying” title wasn’t really the case anymore and they’ve seen a renaissance in the last five years with an increase in visitors and publicity.

My favorite view was during the climb up and then looking down once you’re up there. And the pictures don’t really tell the story. You don’t realize how steep that climb is until you’re on it

Once there, walk around on the main street and then take every turn off the street and walk the narrow path to the end for the view. 

As for the town itself, there are plenty of places to eat, and they all open at noon. There are some shops, a few inns, a church in the main square and even a garden to visit but you had to promise to buy something or else you couldn’t go in. 

We did see one of those three-wheeled trucks make its way up to the top with supplies for a restaurant. We also saw a garbage truck. And that’s pretty much the only vehicles you’re going to see there. 

I highly recommend a visit here. You only need a few hours. Get there in the late morning, walk around the area, stay for lunch, sit in the piazza and get a taste of the daily life and then depart. We saw some charming B-n-Bs and one place appeared to be gearing up for a wedding.  No matter where you look as you walk around, there’s a spectacular view of the surrounding valley. 

But again, the best view is of the village itself on the approach. Go there!