This Immaculate Italian Gem Is 2025's Top Trending Summer Destination (And It's Not Rome Or Venice)

Sprawling palazzos stained gold in the summer sun, carefully conserved vestiges of an ancient empire, renowned galleries with a masterpiece in each and every hall — Italy's draws are not novel. Every traveler has a tick-list of essential experiences and arrives ready to cruise the Venetian canals, tour the Tuscan vineyards, and indulge in Roman pasta dishes. According to Expedia's 2025 Summer Travel Outlook, the ceaselessly popular European nation is the trendiest long-haul vacation destination of the year.

However, Italy's cultural capitals, idyllic cities famed for art and architecture, are taking a backseat. Subbing grand cathedrals for coastal scenes, U.S. travelers are setting their sights on Italy's underrated beaches and sun-soaked southern cities. By far the most popular among its rising stars of the summer, according to Expedia, is the Campania region and its 311 miles of Tyrrhenian Sea shoreline. While several Campania cities are well acquainted with the tourist crowds — Naples, Positano, and Amalfi are hardly fresh finds — its quiet clifftop towns and cloistered coves still provide a peaceful reprieve for those hoping to avoid the crowds in Italy.

Five U.S. airports service direct routes to the heady side streets of Naples, from which you can easily navigate the entire region. The city has its own major port, where ferries and hydrofoils head to the islands year-round, and a well-connected central train station that carries travelers out to the best nearby sites. Nonetheless, those seeking to get off the grid in Campania will need to rent their own set of wheels. Driving on Italy's ancient, narrow roads is an experience in itself, but you'll know the adventure was worthwhile once you reach the region's secluded sands and pretty pastel towns carved into the coastline cliffs.

Lively Campania typifies the southern Italy of your imagination. Its soulful cities are loud from dawn till dusk, with market vendors hollering about their wares, music emanating from the street corners, and groups gathering to gossip over a piazza-side spritz. Its Roman ruins are among the most important on Earth, indefatigable pillars of the ancient world framed by the looming figure of Mount Vesuvius. Its string of seaside towns, collectively known as the Amalfi Coast, have graced the lenses of millions upon millions of photographers and amateur aesthetes.

First timers to Italy's sultry south shouldn't skip Campania's key attractions. Start out in Naples. Slipping through the ancient stone walls and over the wildly impressive history that hides directly underneath the city, make a beeline for Via dei Tribunali, where Naples' best street food vendors tout unmissable Italian eats. Taste some of the best pizzas on Earth in the city where the dish originated, or sacrifice your arteries for the crispy joy of a deep-fried pie. Waddling away from the city's lively center, you can catch a train out to one of the most famous archaeological sites in Italy, if not the entire world. Exploring the ashen ruins of Pompeii, you can peer directly into the Campania of 2,000 years ago.

Careening around the twisting bends of Campania's coastal roads, cruise the Amalfi shores by driving between its scenic towns. The best known among them are Positano, Ravello, and the eponymous Amalfi, pastel painted idylls hewn into cliffs lapped by turquoise seas. Just off the shore, you can also explore the glamorous island of Capri.

Like many of Europe's best-known and most beloved cities and coastal spots, Campania's attractions often suffer from the ramifications of rampant overtourism. Descending down stone staircases hewn into the coastal cliffs is rather less charming when you're stuck in a slow-moving queue, and it's tough to splay out on a golden shore that's so busy that you're elbow to elbow with the next sunbather down. Discerning travelers prepared to prioritize their overall experience over their bucket lists should check out some of Campania's lesser-known sites instead.

Instead of jostling in cliffside traffic jams to tour the towns of the Amalfi Coast, scoot a little farther south to Cilento. The region stretches from the rugged inland Cilento National Park to a trail of tiny hill towns that peer over the coast. Though it's a quiet rival for Amalfi's crown, the region also hides away substitutes for other crowded Italian attractions: Palinuro boasts a grand blue grotto to challenge Capri's, Agropoli has a characteristically Italian ancient center with historic sites, and the stretching sand beaches of Marina di Ascea can contend with any on the country's west coast.

Some of Campania's most enticing eats have also managed to stay under the radar. Track your favorite Italian delicacies back to the source by tasting freshly balled buffalo mozzarella on a traditional farm or by sitting secluded amid fragrant citrus groves and sipping your way through a selection of limoncello liquors. You can also try a slice of one of the best pizzas around in the small, unassuming hill town of Caiazzo, where guests of Pepe in Grani dine in an atmospheric abandoned ruin-turned-restaurant.