This Underrated Italian Town Blends Countryside Charm, Local Wines, Gothic Palaces, And Hilltop Sanctuaries

It's easy to forget that Italy is so much more than big-name destinations like Rome, Venice, Florence or Milan. The entire country is an exceedingly varied, locally focused panorama of regions, towns, and villages with differing histories, traditions, climates, food, dialects, architecture — you name it. Northern Italy, for instance, abuts the Alps in the north, skirts the Mediterranean along the coast, and flattens into plains in Lombardy in the middle. And right near the center of Lombardy, in the province of Pavia, sits the little town of Voghera — soaking up a bit of everything from everything around it. 

Located about midway between the cosmopolitan, retail-focused vibe of Milan — full of slick, upper-crust hotels — and the coastal port city of Genoa, Voghera is a former Roman town with modern roots dating back to the 14th century. It has a small population of 36,000, a walkable town center that takes a mere 15 minutes to cross on foot, and is a quick 45-minute train ride from Pavia, the nearest, larger town to the north. It's right in the middle of things, but not caught up in the action directly. This makes it an excellent launching point to explore Lombardy's Oltrepò Pavese wine country, its rolling green hills full of farms, and treasure trove of castles while still having enough to do in and of itself.

Explorations within Voghera should start with Duomo di Voghera, a 10th-century church that received a strange and impressive 17th-century architectural makeover (seen above). There's also the Tempio Sacrario della Cavalleria Italiana, a church built by and for the Italian Cavalry. And, of course, visitors must also make time to enjoy local wines and take advantage of nearby vineyards in Casteggio, Santa Maria della Versa, and Broni.

The entirety of Lombardy is known for its own spin on Gothic architecture, but the architecture in Voghera isn't strictly "Gothic," i.e., 12th to 16th-century highly ornamented structures with ribbed and vaulted ceilings. Neighboring structures like the shockingly detailed and awe-inspiring Milan Cathedral are, however, as is Pavia's Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine. Voghera's Duomo di Voghera and Tempio Sacrario della Cavalleria Italiana offer sturdy and quaint architectural offerings, respectively. Meanwhile, the imposing, fortress-like Castello Visconteo echoes dark sentiments associated with Gothic stylings as a whole.

In contrast, the landscape around Voghera presents a wide-open, lush, nature-oriented experience. You could easily stay inside a restaurant in Voghera and sip wines from the surrounding Oltrepò Pavese region — 46% of which are pinot noir — or you could head out into the countryside yourself. Each nearby village — including Fortunago, Varzi, Bosmenso, and Salice Terme — will give you a different variation on the local wine scene, as well as provide you with a chance to soak in Lombardy's countryside. Ultimately, Oltrepò Pavese's unique blends give it its own claim to wine fame — much like the coastal town of Bardolino, whose charming wine trails and historic streets make it a popular destination to the east near Verona. 

In addition to wine, the area around Pavia is also Italy's No. 1 producer of rice, which might surprise readers. There are over 1,700 rice-producing farms in the region, each one like a little countryside refuge away from anything but the soft, green beauty surrounding it.

It's unlikely that Voghera is going to be any visitor's final stop in Italy, so it makes sense to build an itinerary that includes both Voghera and its surroundings in one go. For example, you can make the trip from Pavia to Voghera to Oltrepò Pavese without a car, but it'll turn a 40-minute drive  into a roughly 3-hour train and bus excursion — including half an hour of walking at the end. That said, visitors from the U.S. will want to consider getting an international driver's license for the trip, which will make it much easier to incorporate additional stops along the way, like at the peaceful, picture-perfect town of Seregno near Milan. 

Speaking of Milan, the capital of Lombardy is easily your best option for getting to Voghera. Specifically, the intercity train goes directly from Milan to Voghera in about 45 minutes flat. Better yet, you can easily get off at Pavia on the way, too, because it's on the same line and only 15 minutes from Voghera. This means that it's possible to either get a taste of Voghera's cityside and countryside offerings in a half-day trip from Milan, or that you can stay overnight and settle in a bit before carrying on. Plus, spending a night in Voghera will also give you the chance to try local pasta dishes like Agnolotti alla Vogherese, and enjoy desserts like Vogherese Zuppa (Vogherese Soup).