Italians reveal their favorite places to go on vacation — in Italy

Italy is home to some of the world’s most famous cities, art, wine and beaches.

Think Florence, Rome and Venice with their abundant Renaissance architecture and well-known galleries, Tuscany with its globally-renowned vineyards and the glamorous Amalfi coast with its see-and-be-seen vibe.

While these places are an obvious draw for travelers, Italians themselves prefer to go on vacation to lesser-known areas.

These are places where the menus aren’t translated into English, where foreigners are few and far between — but the pleasures are no less plentiful.

Puglia, in the “heel” of Italy, is a favorite destination for travel writer Marina Cacciapuoti, who runs the Italy Segreta website and travel consultancy. She loves to visit in the springtime, “when you can experience it with the locals,” she said.

“It’s a region of farmers, of traditions, of passion, of simplicity that has to be enjoyed slowly,” she told CNBC by email.

A recent find is private home Masseria Schiuma, a farmhouse close to the beach, restored by a Danish couple and available to rent only a handful of weeks per year.

The region is also beloved by Rome-based real estate agent Diletta Giorgolo, who heads there for its beaches and “remarkable” little towns.

She recommends visiting Puglia in May, June, September and October, when “the weather is warm and the beaches are empty,” she told CNBC by email.

Giorgolo likes to stay at the 1860s-built Palazzo Daniele, a former palace she described as “Mediterranean chic,” or Naturalis Bio Resort & Spa, a collection of 18th-century farm buildings restored by a husband-and-wife team.

To eat, she suggests Alex Ristorante in Lecce, famous for its raw fish dishes by chef Alessandra Civilla.

In Cortina, she recommends eating at family-run restaurant Beppe Sello, where the specialty is benfatti alla moda — a homemade ravioli with caciotta cheese.

Giorgolo, who works for Sotheby’s International Realty, stays at the Ambra Cortina, which styles itself as a “fashion boutique” hotel, where rooms are themed around movies, theater and nature.

Cacciapuoti likes to stop at Angelo Feroci, a butcher’s shop in the Sant’Eustachio district that has been in the same location for around 100 years.

She recommended the Gian Fornaio cafe where pizza is sold “al taglio” — or “by the cut” — and baked in large rectangular trays. For an aperitivo, Cacciapuoti said she heads to the bar at the Hotel Locarno, a spot that was popular with Italian movie stars during the country’s 1950s golden age of film.

Cacciapuoti recommended the under-the-radar island of Giglio, “a natural beauty ripe with hand-cultivated wines, crystal-clear waters [and] panoramic hikes,” as she states in a post on her website. There, she likes to hop between the L’Arenella, Le Cannelle and Le Caldane beaches, and stay harborside at La Guardia, a hotel decorated with wood, stone and concrete.

The Monte Argentario peninsula, linked to mainland Tuscany by quiet roads, is home to Il Pellicano, a former private home turned chi-chi hotel. It was purchased by Italian business magnate Roberto Scio in 1979 and photographed in the decade that followed by Slim Aarons, who was famous for capturing the socialite and celebrity scene.

Known for its star appeal, it’s now run by his daughter, Marie Louise Scio, who grew up at the hotel and restored it in the mid-2000s.