Highlights & Midlights of Three Weeks in South & Central Italy, Including Molise & Abruzzo

Regional Dining Discussions Italy, Spain, Portugal
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As usual my memory is foggy, I took very few notes and pretty bad photos, but because Molise and Abruzzo are not covered much here, I thought I’d share what I have from a three-week trip I took in July and August 2025. Not a day-to-day, each meal report. That would be way too long, given how verbose I am.

I traveled solo, flew into Naples and out of Rome. The itinerary was:

  • Naples - 5 nights
  • Ischia - 3 nights
  • Isernia (Molise) - 3 nights
  • Scanno (Abruzzo) - 1 night
  • Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo) - 3 nights
  • Sulmona (Abruzzo) - 3 nights
  • Rome - 4 nights

Lucked out and had unseasonably mild weather for all but the last few days in Rome! In any case, because of my job, it’s much easier for me to travel in the summer, so I have gotten accustomed to being sweaty on vacation.

When in Naples in the summer I prefer to stay by the water because if it’s sweltering, the sea breezes do help. So I stayed again at a modest hotel a block off the Lungomare, towards Santa Lucia. Discovered that since my last visit, the dining scene in Santa Lucia seems to be improving.

Non sequitur: I had a very tasty lunch at Brigida Cucina Napoletana, a new-to-me restaurant not in Santa Lucia. Wonderful service, a chill place, slightly on the more elegant side, in tourist-central Napoli. High-quality ingredients cooked with care. I’ll return for sure.

Bruschetta with semi secche pomodorini
Ravioli stuffed with eggplant, provola (and more?) in a light tomato sauce
Semifreddo pastiera (no photo)
And a glass of Tuscan red, recommended by my waitress when I told her what I planned to order

Bruschetta done right!
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Campari and soda in front of my hotel
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One evening I was wandering by a restaurant in the aforementioned Santa Lucia and there was a long line out front. The whole thing looked like a scene. Well, I suffer from severe FOMO, so of course I later Googled and discovered that this place is the newest location of one of Diego Vitagliano’s pizzerie. He is a pizzaiolo of some standing and I had never tried his pizza. I was able to book an early dinner for a Tuesday night. Looked like walk-ins were able to be accommodated as well, at least early on a weeknight.

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Unfortunately, I don’t have a huge appetite–I would have/could have eaten the bread they bring to your table for days. It’s light but with good chew, a nice bit of char…

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I tried to offset my constant bread-pasta-and-pastry eating in Naples with occasional salad. This was tasty and light--good semi-dry tomatoes, good tinned tuna in oil--but you know, it's salad.

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For my pizza, I ordered a margherita bufalina, one of several margs on the menu. This featured mozzarella di bufala.

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I almost finished the whole thing. It was excellent, and the center was soft but not undercooked.

No room for dessert, darnit.

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These are the semi-dry tomatoes that hang in the stores in big clusters? As I recall they were really tasty.
Thank you for making this report, by the way. Its super hard to remember long after the fact however, but if you can give us some color on what you enjoyed in these locations that would be really worthwhile.