THE most famous temptations of northern Italy - the cities of Venice, Milan and Turin, and the panoramic charms of the Lakes - make it easy to forget the diversity and richness of the region's smaller towns.
Yet from Rivoli in western Piedmont to Trieste in the east, it is possible to enjoy all pleasures of the region, but without the crowded sprawl and high prices of the larger destinations.
Here, from Vercelli to Padua, are six towns in which history and contemporary life enjoy a successful and reassuringly comfortable long-term marriage. You can reach them on budget airlines to small Italian airports, such as Bergamo and Treviso, and all are within easy reach of each other by car or local trains and buses.
VERCELLI
“You are like a land no one has ever mentioned before,” the poet Cesare Pavese wrote. So discreet is this narrow labyrinthine town that, arriving from the railway station, there appear to be no hotels. Parts of the massive Cathedral of St Eusebius go back 1,500 years. It is home to the Vercelli Book, which includes one of the earliest English religious texts, the 8th-century Dream of the Rood.
Vercelli is where England's “first tourist”, Thomas Coryat, discovered the “fork” in 1608. It is also the rice-growing capital of Europe, and the many local risotto dishes are unique to the region. Try panissa: risotto with Saluggia beans, sausage (such as the salam d'la duja) and red wine.
At eight in the evening in Piazza Cavour, the central square, there is not an empty seat in any of the three cafés, despite the rain. I am the only foreigner. “So sleepy,” says my waiter, catching the eye of a local beauty. “We are a town of 40,000, nothing happens here. Now in Turin ...”
Stay in Hotel Matteotti (00 39 0161 211187, www.hotelmatteotti.it, B&B doubles about £63) on the outskirts of town. For delicious snacks, stop in at the Sassone bakery on Galileo Ferraris, which is full of exotic breads such as fogliette and diplomatici.
CREMONA
The centre of Cremona is defined by three large squares surrounding the massive cathedral and the highest bell tower in Europe. Cremona has a musical rhythm: a four-movement day. Mornings are about shopping, a blur of colours and mercantile sounds. Afternoons can be very hot: siesta stillness hits town.
Each square has its own vibe: the cathedral square, Piazza del Comune, is older, quieter, content to watch the light play tricks on the duomo's façade. Expensive ice-cream rules. The Piazza della Pace is very young; in the Piazza Stradivari dinner is part of the process. This is the
to-be-looked-at square: the women appear to have walked out of the Bertolucci movies of the 1970s; men want to be hot footballer Paolo Maldini. A retro-is-chic feel is everywhere.
Stay near the cathedral to savour piazza life throughout the day. Albergo Duomo on Via Gonfalonieri (00 39 03 72 35 242, B&B doubles about £56) has decent rooms, a good chef and talkative diners.
Drink in pretty much any of the central bars, though the gelateria Portici del Comune opposite the cathedral, is expensive and features few Italians; if you want to be right at the centre it's better to sit on the steps of the duomo itself and eat ice-cream bought at Pierrot on Largo Boccaccino.
LODI
Just a few hundred metres from Lodi's dark Romanesque cathedral is an octagonal church, the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary Crowned. It is covered, almost wallpapered, in frescoes and paintings, some by Il Bergognone. Built on the grounds of a medieval brothel as a kind of almshouse, the church is a magnificent jewel of space: a place for silent contemplation or listening to rousing music.
Locals often told me this is a ghostly and conservative farming town. But there is a marvellous rhythm, and a sense of quiet contentment. Festivals are flecked through the year, costume dramas all of them. And hidden in Lodi's nooks and crannies are fantastic cheese shops, fashionable bars, and gentle hints of history - such as the Battle of Lodi, won by the young Corsican general Napoleon Bonaparte.
Stay at the Hotel Europa (00 39 0371 35215, www.hoteleuropa-lodi.it, B&B doubles about £74). For more luxury, try the Hotel Una, near the motorway (00 39 0371 410461, www.unahotels.it, B&B doubles about £57). Eat anywhere in the Piazza della Vittoria; there are five options. I liked the Nationale best, though the Duomo feels most local.
MANTUA
The Gonzaga family ruled here during the Renaissance, but the revenues from their territories never kept up with their lavish lifestyle.Take the “secret” Gonzaga route from the palazzo back past the city walls and on to Mantua's grand central squares and palace, and stop at Andrea Mantegna's home, built with “classical” precision. Now the house is a modern art gallery, with fantastic computer-based installations about Mantengna's life: new media and classical architecture in perfect harmony.
Avoid the Piazza Sordello for food or drinks, and stick to the Piazza delle Erbe. I also enjoyed the quiet of the Ristorante Tiratappi in the small Piazza Leon Battista Alberti, and the bustle of the jazzy Delle Erbe restaurant. Tortelli di zucca (pumpkin and almond pasta) is a must here. The Hotel Rechigi (00 39 0376 320 781, www.rechigi.com, B&B doubles from about £148) on Via Pietro Fortunato Calvi is comfortably central.
PADUA
In term time students dominate the Piazza della Erbe, the focal centre of the city. In the Palazzo della Ragione, morning is a riot of peaches and barter, haggles and oranges. Above the vaulted market, the first-floor room of the palazzo is like a three-dimensional map. Four walls covered in frescoes tell the story of time, with enough visual storytelling to keep J.K.Rowling in plots for decades.
The cheap central modernism of Albergo Verdi on Via Dondo dall' Orologio (00 39 049 8364163, www.albergoverdipadova.it, B&B doubles from about £74) makes for an ideal budget starting point. I drank Campari spritz at both the main bars of Piazza dei Signori, and if the locals seem slightly chilly here, then move on anywhere in the Piazza delle Erbe.
SAN PELLEGRINO
A brief bus journey from Bergamo's railway station takes you to my favourite of all these small towns - because its pleasures are so unexpected. San Pellegrino, as the name might suggest, is a bubbly place. Hemmed in by mountains - take a day trip up to the San Marco pass and its bikers' lodge - San Pellegrino makes a sparkling debut after the smaller towns of the Brembana valley.
San Pellegrino has long been known for its spa water, but only in the late 19th and early 20th centuries did it become an upmarket destination. So, while there are no Renaissance masterpieces, or Venetian tropes, it feels easier to imagine its past than those of some of the more famous Italian towns. This is the place to write that Great European Novel.
The Centrale (00 39 0345 21008, www.albergo-centrale.it, B&B doubles about £47) is in the middle of San Pellegrino's high street with great views of the derelict Grand Hotel and the mountains beyond. The town is small enough to try out all the cafés and bars. Caffetteria degli Artisti, on the corner of Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII and Via Mazzoni, offers cha-cha-cha classes, afternoons and evenings. Until San Pellegrino Terme's spa hotel opens again (scheduled for next year), the best way to exercise is to walk