From the Heel of the Boot to Milan’s Shadow… Three Hidden Gems in Serie A

Coming up with a Serie A bucket list is easier said than done. There are obvious staples such as San Siro and the Stadio Olimpico, Naples and Venice, but what about the must-visit destinations off the beaten track?

Cities and clubs that may have been a feature of Football Italia on Channel 4, or stadiums worth visiting because of their stunning backdrop, where tickets are ridiculously affordable and the local cuisine superb?

All of them are legitimate boxes to tick, so here are three hidden gems for this season.

Lecce

Living up to its billing as the Florence of the South seems a preposterously high bar for any city to meet. Synonymous with history, art, stunning architecture and tremendous food, the Tuscan capital is one of the most-visited cities in the world.

And yet, despite effectively ticking off every box on the list, Lecce managed to remain one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. Nestled on the heel of the peninsula, Lecce is easily reachable from Britain if you fly into Brindisi airport, which is approximately a 45-minute drive away.

Flights are scaled back outside of summer, therefore flying into Bari may be your best option. The city’s Palese airport is about a two-hour drive from Lecce, while the train takes approximately the same time.

Lecce feels distinctly southern Italian without being as manic as Naples and Palermo. Walking through its cobbled streets surrounded by Baroque architecture, the city is eerily quiet compared to some of its southern neighbours.

Following Bari’s relegation to Serie C last season, Lecce is home to Apulia’s sole representative in the top two tiers of Italian football and is a passionate football city.

Last season, the Salentini averaged just under 26,000 fans through the gates at the Stadio Via Del Mare, the ninth-highest attendance in Serie A and not far off the ground’s 31,600 capacity. Tickets remain easy to snap up and are very affordable, with the cheapest adult ticket starting at €19 last term.

An open-air concrete bowl with no roof nor frills, Via Del Mare is a throwback to the 1980s and you can guarantee the Curva Nord to be loud no matter the opposition. This season will be Lecce’s fifth consecutive campaign in Serie A, a record run for the club, who first reached the top tier of Italian football in 1986.

As for the food, don’t forget to try Caffè Leccese (espresso over ice with almond milk syrup) and Ciceri e Tria, the city’s signature dish. It’s a chickpea pasta where half the pasta is boiled, and half is fried

Frosinone

One of the newest grounds in Italy is back in the Serie A landscape as Frosinone returned to the top flight at the second time of asking following a dramatic relegation on the final day of the 2024-25 season.

Opened in 2017, the Stadio Benito Stirpe was a long time coming as the club initially submitted plans for a new stadium over five decades ago and work began in earnest with the 1990 World Cup looming large on the horizon.

Financial difficulties put the project on hold for the following two decades, before the club’s maiden promotion to Serie A in 2015 proved to be the catalyst to not only resume, but complete construction. The Stirpe’s drawn-out development is an apt metaphor for Ciociaria, a region where life moves at a far more sedate pace than nearby Rome.

Frosinone may be only 60 miles away from the Italian capital, but it feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of the Eternal City. Restaurants are filled with locals tucking into homemade bowls of cacio and pepe or spaghetti carbonara, rather than tourists looking for the perfect snap to post on Instagram.

On matchdays, the Stirpe has a similar feeling. This is more community experience and less football tourism destination, but it feels far more authentic precisely because of that.

Frosinone won promotion last season by playing some thrilling football under Massimiliano Alvini and they will be aiming to emulate Sassuolo in cementing their status back in the big time, something they have failed to do in their previous three campaigns in Serie A.

The easiest way to get to Frosinone is a regional train from Roma Termini station, which is well served by connecting trains from both Rome airports – Fiumicino and Ciampino.

Between an hour and 90 minutes away depending on the service, Frosinone is the ideal destination to add to your Rome calcio weekender.

Monza

Few names within Italy’s rich sporting tapestry enjoy the same worldwide recognition as Monza.

The simple mention conjures pictures of its famous racetrack, the world’s third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis, and the oldest in mainland Europe.

With the exception of 1980, Monza has hosted the Italian Grand Prix every year since 1949 and has staged more Formula 1 races than any other circuit.

But there is more to the small Lombard town than the Temple of Speed’, namely its football club. Often an afterthought not only to Formula 1, but to Lombardy’s busy footballing landscape, Monza had to wait over a century for their Serie A debut.

When that came in 2022, it did so under the stewardship of Italian football’s most famous president, Silvio Berlusconi, who had bought the club four years earlier and completely revamped the Stadio Brianteo – now known as U-Power Stadium – in the process.

After a three-year run in the top flight ended with relegation in 2025, they bounced back at the first time of asking and will again be playing in Serie A this season with Ivan Juric replacing Paolo Bianco in the dugout.

And while Monza is often a place visitors speed through on the way to and from the racetrack, there is a lot to discover for those wanting to broaden their Serie A horizons. The city is home to one of the largest walled parks in Europe, the Iron Crown of Lombardy and a royal palace and boasts a lively restaurant and bar scene.

Better still, it is regularly served by regional trains from Milano Centrale and Milano Porta Garibaldi, which take around 15 minutes, much to the convenience of those looking to catch two games in the same weekend.

Small it may be, but Monza packs a mighty punch.