Highlights of a Season Spent Discovering Italy Through Its Football

The sun has set on another season and now is the time to look back at the best bits of exploring Italy through a calcio lens.

From derby days way down in Serie C to watching the beautiful game in the grandest calcio cathedrals, 2025-26 offered up plenty of treats and more than a few surprises.

We’ve picked out our favourite destinations, highlights of the campaign and the places at the top of our list to visit when the new season rolls around in August.

Dan Cancian

Favourite place visited – Pescara is my pick here. It’s not often that you get to visit a city on the shores of the Adriatic Sea and within touching distance of the mountains. It seems incongruous yet it all works and is reflected in the local cuisine, where seafood and meat are seemingly interchangeable depending on the day. Warm and sunny, it was the perfect place for a weekend.

Highlight – Bumping into Jamie Vardy strolling through the streets of Cremona with his kids, 90 minutes before Cremonese were due to kick-off (he was not in the squad that day) was a reminder that outside the goldfish bowl of the big Serie A teams, football still has a very local dimension in Italy. But I’m going to have to go for Pescara again, standing by the Curva Nord as they belted out a rendition of a 1980s pop hit before a Friday night kick-off against Bari made the hairs stand up.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – Venezia’s return to Serie A and the fact the clock is ticking on their stay at the Pier Luigi Penzo makes Venice an obvious answer. Staying in Veneto, Padova and Vicenza meet in Serie B in what should be a spicy affair. Throw in Verona and you have the potential for some combustible derbies in the second tier next term.

Emmet Gates

Favourite place visited – San Benedetto is a worthy contender, but I’m going for Turin. Crowd trouble before the derby on the final weekend was a reminder of the dark side of Italian football but earlier in the season I saw the city at its best. I’d been before but never deep dived into it until now. If you know where to go and what to do, it’s a fantastic city with plenty to see. It’s not just Juventus, Fiat and industry anymore.

Highlight – The J Hotel in Turin was great, as was eating an authentic Florentine steak in Trattoria Dall’Oste in Florence. But I’m a sucker for atmospheres, so going to the Serie C derby between Sambenedettese and Ascoli was the highlight of the season.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – I’ve never been to Sardinia, so that would be a good place to start. I’ve not been to Genoa in more than 15 years, so it would be great to go back and take in the charm of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris again and climb the Scalinata.

Brian Lee

Favourite place visited – Como. There can’t be many settings as stunning as the Sinigaglia to take in a match, with the lake and the mountains in view from the stand. From boat tours to beers in the ultras’ bar, it’s easy to fit everything in to a weekend in this wonderful city.

Highlight – My first trip to San Siro, for Inter vs Juventus. From sections of the top tier it’s scarily obvious why they are pulling it down and building a new stadium but I’d love to go back before the bulldozers move in. From that first glimpse of the spirals and girders when exiting the metro to the noise once inside, it crackles and simply oozes classic calcio. A truly special place.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – Salerno. After stumbling onto a clip of the Salernitana fans singing their own version of the Mike Oldfield hit Moonlight Shadow (it took me by surprise as well), I’ve watched a few more and would love to get in amongst it. Also, their Superman tifo at the end of the season was spectacular and the Arechi, which always seems to be rocking, is very close to the beach.

David Ferrini

Favourite place visited – Monte Pellegrino is Palermo’s world-famous promontory, which, if you view it from the beachside town of Mondello, is shaped like a curled-up dog. It’s no wonder Palermo’s players and managers regularly make the pilgrimage to Monte Pellegrino’s sanctuary, cut into the side of the cliff in honour of the city’s patron saint, Santa Rosalia.

Highlight – The Genovese town of Boccadasse was truly the best surprise. Our accommodation was so close to the sea, which meant waking up to calming Mediterranean waves before eating schiacciatas in the glorious afternoon sunshine. You’d never leave if it wasn’t for Marassi being just a 15-minute drive away. We were quick to get back after the game for farinata in the evening.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – The southern reaches of Italy’s mainland have intrigued me for quite some time. After falling in love with Campobasso – one of the friendliest places on earth – Calabrese towns such as Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria have moved higher up the list. From there, it’s either east to Potenza or across the channel to Messina.

Lauren Canning

Favourite place visited – Campobasso in the Molise region. Despite being known as ‘the region that doesn’t exist’, the city left a lasting impression on me. From the incredibly welcoming locals to the beauty of the architecture, the longer journey to Campobasso is well worth the effort.

Highlight – The absolute peak of my travels was a brilliant half-time surprise, when a group of Campobasso supporters sang happy birthday to me in the stadium bar! I can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday than watching Italian football in the sunshine, followed by a beer with the fans in the local sports bar.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – I’m aiming to head over to Sardinia for my next big trip. The main goal is to finally catch a Cagliari home match to experience the unique, fiery atmosphere of the stadium, while also getting to explore the island’s incredible coastlines. Sardinia’s history dates back to 246 BC, so there’s plenty to discover.

Dylan Facer

Favourite place visited – For the people we met, Campobasso comes out on top. The hospitality we received was second to none.

Highlight – The Sambenedettese team bus arriving before they played Ascoli. The streets erupted. We’d been walking around the town for a couple of days and it was completely calm, so to see it come alive like that was something special.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – I’ve heard a lot about the wine fountain at the Dora Sarchese Vineyard in Abruzzo so it has to be worth a visit. It’s been on the list for a while.

Joseph O’Sullivan

Favourite place visited – What a difficult question to answer. Pound for pound I have to go with Naples. The passion for the game is incredible and it doesn’t get old even after multiple visits. The city has so much character, it’s amazing to walk by the sea, and the pizza is definitely the best in Italy. Then you have the Maradona murals walking tour – new levels of football culture that you simply can’t get in other cities.

Highlight – Watching Pro Vercelli beat Novara in the Rice Derby in Piedmont. Vercelli is a historic club down in Serie C, still thriving off its history. It’s not every year they play the derby, but when it’s on it’s an incredible occasion. The atmosphere that day was certainly a highlight.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – Puglia, for sure. I have been fortunate enough to visit a lot of Italy now, but there is still so much to tick off, and particularly further south. For the food, football and seaside vibes.

Harry Slavin

Favourite place visited – It’s hard to look past Modena. Granted, visiting on a weekend they beat nearby rivals Reggiana was a stroke of luck, but the friendliness of locals, the welcome in every bar and restaurant and some strong spring weather made for a memorable trip.

Highlight – Curvas. The displays look fantastic and the noise is blaring, but there’s everything to be gained by finding yourself in a curva, rather than being on the outside looking in. Seeing up close the camaraderie and coordination – whether the ultra merchandise stalls ahead of Sassuolo’s memorable win against Milan, or experiencing the temporary Como curva before its demolition – gave access to calcio in its purest, rawest form.

Top Destination for 2026-27 – Champions League nights on the lake will be on many people’s bucket list after Como’s incredible Serie A campaign, but more pressing is the opportunity to see Arezzo’s ambitious redevelopment project, with the Stadio Città di Arezzo set to host Serie B football while undergoing a major renovation that will not be complete until 2030.