Civita di Bagnoregio ranks high as one of the most unusual villages in Italy. This is the place to see when you want to step into history and a strange, almost fantasy landscape less than 100 miles from Rome.

The Bagnoregio part has the charm of Renaissance architecture, cozy piazzas and a good restaurant, Hostaria del Ponte, with a marvelous view. Civita is quite different. To get to this tiny hilltop settlement above the Tiber River, you walk from Bagnoregio for about a kilometer on a concrete footbridge that crosses an abyss. This is the only way to get to Civita. It’s steep toward the end, with stone steps, but finally you walk through a tunnel and reach Civita’s quiet—very quiet, with no cars—streets.

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