We had a good look at Pescocostanzo when we first arrived at this small village in southern Abruzzo. In fact we lapped the town three times before we finally admitted we were lost and stopped the car. (It’s not easy to get lost in Pescocostanzo – the circuit through the whole village is less than a kilometre long; suffice to say by our third go-around the locals knew there were a couple of new tourists in town). What we learned from our grand entrance, though, was that we liked what we’d seen!

Pescocostanzo is popular with skiers and snowboarders in winter, but in summer there are fewer visitors, it’s delightfully cool and the village’s window boxes and planters are brimming with flowers. Most of the town’s 1500 residents have lived here all their lives, like their parents and grandparents before them. And they’re warm and welcoming. (Though maybe they felt like they’d seen us somewhere before?)

We loved everything about Pescocostanzo – the location, the village, the people and, especially, the flowers.