Hidden Italy: Discovering Photographic Gems Beyond the Tourist Trail

Italy is often thought of in terms of cities — Rome, Venice, Florence. But on this day, I wasn’t in a city at all. I was walking in the mountains near Bergamo with my guide, Sergio, when we came across the village of Carona.

Carona is one of those places you don’t see on postcards. Tucked away in the forested valleys of the Alps, it looks like it belongs more to nature than to people. The colourful houses seem to climb out of the hillside, and the lake reflects both the village and the surrounding trees. There’s a sense of stillness here — the kind of quiet that makes you stop and take everything in.

This is why I value having a guide. Without Sergio, I would never have found this place. Carona is not about grand monuments or famous views. Its beauty is simpler, more elemental. It lies in the balance between nature and village life — water, stone, forest, and light all woven together.

As I lifted the camera, it wasn’t about capturing a landmark. It was about recording the feeling of discovery: stumbling across somewhere untouched, where the pace of life seems slower and the natural world is always close.

Looking back at this photograph, I don’t just see a village. I remember the path through the mountains, the sound of water running nearby, the sudden break in the trees that revealed Carona below. It was a moment of instinct — see, feel, capture.

That is the kind of photography I love most. Not planned, not expected, but found. And often, those are the images that stay with me longest.