Our “Little Roads” travel style involves visiting very small towns with no train service and little or no bus service. Here are a few key rules and concepts makes having a car not just possible but preferable for the kind of off-the-beaten-track touring that is the most immersive.

The region of Emilia-Romagna is home to sweeping farmlands and some of the best food in Italy, and to dozens of castles, many of which are free or very cheap to enter. Here is a list of nine of our favorite castles, each paired with an excellent local restaurant so you can enjoy a long, leisurely meal after your visit.

Little Roads now offers day-trip planning - from cities like Milan, Florence, Dublin, Cork - out into the countryside.