Stanley Tucci's most underrated spot in Italy is somewhere you’ve likely never even heard of

Many people may know Stanley Tucci from his acting credits, but in recent years he’s forged something of a new career as... Italy’s unofficial travel agent.

His glossy National Geographic series Tucci in Italy - now in its second season, following on from a previous format with CNN – accompanies him as he eats and drinks his way around the country, exploring the history and culture that has shaped how each region tastes.

It serves as a stunning visual guidebook for all corners of Italy, encouraging us to look up from the flickers of Insta-tourism highlights reels, where everything is reduced to hyperbole.

“That happens where everyone’s like, ‘This is the best place in the world, this is the best blah blah blah...’” Tucci tells FOODbible, rolling his eyes.

“And there’s no such thing as ‘best’ - ever. That only exists in, like, a sporting event. There’s a definite winner and there’s a definite loser.

“Other than that, life is very vague."

Having access to such information is both a blessing and a curse for the modern traveller, who can easily become consumed by the idea of curating the perfect trip - even if it doesn't really exist. Yes, it's nice to be able to avoid somewhere with rude service or cooking that will make us violently ill, but in this relentless push to ignore the bad, our sense of what is good becomes impossible to feed.

Tucci in Italy season two is out now (National Geographic)

We become obsessed with the idea that every plate of pasta must be the tastiest we've ever had, that every beach we lie on has the softest sand and the clearest water,

or that every sunset can only be experienced from the highest, most dramatic viewpoint. But all we're doing is constantly trying to outdo ourselves and our own memories, and it all begins to grow meaningless.

Tucci continues: "Is there a best dish? Is there a best region? No, there isn’t. Do you have a favourite colour? No – if you say green, what kind of green? Do you know what I mean? It goes on forever.

“So this idea that ‘this is the most beautiful place in the world’... is all bulls**t.”

Tucci filming in Sicily (National Geographic)

While Tucci doesn’t believe in singling somewhere out as the greatest, prettiest or anything-est, he’s happy to admit there’s one place that has stolen his heart as one of Italy’s most underrated spots – for him, at least.

“I really love Trentino Alto-Adige up in the north of Italy,” he explains, pointing us to a lesser-known region bordering Switzerland and Austria that he feels especially drawn to.

“I think that’s just one of the most beautiful areas in the world.

“You have the Alps, you have the Dolomites, you have this really cool mix of cultures, which once was a clash because the borders kept changing between Austria-Hungary and Italy, and now it is completely Italian – but that really only happened during the 1930s and 1940s.

“But the cultural mix is fascinating, the architectural mix is fascinating and the culinary mix is fascinating – not to mention its physical beauty.”

Lake Braies in Trentino Alto Adige (Dario Argenti/Getty Images)

On the flipside, Naples – the divisive city that is the focus of season two’s first episode – is less of an instant sell for some people, and Tucci can understand why.

“It’s scary, and not clean, and uncomfortable, and chaotic, and dangerous,” he says, choosing his words slowly, with well-meaning intent.

“And yet, at the same time, there’s this incredible warmth, there’s amazing food, there are amazing cultural aspects to it, historical aspects to it.

“It has its own kind of decayed beauty that a lot of other places in the world don’t have.”

Tucci in Procida, an island off the coast of Naples (National Geographic)

Marina di Coricella in Procida (National Geographic)

The show, he stresses, doesn't aim to serve as an ‘expose’ on the ‘s**tier aspects of Italian culture’, but that these are all elements you admittedly can’t - and shouldn’t - ignore.

“They’re there: the corruption, the decay... the choice to never repair your buildings,” Tucci adds with a knowing smile.

“But at the same time, then you walk into these restaurants that are absolutely spotless, and people are incredibly warm and incredibly generous, and serving you some of the greatest food you’ll ever had in your life. And they’re very connected: they’re very connected to each other, and they’re very, very connected to their city.”

All episodes of Tucci in Italy season two stream 12 May on Disney+, with the series also premiering the same day at 8pm on National Geographic UK.