The delights of Italy are universal: clinking Negronis in Rome, spinning a Riva through Venice’s Grand Canal, island-hopping off the shores of Sicily, all interlaced with hefty doses of wine, mozzarella, and art. It’s this limitless allure that has travelers from all over the world descend on the boot with near insatiable fervency, and often all at the same time, at least that’s how it can feel when trying to claim an inch of the Amalfi’s rocky beachfront in July.

But in arriving en masse, travelers risk muting the very thing they come to enjoy: the essence of the place, as conjured by the lifestyle that Italians pull off with aplomb.