A just-launched travel initiative designating Italy’s most beautiful roads gives new meaning to the old saying, “It’s the journey, not the destination that counts.”

For more than 20 years, I Borghi Più Belli d’Italia has been promoting the country’s most memorable villages in an effort to preserve their culture and heritage, and to help visitors see a less-touristed side of the country. Now the group is teaming up with Italy Discovery & Countryside, a non-profit dedicated to showcasing and conserving rural areas, for a new project that will identify Italy’s outstanding strade (plural in Italian for strada, or road). The thoroughfares will be chosen throughout Italy—by the sea, threading through wine country, ancient villages, mountain regions and forested terrain.

Plans for “Le 100 Strade più belle d'Italia” (The 100 Most Beautiful Roads in Italy) were announced in Milan on February 10. In addition to calling attention to the most noteworthy roadways, the project will focus on sustainability and preservation. “Certifying the most beautiful roads in Italy means protecting everything that is found along the routes: the villages, buildings, parish churches, historic villas, wineries, dairies, country inns and agritourisms,” Fiorello Primi, president of I Borghi, said in a statement. “Every road is an itinerary.”

The 100-road list will take three years to complete. Routes will be vetted by a review board consisting of municipal officials, academics, landscape architects, communication specialists and energy companies (to evaluate where to place charging centers for electric cars or bikes).

Roberto Perticone, president of Italy Discovery, says that the approved roads will create “a network that enhances the countryside, the rural dimension” with the goal of having the designated routes become attractions themselves, regardless of the mode of transportation (car, bike, motorcycle, or on foot).

Initial routes for the The 100 Most Beautiful Roads in Italy.

Lake to Mountains: Lovere to Teglio

Among the first roads to be approved is one that reaches from Lovere to Teglio in the Valtellina Valley. Lovere offers a fine arts museum and a lovely waterfront promenade flanking Lago di Iseo, a beautiful Italian lake that’s lesser known than siblings Como and Maggiore. Teglio, in a rural, elevated (900 meters) mountain setting, provides sweeping countryside views. Teglio is also noted for its local pasta, pizzoccheri, flat noodles made with buckwheat and served with a robust combination of cheese, potatoes and cabbage. This route passes through Clusone, Italy’s “painted village,” so called for its many frescoed building facades.

Piedmont Wine Country: La Strada delle Langhe

You can travel through heavenly Langhe vineyard landscapes, a Unesco World Heritage site, on this route where some of Italy’s top wines like Barolo, Barolo and Barbaresco are produced. Start in Barolo and meander through towns and villages like La Morra and Monforte d’Alba before ending in Ceva.

Iconic Tuscany: Buonconvento to San Casciano dei Bagni

This strada includes some of the most exquisite scenics in Italy, as you traverse the Val d’Orcia and Valdichiana areas of Tuscany. Val d’Orcia has long been a cinematographer’s dream and parts of movies, like The Gladiator and The English Patient, were filmed here. Villages along the way include San Quirico d’Orcia, Pienza, Montepulciano, Cetona and San Casciano dei Bagni.

Italian Riviera hill towns: Perinaldo to Taggia in Liguria

Liguria’s waterfront villages (Cinque Terre, Portofino) draw most travelers, but there’s a photogenic, under-the-radar side to the Riviera that takes you away from seaside crowds to inland villages and hill towns. Running from Perinaldo to Taggia in the province of Imperia on the Riviera di Ponente, this route stops in Dolceacqua, famously depicted by Claude Monet, and Apricale, a well-preserved medieval borgo.

Puglia’s Adriatic Seaside: Pogliano a Mare to Ostuni

Beginning in Polignano a Mare, renowned for its stunning coastline, this trip includes both seaside and inland settings, passing through Monopoli, a town noted for its white-washed architecture, Alberobello, famous for its trulli, and winding up in Ostuni, another exquisite chalk-toned locale.

From the Amalfi Coast to the Lattari Mountains

Between the Gulf of Naples and the Gulf of Salerno lies the Sorrentine peninsula, home to some of the most famous seaside destinations (Positano, Amalfi) in the world. Farther inland, you’ll find the Lattari Mountains, which draw hikers for trails providing exceptional views of the coast.

The seaside-and-mountain roadway has two branches, one that winds through towns like the chic Conca dei Marini and Furore, sometimes dubbed the “fjord village,” to rural villages on high like Agerola and Pimonte. Gragnano, a hill town on the route, is famous for its air-dried pasta.

The second branch takes you through such popular Amalfi villages as Atrani and Ravello, as well as to Tramonti, a cluster of 13 hamlets in the mountains, and Maiori.

Beyond the Amalfi Coast: Strada del Cilento

The Cilento Coast lies south of Amalfi, and has been a favorite seaside destination for Italians and in-the-know international travelers looking for a holiday away from the crowds. It’s an area also known for the longevity of its residents. This thoroughfare begins in Agropoli with such towns as Castellabate and Acciaroli to see on the way, and finishes in Paestum, famous for its extraordinary ancient Greek ruins.