Valle San Giovanni is a small village of approximately 350 people located about six miles away from the town (comune) of Teramo, the capital of the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The Adriatic Sea and the Gran Sasso are about 25 km away. It sits in the Tordino Valley, near the spot where two small streams, the Lete and the Fiumicello, flow into the Tordino river.

According to some sources the town takes its name from a powerful Teramo family with the last name "Di Valle". Others claim that the name derives from its proximity to an ancient monastery, San Giovanni in Pergullis (Saint John amongst the Pergolae), a location surrounded by many vineyards.

Over the years, the history of Valle San Giovanni has been closely linked with two neighboring communities, Frunti a feudal holding of the "De Frunto" family, and Teramo with whom there existed an enduring reciprocal alliance. At one point Teramo briefly annexed Frunti leading to renewed efforts by it inhabitants to break these feudal ties and traditions. In 1338 the townspeople declared their independence from Teramo, thereby reaffirming their autonomous civil liberties. This arrangement lasted until 1457 when Frunti became part of the county Montorio al Vomano. In 1668 Frunti passed into the hands of the Count Crescenzio De Crescentiis. In the beginning of the 1700s Frunti became aligned with neighboring Valle San Giovanni, which at that time was becoming increasingly developed due to having annexed the surrounding church and vineyards of San Giovanni in Pergulis and to serving as a sheep herding way station. This great migration of sheep from Abruzzo to Puglia and Lazio was known as the transumanza. Valle San Giovanni sits on one such trail known as the San Quirico.

In the 1500 and 1600s, Valle San Giovanni witnessed a number of brigand skirmishes, these arising from struggles over control of the surrounding forest areas. At least a few of these brigands were themselves local townsfolk.

In 1799 a group of soldiers from Valle San Giovanni, under the leadership of the brigand leader, Vincenzo Rolli, fought valiantly against the French occupying forces. In 1809 the French Napoleonic forces, who would rule for ten years under the Kingdom of Naples, chose Valle San Giovanni as the center of vast communal territory which included the ex feudal states of Frunti, Valle Piola, Abetemozzo, Borgonovo e Poggio Rattieri.

In 1868 the town (comune) of Cortino was administratively established and Valle San Giovanni came under the jurisdiction of Montorio al Vomano. In 1929 Valle San Giovanni separated from Montorio al Vomano and became a suburb (frazione) of Teramo.

According to local sources and histories, during the Second World War the grottoes located immediately above Valle San Giovanni served as places of refuge for the Italian partisans then battling the German forces.

Located off of the main piazza, Largo della Chiesa, is Via del Casale. The residents of Valle San Giovanni call themselves "Vallaroli".

Adjacent to Valle San Giovanni are the nearby towns of Frondarola, Travazzano and Valle Soprana.