Must-see attractions in Italy

  • Carved head, Casa dei Nettuno e Anfitrite, Herculaneum.

    Ruins of Herculaneum

    Bay of Naples

    Herculaneum harbours a wealth of archaeological finds, from ancient advertisements and stylish mosaics to carbonised furniture and terror-struck skeletons…

  • Tempio di Valadier built in 1828 inside a cave near caves of Frasassi.
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    Grotte di Frasassi

    Le Marche

    Deep in the hill country near the remote village of Genga, the Grotte di Frasassi is one of Europe’s largest cave systems. This karst wonderland, gouged…

  • Vesuvius and the ruins of Pompeii
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    Ruins of Pompeii

    Pompeii

    The ghostly ruins of ancient Pompeii (Pompei in Italian) make for one of the world's most engrossing archaeological experiences. Much of the site's value…

  • Paestum's Temples

    Paestum

    Very different to Pompeii, Paestum’s ruins are smaller, older, more Greek and – crucially – a lot less overrun. Consequently, it is possible to steal some…

  • Facade of Orvieto Cathedral at dusk

    Duomo

    Orvieto

    Nothing can prepare you for the visual feast that is Orvieto's soul-stirring Gothic cathedral. Dating from 1290, it sports a black-and-white banded…

  • Detail from the Legend of the True Cross showing adoration of Sacred Wood and meeting of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, by Piero della Francesca, 1452-1466, fresco

    Cappella Bacci

    Arezzo

    This chapel, in the apse of 14th-century Basilica di San Francesco, safeguards one of Italian art's greatest works: Piero della Francesca's fresco cycle…

  • Rome, Italy - March 10, 2014: The  Palazzo Barberini facade seen from the entrance garden

    Gallerie Nazionali: Palazzo Barberini

    Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale

    Commissioned to celebrate the Barberini family’s rise to papal power, this sumptuous baroque palace impresses even before you view its breathtaking art…

  • Courtyard of Pinacoteca di Brera.

    Pinacoteca di Brera

    Milan

    Located upstairs from one of Italy’s most prestigious art schools, this gallery houses Milan’s collection of Old Masters, much of it ‘lifted’ from Venice…

  • Egypt, Thebes, Tomb of Kha, The offer and worshiping to Osiris seated on a throne, fragment of the book of the dead, two column papyrus with hieroglyphs and polychrome drawings, eighteenth dynasty

    Museo Egizio

    Turin

    Opened in 1824 and housed in the austere Palazzo dell'Accademia delle Scienze, this Turin institution houses the most important collection of Egyptian…

  • Gandino, Bergamo, Italy. The facade of the basilica of Saint Maria Assunta
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    Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta

    Friuli Venezia Giulia

    The entire floor of the Latin cross-shaped basilica, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1348, is covered with one of the largest and most spectacular Roman…

  • Subiaco, Rome, Italy. Jan 2019 - Unique frescos at Monastery of Sacred Cave (Sacro Speco) of Saint Benedict in Subiaco, province of Rome, Lazio. Monastero del Sacro Speco di San Benedetto da Norcia.; Shutterstock ID 1298910703; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
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    Monastero di San Benedetto

    Lazio

    This spectacularly sited hilltop monastery is carved into the rock over the cave where St Benedict supposedly spent three years meditating. As well as its…

  • Smoke Signals

    Stromboli Crater

    Stromboli

    For nature lovers, climbing Stromboli is one of Sicily's not-to-be-missed experiences. Since 2005 access has been strictly regulated: you can walk freely…

  • Siena, Italy - 08 01 2017: View of  Piccolomini Library inside Siena Cathedral; Shutterstock ID 1053389615; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Libreria Piccolomini

    Siena

    Cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, archbishop of Siena (later Pope Pius III), commissioned the building and decoration of this hall off the north…

  • Italy, Emilia Romagna, Parma, Piazza Duomo, Battistero at Dusk.

    Battistero

    Parma

    Overshadowing even the cathedral, the octagonal pink-marble baptistery on the south side of the piazza is one of the most important such structures in…

  • ITALY - JULY 24: Mosaics in the apse vault, 538-545, Basilica of San Vitale (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1996), founded 526, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

    Basilica di San Vitale

    Ravenna

    Sometimes, after weeks of strolling around dark Italian churches, you can lose your sense of wonder. Not here! The lucid mosaics that adorn the altar of…

  • Pinacoteca Nazionale

    Siena

    Siena's recently renovated art gallery, housed in 14th-century Palazzo Buonsignori since 1932, is home to an extraordinary collection of Gothic…

  • Vertical view of ruins in ancient temple, Agrigento, Sicily

    Tempio della Concordia

    Agrigento

    One of the best-preserved ancient Greek temples in existence, the Temple of Concordia has survived almost entirely intact since it was constructed in 430…

  • Villa Adriana

    Tivoli

    The ruins of Hadrian's vast country estate, 5km outside of Tivoli proper, are quite magnificent, easily on a par with anything you'll see in Rome. Built…

  • Interior of the Basilica of St Apollinare Nuovo
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    Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

    Ravenna

    An old legend states that Pope Gregory the Great once ordered the Apollinare's mosaics to be blackened as they were distracting worshippers from prayer. A…

  • Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Piazza del Campo.

    Piazza del Campo

    Siena

    Popularly known as 'Il Campo', this sloping piazza has been Siena's social centre since being staked out by the ruling Consiglio dei Nove (Council of Nine…

  • Cala Goloritze, Orosei Gulf, Sardinia, Italy.

    Cala Goloritzè

    Golfo di Orosei

    The last beachette of the gulf, Cala Goloritzè rivals the best. At the southern end, bizarre limestone formations soar away from the cliffside. Among them…

  • Brisighella (Ravenna, Emilia Romagna, Italy): the famous covered street known as via degli Asini or via del Borgo

    Via degli Asini

    Emilia-Romagna

    Hidden behind a colourful patchwork of warped homes, this low-slung, wood-beamed, delightfully uneven medieval walkway dates to 1290. It's unique in Italy…

  • Mosaics in the Sala di Ruggero (Hall of King Roger) in the Palazzo dei Normanni (Palazzo Reale).

    Palazzo dei Normanni

    Palermo

    Home to Sicily's regional parliament, this venerable palace dates back to the 9th century. However, it owes its current look (and name) to a major Norman…

  • Prada shop front in Quadrilateral del’Oro

    Quadrilatero d'Oro

    Milan

    A stroll around the Quadrilatero d'Oro, the world's most famous shopping district, is a must even for those not sartorially inclined. The quaintly cobbled…

  • View from Belvedere Quattrocchi, Lipari, Aeolian Islands, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sicily, Italy, Mediterranean, Europe

    Quattrocchi

    Lipari

    Lipari's best coastal views are from a celebrated viewpoint known as Quattrocchi (Four Eyes), 3km west of town. Follow the road for Pianoconte and look on…

  • Greek theatre in Taormina

    Teatro Greco

    Taormina

    Taormina's premier sight is this perfect horseshoe-shaped theatre, suspended between sea and sky, with Mt Etna looming on the southern horizon. Built in…

  • Necropoli di Tarquinia

    Lazio

    This remarkable 7th-century-BC necropolis is one of Italy's most important Etruscan sites. At first sight, it doesn't look like much – a green field…

  • dark blue Ceiling Mosaic of the galla placidia mausoleum. Built between 425 and 433, this small mausoleum adopts a cruciform plan, in Ravenna, Italy on November 4, 2012

    Mausoleo di Galla Placidia

    Ravenna

    In the same complex as Basilica di San Vitale, the small but equally incandescent Mausoleo di Galla Placidia was constructed for Galla Placidia, the half…

  • Agrigento, in Sicily. Concordia Temple, frontal view

    Museo Archeologico

    Agrigento

    North of the temples, this wheelchair-accessible museum is one of Sicily's finest, with a huge collection of clearly labelled artefacts from the excavated…

  • Necropoli di Banditaccia

    Lazio

    This haunting, 12-hectare Etruscan necropolis is a veritable city of the dead, with streets, squares and terraces of tumuli (circular tombs cut into the…

  • Certosa di Pavia

    Pavia

    One of the Italian Renaissance's most notable buildings is the splendid Certosa di Pavia. Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan founded the monastery, 10km north…

  • Tiscali

    Eastern Sardinia

    Hidden in a mountaintop cave deep in the Valle di Lanaittu, the mysterious nuraghic village of Tiscali is one of Sardinia’s must-see archaeological…

  • Museu Horacio Pagani

    Emilia-Romagna

    If peeking at the assembly lines at Ferrari and Lamborghini is like glimpsing inside a well-oiled machine, a day behind the scenes at Pagani is like…

  • Roman Arena

    Verona

    Built of pink-tinged marble in the 1st century AD, Verona's Roman amphitheatre survived a 12th-century earthquake to become the city’s legendary open-air…

  • Spiaggia della Pelosa

    Northwestern Sardinia

    About 2.5km north of Stintino, the Spiaggia della Pelosa is a dreamy image of beach perfection: a salt-white strip of sand lapped by shallow, turquoise…

  • Giardino della Kolymbetra

    Agrigento

    In a natural cleft between walls of soft tuff (volcanic rock), the Giardino della Kolymbetra is a lush garden of olive and citrus trees interspersed with…

  • Spiaggia dei Conigli

    Lampedusa

    Few beaches in the world enjoy such legendary status as this long stretch of pristine white sand lapped by turquoise waters, with pretty views out to a…

  • Ruins of Segesta

    Western Sicily

    One of western Sicily's must-see attractions, the ruins of Segesta straddle a lonely hilltop less than an hour from Palermo and Trapani. The…

  • Parco Archeologico di Selinunte

    Western Sicily

    The ancient Greek metropolis of Selinunte was built in the 7th century BC on a promontory overlooking the sea, and over two and a half centuries became…

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