Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
This massive piazza was laid out in 1538 to provide a grandiose entrance to what was then Rome's main northern gateway. It has since been remodelled…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Chiesa di San Francesco d’Assisi a Ripa Grande
Trastevere & Gianicolo
St Francis is said to have stayed here in 1219, and in his cell you can still see the rock that he purportedly used as a pillow and his crucifix. Rebuilt…
Naples
The Chiesa di San Giovanni a Mare is a rare example of Romanesque architecture in Naples. Erected by Benedictine monks in the 12th century, the nave forms…
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace & Chiostro del Bramante
Centro Storico
Tucked away in the back streets behind Piazza Navona, this small baroque church boasts a columned semicircular facade by Pietro da Cortona and a…
Northwestern Sardinia
A few kilometres west of Fertilia on the SS127bis road to Porto Conte, the Nuraghe di Palmavera is a 3500-year-old nuraghic village. At its centre stands…
Chiesa di San Pietro a Maiella
Naples
Dedicated to hermit Pietro del Morrone, who was promoted to Pope Celestine V in 1294, this Gothic veteran is most famous for its series of baroque ceiling…
Northwestern Tuscany
In 1880 Puccini left Lucca to study at Milan's music conservatory, returning to Tuscany after his studies to rent a lakeside house in Torre del Lago, 15km…
Promontorio del Gargano
Over the centuries this sanctuary has expanded to incorporate a large complex of religious buildings that overlay its original shrine. The double-arched…
Ancient Rome
Hidden beneath the 16th-century Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei Falegnami, the Mamertine Prison was ancient Rome's maximum-security jail. St Peter did time…
Chiesa di Sant'Eligio Maggiore
Naples
Dating from 1270, this simple Gothic beauty was the first church built by the Angevins. The church was once adorned with frescoes, of which a few…
Basilica & Catacombe di San Giovanni
Syracuse
The city's most extensive catacombs lie beneath the Basilica di San Giovanni, itself a pretty, truncated church that served as the city's cathedral in the…
Milazzo
Originally the site of a Greek acropolis, then an Arab-Norman citadel, Milazzo's enormous castle was built by Frederick II in 1239, expanded by Charles V…
Genoa
Genoa's much-vaunted aquarium is one of the largest in Europe, with more than 600 species of sea creatures, including sharks. Moored at the end of a…
Olbia
Spread across 60 hectares, Tenute Olbios estate whisks visitors through the winemaking process in 1½-hour guided tours (€10), which head down to the…
Messner Mountain Museum Firmiano
Bolzano (Bozen)
The imposing Castel Firmiano, dating back to AD 945, is the centrepiece of mountaineer Reinhold Messner's six museums. Based around humankind's…
Centro Storico
Hardly new as its name would suggest, this imposing landmark church boasts a distinguished 17th-century facade and a vast baroque interior. Of particular…
Cagliari
One of the oldest churches in Sardinia, the Basilica di San Saturnino is a striking example of Paleo-Christian architecture. Based on a Greek-cross…
Southeastern Sicily
It's in this church that a warrior-like Madonna delle Milizie (Madonna of the Militias) crushes two hapless Saracens on her white horse. Made of wood and…
Porto Venere
The largest island of the Italian Riviera is largely undeveloped (it's home to around 50 residents) and lies just a short ferry ride from Porto Venere…
Southeastern Sicily
The convex balcony railings of this 18th-century aristocratic pad were cleverly designed to accommodate the era's hooped gowns. One can imagine the gentry…
Ischia
The good news is that this museum is well signposted and has a car park. The bad news is that it's on a perilous corner on Ischia's mountain road between…
Lake Como
Piazza Garibaldi is roughly cobblestoned and it's plain from its time-warped nature that nothing much has changed here down the centuries. Many of the…
Paestum
The first organic producer of bufala (water-buffalo) milk, Tenuta Vannulo is a 10-minute drive from Paestum. It makes its mozzarella exclusively from…
Parco Nazionale delle Dolomiti Bellunesi
Veneto Dolomites
Just over 17km northwest of Belluno, this magnificent national park offers trails for hikers of every level, wildflowers in spring and summer, and…
Centro Storico
One of the world’s smallest inhabited islands, the boat-shaped Isola Tiberina has been associated with healing since the 3rd century BC when the Romans…
Chianti
Occupying an 18th-century convent complex attached to a 10th-century church, this facility is operated by the Consorzio di Chianti Classico and pays…
Area Archaeologica di Cave di Cusa
Western Sicily
Most of the buttery yellow stone used to construct the great temples of Selinunte was hewn at these ancient Greek quarries. The setting is charming –…
Museo Internazionale delle Marionette
Palermo
This whimsical museum houses around 4000 marionettes, puppets, glove puppets and shadow figures from Sicily and Naples, as well as from further-flung…
Centro Storico
The historical, cultural and artistic heritage of Rome’s Jewish community is chronicled in this small but engrossing museum. Housed in a building attached…
Southeastern Sicily
To fans of the popular TV series Commissario Montelbano (Inspector Montalbano), Scicli's Town Hall – completed in 1906 – is better known as police…
Bay of Naples
Rione Terra is Pozzuoli's oldest quarter and its ancient acropolis. The original 2nd-century-BC temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva was replaced by a…
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Oristano
Lording it over Oristano’s skyline, the Duomo's onion-domed bell tower is one of the few remaining elements of the original 14th-century cathedral, itself…
Palermo
One of Palermo's grandest aristocratic palaces is now an impressive, multi-faceted cultural centre. One-hour guided tours (email ahead for English…
Bergamo
One of several towns in Italy with an intact ring of defences, Bergamo’s impressive walls were built by the Venetians over 30 years starting in 1561…
Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli
Naples
Naples' Palazzo Reale is home to the Biblioteca Nazionale, its priceless treasures including at least 2000 papyri discovered at Herculaneum and fragments…
Ragusa
Biagio Castilletti and Damiano Rotella are two of only a handful of master artisans still making carretti siciliani (traditional Sicilian carts) the…
Southern Rome
This isn't so much a museum as a collection of murals dotted around the Quadraro neighbourhood in the city’s southern suburbs. Works by nearly two dozen…
Bologna
Housed in Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio, the fascinating 17th-century Teatro Anatomico is where public body dissections were held under the sinister gaze of…
Centro Storico
One of Rome's most imposing Renaissance buildings, this huge palazzo was built for Cardinal Raffaele Riario between 1483 and 1513. It was later acquired…
Abbazia di San Michele Arcangelo
Procida
Soak up the dizzying bay views at the belvedere before exploring the adjoining Abbazia di San Michele Arcangelo. Built in the 11th century and remodelled…
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