Stresa
More than 1000 alpine and subalpine species flourish in this 4-hectare botanical garden set partway up Monte Mottarone. It was founded in 1934 and…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Emilia-Romagna
About 50km east of Ferrara, the Abbazia di Pomposa is one of Italy’s oldest Benedictine endowments. The monk Guido d’Arezzo reputedly invented the musical…
Northeastern Sardinia
The Museo Etnografico Galluras celebrates local rural traditions with a collection of agrarian tools and a reconstructed village house. Rooms showcasing…
Mediterranean Coast
This blindingly white rock outcropping, shaped like a giant staircase, juts into the sea near Realmonte, 15km west of Agrigento. It's a very popular spot…
Marinelli Pontificia Fonderia di Campane
Molise
Only in the Italian backwater of Molise do you get to learn about the ancient, if esoteric, art of bell-making. For more than 1000 years, local artisans…
Siena
Remarkably, this vaulted space under the duomo's pulpit was totally filled with debris in the late 1300s and was only excavated and restored in 1999…
Eastern Sardinia
Spread over a 7-hectare site in a thick cork and oak wood, this 17th-century-BC nuraghic sanctuary comprises several religious buildings and circular…
Ancient Rome
Most of the Palatino as it appears today is covered by the ruins of Emperor Domitian's vast 1st-century complex, which served as the main imperial palace…
Centro Storico
Home to Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, this baroque palazzo was built by Bernini in 1653, expanded by Carlo Fontana in the late 17th century, and given an…
Brescia
This 17th-century palace houses two separate museums, and it makes a worthwhile detour while exploring Brescia's historic sites. The Brixia Light Box …
Otranto
Dubbed L’Approdo (The Landing) and located in Otranto's new port area, this striking installation by the Greek artist Costas Varostos was erected in 2012…
Palermo
Dominating this small chapel is Anthony Van Dyck's fantastic blue-and-red altarpiece, The Virgin of the Rosary with St Dominic and the Patronesses of…
Scuola Grande della Misericordia
Venice
One of Venice’s seven grand confraternities, the Misericordia was the seat of the wealthy silk weavers guild that commissioned this enormous classical…
Enna
Just below the entrance to Castello di Lombardia is a huge rock, which was once home to Enna's Temple of Demeter (Ceres to the Romans), goddess of…
Grado
Grado's historic core is dominated by this Romanesque basilica, dating to AD 579. Its rich interior decoration indicates its early importance when the…
Basilica di San Lorenzo in Lucina
Centro Storico
Little remains of the 5th-century church that was originally built here atop a well sacred to Juno. But that shouldn’t detract from what is a very pretty…
Parco Archeologico di Grumentum
Basilicata
The Parco Archeologico di Grumentum – sometimes known as Basilicata's 'Little Pompeii' – contains remains of a theatre, an amphitheatre, Roman baths, a…
Centro Storico
Striking off west from Piazza Pasquino, Via del Governo Vecchio is an atmospheric cobbled lane full of boutiques, lively restaurants and vintage clothes…
Pescara
An extensive (if slightly dated) display of Abruzzo culture that squeezes rather a lot into 13 interconnecting rooms, covering the Bronze Age to the…
Ravello
Hidden away at the back of this cameo shop is a small museum with some magnificent pieces, including a mid-16th-century Madonna, Roman amphorae, early…
Samnite Theatre-Temple Complex
Molise
About 30km northeast of Isernia, outside Pietrabbondante, the remains of a 3rd-century-BC Samnite theatre-temple complex reward a visit, as much as…
Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi
Lucca
This 16th-century mansion built for a wealthy Luccan merchant is a wonderful piece of rococo excess. The private apartments are draped head to toe in…
Siena
Completed in 1348, this 87m-high red-brick-and-travertine bell tower commands magnificent views from its highest levels. Its name (The Tower of Eater)…
Chianti
Medieval Montefioralle crowns a rise just east of Greve, and can be accessed via a 2km walking path from the town centre (head up Via San Francesco, off…
Southwestern Sardinia
Surrounded by woods and granite peaks, Montevecchio was once home to a massive mining complex. At its height in 1865, it was Italy's most important zinc…
Bellagio
The lavish gardens of Villa Serbelloni cover much of the promontory on which Bellagio sits. The villa has been a magnet for Europe's great and good,…
Livorno
Laid out in 1854 to prettify the wasteland around the city's great water cistern (unveiled in 1842), this lush public park is a peaceful green oasis of…
Lazio
Housed in a medieval fortress on what was once ancient Caere's acropolis, this interesting little museum houses archaeological artefacts unearthed at the…
Northwestern Tuscany
Neoclassical Villa Grabau, 11km north of Lucca in San Pancrazio, sits among a vast parkland with sweeping traditional English- and Italian-styled gardens,…
Amalfi
Amalfi’s Paper Museum is housed in a rugged, cave-like 13th-century paper mill (the oldest in Europe). It lovingly preserves the original paper presses,…
Pompeii
A huge rectangle flanked by limestone columns, the foro was ancient Pompeii's main piazza, as well as the site of gladiatorial games before the Anfiteatro…
Lake Garda
The leafy headland of Punta San Vigilio curls out into the lake 3km north of Garda. An avenue of cypress trees leads from the car park towards a gorgeous…
Western Sardinia
This bare, rocky island 10km off the coast owes its strange name (Stomach-ache Island) to the seasickness that sailors often suffered while navigating its…
San Giovanni & Testaccio
According to tradition, two Roman soldiers, John and Paul (not to be confused with the Apostles), lived in these houses before they were beheaded by the…
Pompeii
Better preserved than the larger Casa del Fauno, luxurious Casa del Menandro has an outstanding, elegant peristyle (a colonnade-framed courtyard) beyond…
Lake Maggiore
The otherwise sleepy town of Luino becomes a consumer madhouse on market day. This is no ordinary local flea market but rather an enormous bazaar that was…
Museo Archeologico Nazionale dell'Umbria
Perugia
Housed in the former convent of the Basilica di San Domenico, Umbria's regional archaeology museum harbours an encyclopaedic collection of Etruscan and…
Chiesa di San Giovanni di Sinis
Western Sardinia
Built from softly worn sandstone, Chiesa di San Giovanni di Sinis is one of the two oldest churches in Sardinia (Cagliari’s Basilica di San Saturnino is…
Abbazia della Santissima Trinità
Basilicata
At the northeastern end of Venosa, the abbazia (abbey) was erected above the Roman temple around 1046 by the Benedictines and predates the Norman era…
Convento di San Francesco del Deserto
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Franciscan friars offer free tours of their secluded island home, which still retains some of its 13th-century elements, including the first cloister. As…
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