Italy

Our Top Picks For Italy

• 1 Venice Biennale

  This major exhibition of international visual arts is happening NOW! From June to November every odd-numbered year, Venice's Giardini Pubblici are home to the world-famous Biennale. Allow plenty of time to wander the pavilions and ponder the eternal question..."Yes, but is it art?"

• 2 Romaeuropa Festival, Rome, until 2 Dec

  Winter may be fast approaching, but Rome is sizzling thanks to the latest instalment of its celebrated Romaeuropa Festival. A dynamic programme of cutting edge dance, theatre, visual arts, multimedia and music will warm even the frostiest heart!

• 3 Pompeii

  A stark reminder of the malign forces that lie deep inside Vesuvius, Pompeii is Europe’s most compelling, priceless archaeological site

• 4 Trevi Fountain

  Toss a coin into Rome's most famous fountain, and you'll return to the city some day; two coins, and you'll fall in love with an Italian (if you haven't already...)

• 5 World's best ice cream, Noto

  Summer and ice cream go together like Dolce & Gabbana, and Corrado Costanzo does the world's best gelato

• 6 Ravenna

  A taste of Byzantium in the West, Ravenna's churches glitter with impressive gold mosaics

• 7 Siena

  One of the best preserved medieval cities in Italy, it has a labyrinth of lanes gathered around the arena of Piazza del Campo

• 8 Piedmont

  From the elegance of central Turin to the truffles and wines of the Langhe area, Piedmont is a little-explored treasure chest

• 9 Cinque Terre

  Five dramatically located villages cut into the craggy Ligurian coast, backed by steep vineyards

• 10 Perugia

  With two universities and a thriving art scene, the modern melds with the medieval past

• 11 Alberobello

  Italy's strangest World Heritage Site looks as though it stepped out of a fantasy film

• 12 Aeolian Islands

  From the volcanic spectacle of Stromboli to the wild isolation of Alicudi, this archipelago off Sicily is a world of its own

• 13 Amalfi Coast

  Dramatic cliffs dotted by pretty towns plunge vertically into the deep blue of the Mediterranean

• 14 Golfo di Orosei

  A coastline studded with secret coves, reminders of its drama-laden history, and fringed with dark-green forest

• 15 The Lakes

  Wedding-cake villas, tiered gardens and elegant towns adorn the shores of Italy's great lakes

Show full list