Spiaggia del Grande & Piccolo Pevero
Costa Smeralda
This twinset of stunning bays, 3km south of Porto Cervo, fulfil the Sardinian paradise dream with their floury sands and dazzlingly blue, shallow water…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Southeastern Sardinia
To the north of Costa Rei, this fabulous beach impresses with its blinding white sand and turquoise water. A couple more beaches fill the remaining length…
Costa Smeralda
Though busy in peak season, this beach is a beauty – a long arc of pale, fine sand and crystal-clear water. It's close to the neo-Moorish fantasy that is…
Todi
Climb the 14th-century bell tower of the Chiesa di San Fortunato for exhilarating views across the hills and castles surrounding Todi.
Promontorio del Gargano
One of Italy's largest national parks, a place of sweeping coast and deep, ancient forests, sits on the spur of southern Italy in Puglia, jutting out into…
Central Sicily
The palaestra wows with a splendid, sweeping mosaic depicting a chariot race at the Circus Maximus in Rome (the room is also known as the Salone del Circo…
Western Sardinia
On the northern fringe of the beachside community of S'Archittu, the Spiaggia dell’Arco features a dramatic stone arch that rises 6m above the emerald…
Golfo di Orosei
Only reachable by boat from Cala Gonone or Arbatax, this enchanting beach boasts crystal clear, celestial-blue waters backed by the Golfo di Orosei's…
Trentino & South Tyrol
This is northern Italy's, and the Alps', largest national park, spilling into the next-door region of Lombardy and bordering Switzerland's Parco Nazionale…
Lampedusa
Secluded up near Lampedusa's northeast corner, this rocky cove is one of the island's most tranquil getaways, with crystal-clear waters and excellent…
Northeastern Sardinia
West of Isola Maddalena, Isola Spargi is necklaced by sandy coves and inlets. One of the best is Cala Corsara, where the sea is topaz blue.
Southeastern Sardinia
In front of the eponymous resort, the Spiaggia Costa Rei is a lengthy strip of dazzling white sand lapped by astonishingly clear blue-green waters.
Trentino & South Tyrol
This stunning Gothic castle, some of it dating to the 1250s, occupies a panoramic position and typifies the region's architectural style.
Paestum
Tempio di Cerere (6th century BC) was originally dedicated to Athena and served as a Christian church in medieval times.
Central Sicily
The radiating apses in the the octagonal frigidarium contained bracing plunge pools.
Capri
Capri’s most famous attraction is the Grotta Azzurra, an unusual sea cave illuminated by an otherworldly blue light. The easiest way to visit is to take a…
Complesso Museale di Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco
Naples
Consecrated in 1638, the engrossing chiesa delle cape di morte (the church of the skulls) sits on two levels. While the upper church boasts fine paintings…
Chianti
The ancestral estate of the aristocratic Ricasoli family dates from the 11th century and is the oldest winery in Italy. Currently home to the 32nd baron,…
Venice
The Grimani family built their Renaissance palazzo (mansion) in 1568 to showcase the extraordinary Graeco-Roman sculpture collection of Cardinal Giovanni…
Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Southern Rome
The largest church in Rome after St Peter’s (and the world’s third-largest), this vast basilica stands on the site where St Paul was buried after being…
Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia
San Polo & Santa Croce
Never mind the doge: insatiable curiosity rules Venice, and inside the former Fondaco dei Turchi (Turkish Trading House) it runs wild. The adventure…
Chiesa di San Nicolò dei Mendicoli
Venice
Other churches might be grander, but none is more quintessentially Venetian than this 12th-century church with a history of service to the poor. Its…
Chiesa di San Francesco della Vigna
Venice
Designed and built by Jacopo Sansovino, with a facade by Palladio, this enchanting Franciscan church is one of Venice’s most underappreciated attractions…
Taormina
Taormina's chief delight is wandering this pedestrian-friendly, boutique-lined thoroughfare. Start at the tourist office in Palazzo Corvaja, which dates…
Naples
It's at this 16th-century hospital and monastic complex that you'll find the Museo delle Arti Sanitarie, a small museum home to rare, historical surgical…
Naples
When you need a break from Naples' hyperactive tendencies, take a deep breath on its pedestrianised seafront strip. Stretching 2.5km along Via Partenope…
Venice
Antonio Scarpignano’s relatively austere 1508–48 facade creates a sense of false modesty at this neighbourhood church. The interior is adorned with floor…
Bay of Naples
In Roman times, these 1st-century-BC ruins were part of a sprawling palace and spa complex. Emperors would entertain themselves and their guests in a…
Venice
In 1869 Conte Giovanni Querini Stampalia made a gift of his ancestral 16th-century palazzo (mansion) to the city on the forward-thinking condition that…
Naples
Star-shaped Castel Sant'Elmo was originally a church dedicated to St Erasmus. Some 400 years later, in 1349, Robert of Anjou turned it into a castle…
Venice
The two hardest-working men in Venice stand duty on a rooftop around the clock, and wear no pants. The 'Do Mori' (Two Moors) exposed to the elements atop…
Chiesa e Chiostro di San Gregorio Armeno
Naples
Overstatement knows no bounds at this richly ornamented 16th-century monastic complex. The church packs a visual punch with its lavish wood and papier…
Venice
Accessed by a narrow staircase leading up from Basilica di San Marco's atrium, this museum transports visitors to the level of the church's rear mosaics…
Naples
Built by the Normans in the 12th century, Naples’ oldest castle owes its name (Castle of the Egg) to Virgil. The Roman scribe reputedly buried an egg on…
Naples
Locals know this 13th-century castle as the Maschio Angioino (Angevin Keep), and its Cappella Palatina is home to fragments of frescoes by Giotto; they're…
Basilica di San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
One of Rome’s four patriarchal basilicas, San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura (St Lawrence Outside the Walls) has an unusually restrained interior. It was the only…
Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico
Siena
St Catherine was welcomed into the Dominican fold within this huge and austere 13th-century basilica. Inside, the Cappella di Santa Caterina (halfway down…
Taormina
The short climb to the top of Monte Tauro (378m) is not exactly Himalayan, but it is steep and the final steps are quite hard work. Your reward is a…
Venice
Bartolomeo Colleoni's galloping bronze equestrian statue is one of only two such public monuments in Venice – and an extraordinary example of early…
