Turin
Statues of the mythical twins Castor and Pollux guard the entrance to this eye-catching palace and, according to local hearsay, also watch over the…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Northeastern Sardinia
Giuseppe Garibaldi, professional revolutionary and all-round Italian hero, bought half of Caprera in 1855 (he got the rest 10 years later). He made it his…
Parma
Another daring Romanesque beauty? Well, yes and no. Consecrated in 1106, Parma has a classic Lombard-Romanesque facade, but inside, the gilded pulpit and…
Syracuse
The highlight of the Neapolis archaeological area is the Teatro Greco, a masterpiece of classical architecture that could accommodate up to 16,000 people…
Vicenza
Behind a walled garden lies a Renaissance marvel: the Teatro Olimpico, which Palladio began in 1580 with inspiration from Roman amphitheatres. Vincenzo…
Langhe, Roero & Monferrato
Alba's winemaking-restaurateuring Ceretti family has commissioned a number of site-specific artworks in the region and this never-consecrated chapel is…
Mediterranean Coast
In 2010, married couple Andrea Bartoli and Favara-born Florinda Saieva bought several abandoned buildings in the town's dilapidated heart and set up this…
Vicenza
No matter how you look at it, this villa is a showstopper: the namesake dome caps a square base, with identical colonnaded facades on all four sides. This…
Stromboli
An alternative to scaling Stromboli's summit is the hour-long climb to this viewpoint (400m, no guide required), which directly overlooks the Sciara del…
Capri
Sitting in an old-fashioned chairlift above the white houses, terraced gardens and hazy hillsides of Anacapri as you rise to the top of Capri's highest…
Southwestern Sardinia
A sensational sandy beach wedged into a natural inlet between craggy rocks, Cala Domestica is a heavenly spot. Its shallow blue waters are ideal for…
Padua
This Renaissance palazzo (mansion) is the seat of Padua’s history-making university. Founded by renegade scholars from Bologna seeking greater…
Eastern Sardinia
Tucked beneath sheer limestone cliffs, this gorgeous mountain spring is the final outflow point for Italy's largest underground river system. Water…
Vicenza
An extraordinary collection of treasures awaits inside Palazzo Leoni Montanari,including ancient pottery from Magna Graecia and grand salons filled with…
Basilica di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Trastevere & Gianicolo
The last resting place of the patron saint of music features Pietro Cavallini's exquisite 13th-century fresco in the nuns' choir of the hushed convent…
Udine
This intimate oratory has a dramatic ceiling painting of the Assumption by Giambattista Tiepolo, with a glowing Madonna framed by tumbling, rather…
Matera
Dating in its earliest parts to the 12th century, St Peter's, the largest of Matera's rupestrian churches, overlays an ancient honeycomb of niches where…
Cimitero Acattolico per gli Stranieri
San Giovanni & Testaccio
Despite the roads that surround it, Rome’s 'non-Catholic' cemetery is a verdant oasis of peace. An air of Grand Tour romance hangs over the site where up…
Palermo
Taking over 20 years to complete, Palermo's neoclassical opera house is the largest in Italy and the second-largest in Europe. The closing scene of The…
Venice
Founded in 1104, the Arsenale soon became the greatest medieval shipyard in Europe, home to 300 shipping companies employing up to 16,000 people. Capable…
Milan
Milan’s most eccentric museum of 20th-century Italian painting is crowded in a 1930s apartment that still has the appearance of the haute-bourgeois home…
Ex-Stabilimento Florio delle Tonnare di Favignana e Formica
Western Sicily
Favignana's 19th-century tuna cannery – a vast, elegant, waterfront complex overlooking the port and built from the local tufa stone – is now a…
The Veneto
The jewel in the Allegrini crown, this historic villa dates to the mid-16th century and was built by intellectual and humanist Giulio della Torre…
Cagliari
An easy bus ride from the centre, Cagliari's fabulous Poetto beach extends for 7km beyond the green Promontorio di Sant'Elia, nicknamed the Sella del…
Castelli Romani
The larger and more developed of the Castelli's two volcanic lakes – the other is Lago di Nemi – Lago Albano is set in a steeply banked wooded crater. It…
Syracuse
Syracuse's showpiece square is a masterpiece of baroque town planning. A long, rectangular piazza flanked by flamboyant palazzi, it sits on what was once…
Perugia
In Perugia all roads seem to lead to Piazza IV Novembre. This historic square, flanked by Palazzo dei Priori and the Cattedrale, has been at the heart of…
Museo Nazionale dell'Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah
Ferrara
Born by an Italian Parliamentary decree to create a National Holocaust Museum, the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah partially opened in…
Brescia
You could spend a whole day in this monster of a museum housed in an ex-monastery and still have plenty left for another visit. Those with limited time…
Umbria
This panoramic piazza, the result of an ambitious 14th-century urban development plan, is medieval Gubbio's showpiece square. Commanding huge valley views…
Viterbo
In Caprarola, 20km southeast of Viterbo, this lordly 16th-century palazzo is a true Renaissance wonder. It features a distinct pentagonal design and,…
Palermo
Snaking for several city blocks southeast of Palazzo dei Normanni is Palermo's busiest street market, which throbs with activity well into the early…
Alghero
Rising above the historic centre, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria's 16th-century campanile is one of Alghero's signature landmarks. The tower, accessible…
Genoa
If you only get the chance to visit one of the Palazzi dei Rolli (group of palaces belonging to the city's most eminent families), make it this one. A…
Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte
Central Sicily
Caltagirone's most evocative sight is this monumental staircase, which rises from Piazza Municipio to Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte. Built in the early…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Murano has been the home of Venetian glass-making since the 13th century. Today, artisans continue to ply their trade at workshops dotted around the…
Umbria
Narni’s main drawcard is this extraordinary subterranean underworld. Discovered by a group of young speleologists in 1977, and originally accessed through…
Lucca
Lucca’s monumental mura (wall) was built around the old city in the 16th and 17th centuries and remains in almost perfect condition. It superseded two…
Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria
Over several floors in Southern Italy's finest museum you'll descend through millennia of local history, from Neolithic and Palaeolithic times through…
Parco Nazionale dell'Arcipelago di La Maddalena
Northeastern Sardinia
Established in 1996, Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena consists of seven main islands and several smaller granite islets off Sardinia's…
