Val d'Orcia
Set in the Palazzo Borgia, this museum displays an intriguing miscellany of artworks, illuminated manuscripts, tapestries and miniatures. Highlights…
Must-see attractions in Italy
Museo Diocesano d'Arte Sacra Volterra
Volterra
Offering an innovative and particularly satisfying museum experience, this collection of sacred art is housed in the still-functioning Chiesa di San…
Museo Archeologico dell'Alto Adige
Bolzano (Bozen)
The star of the Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige is Ötzi, the Iceman, with almost the entire museum being given over to the Copper Age mummy. Kept in a…
Vernaccia di San Gimignano Wine Experience
San Gimignano
San Gimignano's famous wine, Vernaccia, is celebrated at this museum and enoteca next to the rocca (fortress). Interactive exhibits on the 1st floor trace…
Pistoia
A teahouse, an aviary and other romantic 19th-century follies mingle with cutting-edge sculptures and art installations created by top contemporary…
Perugia
Seat of Perugia's Moneychanger's Guild between 1452 and 1457, the extravagantly adorned Nobile Collegio del Cambio has three rooms: the Sala dei Legisti …
Southeastern Sardinia
If you embark on just one excursion from Villasimius, make it the 15-minute drive south to Capo Carbonara, a protected marine park. The promontory dips…
Trento
A stunning modernist architectural work, courtesy of Renzo Piano, houses this 21st-century science museum and cleverly echoes the local landscape…
Salerno & the Cilento
The ancient coil of streets that makes up Teggiano (population 8,100) comprise what is arguably the most dashing of park’s 80 villages. Grafted onto a…
Trieste
Trieste’s elegant lighthouse, with its 68m-high, fluted tower and copper dome sporting a soaring Winged Victory, is perched on the Gretta Hill and worth a…
Museo Archeologico di Santa Scolastica
Bari
Housed in a well-preserved 16th-century defensive bastion, this excellent museum reopened in late 2018 and features a superbly curated overview of the…
San Colombano – Collezione Tagliavini
Bologna
An absolutely stunningly restored church with original frescoes and a medieval crypt rediscovered in 2005, the San Colombano hosts a wonderful collection…
Treviso
The contemporary white marmorino entrance to Treviso’s modern-art museum is a sign of good things to come. Namely, a stunningly good 20th-century art…
Pistoia
This tiny 14th-century chapel, frescoed Gothic-style from top to bottom by the School of Giotto, is a dramatic guardian to Marino Marini's monumental…
Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto
Taranto
Sitting unassumingly in a side street in Taranto's new town is one of Italy's most important archaeological museums, chiefly dedicated to the archaeology…
Catania
Catania's raucous fish market, which takes over the streets behind Piazza del Duomo every workday morning, is pure street theatre. Tables groan under the…
Matera
This giant cistern, arguably as magnificent as a subterranean cathedral, is one of Matera's great sights. Lying under the city's main square with arches…
Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo
Perugia
Also known as the Chiesa or Tempio di Sant'Angelo, this 5th-century Romanesque church is one of the oldest in Italy (and the most appealing in Perugia)…
Lake Garda
An unusual 100m waterfall that thunders through a vertical limestone tunnel rather than off an open cliff. With the help of metal walkways, you can enter…
Western Sardinia
Cabras' cultural highlight is the Museo Civico, and the real superstars here are the so-called Giants of Monte Prama, a series of towering nuraghic…
Spoleto
Many people gasp the first time they glimpse the medieval Ponte delle Torri, a 10-arch bridge that spectacularly spans a steeply wooded gorge – a scene…
Southwestern Sardinia
This panoramic terrace, accessible by a cliffside path from Nebida's southern entrance, commands fabulous views. Dominating the seascape is the 133m-high…
The Dolomites
Atmospherically set in a castle 15km south of Brunico and full of folk treasures, this is the best of three museums in this region devoted to Ladin…
Matera
Highly recommended as a precursor to visiting the sassi themselves, this wonderful 25-minute multimedia exhibit, spread across three rooms of a 16th…
Bergamo
Bergamo's colossal, square-based Torre del Campanone soars 52m above the city. It still tolls a bell at 10pm, the legacy of an old curfew. Taking the lift…
Langhe, Roero & Monferrato
Some 28km south of Asti, the Cantine Bosca is one of several historic wineries that produce the famed sparkling wine of the area (the DOCG Asti Spumante,…
LUMEN Museum of Mountain Photography
The Dolomites
Anyone passionate about the mountains should make a beeline for this captivating museum, opened in 2018 at the summit of Kronplatz ski resort. The…
Olbia
Architect Vanni Macciocco designed Olbia’s strikingly contemporary museum near the port. The museum spells out local history in artefacts, from Roman…
Tempio di San Giovanni al Sepolcro
Brindisi
This 12th-century church, a brown bulk of Norman stone conforming to the circular plan the Templars so loved, is a wonderfully evocative structure,…
Pantelleria
Just inland from Pantelleria's north coast, the iridescent waters of this volcanic lake are a stunning sight. Along the southern lakeshore, natural hot…
Calabria
This excellent museum focuses on the historical, cultural and natural heritage of the park. Highlights include the use of interactive video screens to…
Museo Etnografico ‘Olivia Carta Cannas’
Northeastern Sardinia
Aggius is famous for its carpets, with a tradition dating back to the 1900s, when 4000 looms were busy in the area. This excellent museum showcases a fine…
Southeastern Sardinia
The pick of Villasimius' spiagge (beaches), Cala Giunco is a vision of beach perfection: a long strip of silky white sand sandwiched between tropical…
Costa Smeralda
Dotted with granite boulders and backed by fragrant macchia, this gorgeous half-moon bay has water that goes through the entire spectrum of blues and is…
Pantelleria
Those willing to brave the steep and treacherous 3km descent on an unpaved road will be rewarded with one of Pantelleria's most beautiful swimming spots,…
Syracuse
Located about 500m east of the archaeological park, Syracuse's archaeological museum claims one of Sicily's largest and most interesting collections of…
Basilica Cattedrale di San Nicolò
Noto
Pride of place in Noto goes to San Nicolò Cathedral, a baroque beauty that had to undergo extensive renovation after its dome collapsed during a 1996…
Santa Teresa di Gallura
The 'just like the Caribbean' comments come thick and fast when it comes to this bay – a glorious sweep of pale sand lapped by shallow, crystal-clear…
Cefalù
Cefalù's crescent-shaped beach is one of the most popular along the whole Sicilian coast. In summer it is packed, so be sure to arrive early to get a good…
Lampedusa
Reachable only by boat, the limpid electric-blue waters of this cove off Lampedusa's south shore are one of the island's most awe-inspiring sights. There…
