21 of the best places to visit in Italy (2024)

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1. Lecce

Best for baroque brilliance
It’s known as the “Florence of the south”, but Puglia’s baroque masterpiece is so much more flamboyant than that. The old town is preserved in a bubble of 17th-century architectural perfection, a collection of ornate churches, overwrought palazzi and elegant squares. Its high point is Giuseppe Zimbalo’s crazed Basilica di Santa Croce, described by one 18th-century cultural commentator as “the nightmare of a madman”. San Cataldo, on the Adriatic coast, is the closest beach: it’s just 15 minutes away and provides a welcome escape from the summer heat. Stay at La Fiermontina, built into the walls of the old city, with its astonishing collection of family art.

2. The Dolomites

Best for new mountain highs
Change occurs at a glacial pace in the Dolomites — and rightly so — but the recent appearance of a clutch of luxe new hotels, plus direct flights from London to Bolzano, is raising the profile of the “pale mountains” with travellers from the UK. The vast alpine meadow of the Alpe di Siusi, and Lago di Braies, a brilliant-blue mountain lake, are both within easy reach of Sensoria Dolomites, an adult-only spa retreat. To the north is My Arbor, a five-star tree hotel on 25-metre stilts. Then there’s the sleek Forestis, originally a clinic built just before the First World War, which is now a ski and spa hotel with three striking towers. All have incredible views of the enrosadira, that moment of enchantment as the sun dips and the mountaintops turn pink.

3. Cagliari

Best for the beach-city combo
Sardinia might be all about the beach for most Italians — spots along its 1,150 miles of coast are frequently voted the nation’s best — but its blowsy capital is often overlooked in their hurry to get there. Cagliari has a rich cultural heritage, startling architecture from the medieval to art nouveau, and opulent churches. Its Citadel of Museums is home to the National Gallery of Art, plus museums of archaeology and ethnography, and the university botanical garden is an oasis of green. Fifteen minutes away is Poetto beach, five miles of sand with a track for runners, skaters and cyclists. Stay at Villa Fanny, a 19-room boutique hotel with a glorious garden.

• Best things to do in Sardinia

4. Procida

Best for festival fun
This tiny volcanic island, just 40 minutes by sea from the port of Naples, has long been overshadowed by the glamour of neighbouring Ischia — but for those in the know it has far more. Its coronation as Italian Capital of Culture for 2022 finally put it on the global map and it staged a fabulous festival of cultural projects and events. You can also expect pretty pastel fishing villages (remember those scenes from The Talented Mr Ripley?), Renaissance palaces, baroque churches, near-deserted wild beaches and a generous welcome from its unshowy islanders. The seafood is excellent, too.

5. Chianti

Best for sublime scenery — and exceptional wines
It’s 300 years since we fell in love with Tuscany and the British are still going weak at the knees for Chianti’s glorious landscapes. Head for the heart of the wine-producing region, with its pretty hilltop villages and endless sprawl of vines, beginning in Greve, home to a mouthwatering weekend market. Drop in at butcher Dario Cecchini in Panzano to indulge yourself at his Officina della Bistecca, where you can have a riotous meat feast at a communal table. Move on to Radda for chic boutiques, admire the street art in Gaiole and explore the hillside tunnels of Castellina. For exceptional Chianti Classico and world-class art, book a suite at Castello di Ama.

• Best villas in Tuscany
• Best hotels in Tuscany

6. Matera

Best for otherworldly architecture
Bond fans will have seen this extraordinary southern hill town, carved in the rock, in the opening scenes of No Time to Die. And Matera, occupied for almost 10,000 years, is as otherworldly as any film set: a cave community of “sassi” hollowed out of soft stone, creating a maze of underground houses, frescoed churches, tiny shops, water cisterns — and even a communal bread oven. In the 1950s, it was declared the “shame of Italy” and its inhabitants rehoused. Now, though, a vibrant creative force is breathing new life into the caves, creating cool hotels (Sextantio is its best), a wealth of artists’ workshops and some truly great restaurants (Vitantonio Lombardo, we’re looking at you).

• Read our review of the Sextantio Le Grotte Della Civita cave hotel

7. Tropea

Best for timeless travel
No one is quite sure what time it is in Tropea. At the blue-and-white-striped beach shacks on this bit of Calabrian coast, there’s a lazy, late-afternoon air of 1956. Renato Carosone’s Tu Vuo Fa L’Americano crackles through tinny speakers; a gang of grandmas, waist deep in the waters of the Tyrrhenian, lament the price of onions; and a fisherman mends his nets in the shallows. It’s the resort that time forgot. Calabria has had some bad press — but it’s bouncing back, with its 485 miles of often gorgeous coastline, two seas ­(the Tyrrhenian and Ionian), deserted beaches, three mountain ranges and a string of national parks. Stay at Villa Paola — it’s a tranquil delight.

8. Sardinia

Best for Caribbean-esque beaches
Sizeable Sardinia, west of Italy, is an insular world unto itself, with high mountains, rushing rivers, great golden plains, historical cities and a cuisine and culture quite distinct from the mainland. The finest towns are probably Bosa, Atzara and Cagliari (check the flamingos). The finest beaches (watch for crowds in summer) are Cala Gonone, Cala Luna, San Teodoro, and on the isles of La Maddalena.The best local foods, on an island obsessed with eating, are suckling pig, seafood fregula, spaghetti with sea urchin, lamb with artichokes — Sardinians love their meat. Wash it all down with brilliant new Sardinian reds. Yum yum.

9. Abruzzo

Best for a walk on the wild side
Natives call it “Tuscany without the English”, but the central region of Abruzzo is a wild world away from the hills of Chianti. If you’re looking for a well-kept secret, this really is it: 4,000 square miles of high mountains and Adriatic beach that even Italians struggle to find on the map. Here are the most beautiful hill towns, three national parks are that home to wolves, ibex and Marsican brown bears, and great vineyards and sensational cooking. It’s all powered by the people Primo Levi described as “forte e gentile” — strong and gentle. It’s also where you’ll find one of the nation’s most exciting chefs, Niko Romito, at his three-Michelin-star Reale.

10. Turin

Best for architectural beauty
Turin is the most eye-poppingly beautiful baroque city in Europe — and curiously devoid of UK visitors. Even if you didn’t enter a single one of the 155 palazzi, museums and churches listed on the city map, you’d still be blown away by its glamour. Nine miles of marble arcades hide jewel-box belle époque cafés (Mulassano is our favourite) where you can enjoy a bicerin, a rich blend of coffee, cream and hot chocolate. Here, you will eat well (Turin is home to the Slow Food movement), drink better (Barolo and Barbaresco are made down the road) and stay in a palazzo for the cost of a good bottle of grappa.

11. Puglia

Best for mysterious castles
Not many people make it this far down, to the boot heel of Italy, but those who do are well rewarded. A highlight for many is Castel del Monte, a brutal, sombre, 12th-century castle, solitary on a hill and swathed in dark mystery — like much of Puglia. You can’t miss the vivacious port of Bari, and the protected wetlands beyond: this is the Mediterranean as it once was — unsullied, unhurried, unforgettable. Any tour of Puglia should also take in the “spur” of the boot, the Gargano Promontory, with its world-class beaches, antique towns, 1,000-year-old churches and palaces, and quite superb seafood.

• Best things to do in Puglia

12. Bologna

Best for extravagant eating
Bologna is fat — they call it “la grassa” — for a reason: it’s a visual feast of a city that’s home to some of the best restaurants, food shops, markets and artisan makers in the country, producing perfect pasta and parmigiano, deep dark chocolate and mouthwatering mortadella. For the ultimate food tour, try eating your way from the city centre all the way to Rimini, along the ancient Roman route of Via Emilia, staying in hearty agriturismi, visiting food producers on the way, and pausing in the gourmet hotspot of Modena for dinner at Osteria Francescana, twice voted the world’s best restaurant.

13. Aeolian Islands

Best for low-key luxe
This clutch of seven islands off Sicily’s northeast coast, named for the god Aeolus, keeper of the winds, is the epitome of low-key luxe — but there’s a space to suit everyone, too. If volcanic Stromboli is for thrill seekers, Panarea attracts a more refined crowd, with its whitewashed, blue-door villas and ranks of yachts in the port. Salina is the greenest, with the best vines, the prettiest hotels (try the Tasca d’Almeritas’ 27-room Capofaro estate) and the velvetiest fig granita. And Lipari, the largest, is great for family fun, with black-sand beaches edging shallow coves.

14. Naples

Best for excess all areas
Naples has polished up its act: what was once the rough diamond of the Italian south now positively glitters. Forget the city’s dark history. It’s cleaned up its captivating collection of churches, restored its bling Bourbon palace and is cooking up a storm in its high-end modern restaurants — though don’t forget it’s the home of pizza, too. All this — plus a world-class archaeological museum and a burgeoning modern-art scene — on a bay still judged one of the most beautiful in the Europe, with Mount Vesuvius looming above, and the heart-stopping history of Pompeii and Herculaneum to the south.

• Best hotels in Naples

15. Sicily

Best for pretty towns
Wild, beautiful, hot, chaotic and magnificently storied, the great island of Sicily, lapped by the turquoise Mediterranean, is Italy dialled up to 11. Parts of it are heavily touristed (but still well worth seeing), like the historic core of vibrant, ancient Palermo, or the exquisite harbour town of Taormina (“so pretty it hurts” said Ernest Hemingway). Go to the less visited southeast and you’ll find the glorious baroque jewels of Ragusa, Modica, Cadania and Noto, with their dreamy marble streets, sleeping in the silent sun. And don’t forget the great Greek temples such as Agrigento and Segesta: arguably the finest of their kind, anywhere.

• Best hotels in Sicily
• Best things to do in Sicily

16. Amalfi coast

Best for glamour
Everyone has a vision of the Amalfi coast, and it generally involves scooting along precipitous roads in a glamorously fast car, staring down at turquoise-and-silver waters, and hill towns of Instagram-meltdown prettiness. And, yes, this clustered little peninsula in southern Italy delivers all that. But it is also more. Amalfi has a decorous, intriguing cathedral, whispering of Norman invaders. Just down the coast, Positano has a rich recent history of artists and writers who came, stayed and fell in love with the place, from Picasso to Steinbeck, Zeffirelli to Liz Taylor.Don’t forget to sip limoncello in Sorrento — it’s made from Amalfitan lemons.

• Best Amalfi coast hotels
• Best villas on the Amalfi coast

17. Venice

Best for getting lost
Venice is possibly the most beautiful city in the world and it somehow manages to rise above the tourist hordes who flock here year round. And you too can escape the mobs quite easily, by stepping away from the Grand Canal, Piazza San Marco and Leonardo da Vinci’s works in the Galleria dell’Accademia (though you must see them). Check the soothing Brancusis and fiery Jackson Pollocks in Peggy Guggenheim’s elegant canalside museum. Take a vaporetto to poetic Torcello island, in the lagoon, with its 1,000-year-old cathedral, and oh-so-moving mosaics. At night, explore the murmuring backstreets of Dorsoduro, or the mazy canals of Cannareggio: getting lost in Venice is a sublime experience in itself.

• Best hotels in Venice
• Best things to do in Venice

18. Rome

Best for secret gardens
This ancient city of three thousand years simply has it all, and your biggest decision here is what to skip (don’t skip the opera houses, the Vatican Museums, the Trevi Fountain or St Peter’s). If you want to avoid major crowds, get an online ticket for the Galleria Borghese, with its delicious collection of Bernini sculptures. Then go to the lavishly secretive garden of the Villa Medici: Galileo was a prisoner here, and he loved the awesome views over Rome.Just down the Spanish Steps you’ll find the pretty and rococo Caffe Greco: spoon a cool apricot sorbet here, just like Byron and Keats. The sweet life, indeed.

• Best luxury hotels in Rome
• Best things to do in Rome

19. Siena

Best for the Palio
Overshadowed by its big sister Florence, which flaunts far too many Unesco world heritage sites, winsome little Siena still packs a mighty touristic punch. The cathedral is a total riot of white marble (and the rooftop tour offers jaw-dropping vistas). The Palazzo Publico is a fortified palace, guarding treasures and frescoes both sacred and profane. Make sure you take a day out the city, to see the beauteous Chianti winelands, have a cheeky tipple at one of the grand old winehouses such Castello di Meleto, a kind of Windsor-in-the-vines.Siena’s town square is maybe the loveliest in Italy. It’s called Piazza del Campo, and it is the scene of that infamous, rambunctious summer horse race: the Palio.

20. Veneto

Best for surprises
This region surrounding fabled Venice gets overlooked by La Serenissima, yet it is a quiet superstar. Amid the north Italy suburbia, for instance, you’ll find all the miraculously perfect 16th-century villas built by Palladio. The Rotonda is especially fine. Deeper inland is noble Verona. It’s known for Romeo and Juliet, naturally, yet this is also one of Italy’s comeliest towns, not too big, nearly always pretty, wholly enchanting on soft summer evenings.Head up north and you’ll find the soaring Dolomites, regarded by some as the most beautiful mountains on earth, cathedrals of stone gazing over alpine-green meadows.

21. Lake Como

Best for peace and quiet
The Italian lakes have been tempting visitors to northern Italy with their effortless charms for centuries: Roman poets, like Catullus, used to come here to recover from heartbreak. But which lake to choose? Garda is grander, Maggiore is busier, Orta is quirkier, but Como is many people’s favourite, simultaneously chic, authentic, fascinating, and, of course, utterly lovely as it glitters in the sun under the snow-capped Alps. There’s plenty to do here: stroll around toothsome Bellaggio, try and spot George Clooney near his Italian home (Villa Oleandra), take a funicular up to Faro Voltiano for heart-melting views. Basically, take a ferry anywhere, and let your anxieties fade away.

• Best luxury villas in Sardinia
• Best hotels in Sardinia

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