One of the crucibles of history, Rome is a city that people fall in love with – from its fountains to its food. Buzzy neighbourhoods and traditional trattoria vie for your attention, alongside some of the most astounding relics of the city’s Roman past – including the Colosseum, Pantheon and Roman Forum.
Cobbled streets lined with 16th century palaces, bridges describing an arc across the Arno river, a treasure trove of Renaissance art in its birthplace – just three of the reasons that Florence draws visitors from every corner of the world. A Tuscan treat for the senses.
Milan is one of Italy’s financial powerhouses and perhaps the fashion capital of the world – home of many of the most famous Italian brands. The city knows how to dress to impress. When it comes to art and architecture, you’ll also find a heady mix of Renaissance and thoroughly modern – a melange that captures Milan perfectly.
The canals that criss-cross the lagoon that Venice sits upon are only a part of the story here. The rest of the tale is to be found in marble palaces, staggering squares and side-streets where you might chance upon a church with an Old Master nestled inside it, next to an artisan’s workshop.
A city that has made a virtue of a wonky building, Pisa is so much more than the famous tower – it also enjoys the joys of the Tuscan larder in its countless restaurants. While there are also pretty bridges crossing the Arno, nature parks, great galleries and piazzas lined with buildings that vary from sombre to delicate.
Genoa built its fortune as a trading port, and you can detect the fingerprints of a gritty past among the mellower remnants of the Medieval. The tight streets of the old town speak volumes about what life was once like here and you’ll find brilliantly unpretentious restaurants and the numerous UNESCO-listed Palazzi dei Rolli.
Naples is a city that’s in your face, but packed with allure. It’s the place to come for Italian life in all its glory, original pizza, and sensational art – all underscored by the blue of the sea. It’s also the perfect hopping-off point for the pastel colours and jagged cliffs of the Amalfi Coast.
As befits the place that gave us Bolognese sauce, Bologna is in love with its stomach and foodies flock here for some of the best restaurants in Italy. But there’s so much more to dig into. Visit the world’s oldest university, navigate the medieval streets and gasp at the scale of the Basilica di San Petronio.
Indelibly associated with Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, Verona is an enchanting place in reality too. Lovely by day, it’s glorious at night when the captivating bridges over the Adige light up. Combine with a trip to Lake Garda and you’ll enjoy the best of rural and urban Italy.
This former capital of Italy might not get the headlines of Rome or Milan, but it’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it? Gallic boulevards and cafes will ease you in to your visit, as will the 17th century Palazzo Reale and Museo Egizio. The latter has a famous statue of Ramses II in one of the world’s best collections of Egyptian relics.
