Where to begin
These are the places worth planning a trip around: the museums, cathedrals and palaces, the ancient sites and the landscapes that make Italy what it is, from the Uffizi and the Colosseum to the Dolomites and the temples of Agrigento. Each has its own guide, with the story behind it, what to look for once inside, how to plan the visit and the tours worth booking. Begin with the best known, or choose a region.
391 monuments
Navigli
MilanMilan’s Navigli are the canal-side neighbourhood shaped by the Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese.
Paradisia Alpine Botanical Garden
CogneParadisia grows in Valnontey, a side valley of Cogne at 1,700 meters, inside the Gran Paradiso National Park.
Sant'Antonio di Ranverso Abbey
Sant'Ambrogio di TorinoGothic Antonite precettoria, Jaquerio frescoes, Defendente Ferrari altarpiece, Via Francigena
Sarre Castle
SarreSarre Castle looks medieval, with a tall crenellated central tower and mullioned windows, but its story is royal.
Suasa
Castelleone di SuasaDomus dei Coiedii mosaics, Roman forum and amphitheater, civic archaeological museum
Temple of Antas
CarloforteSix Ionic columns, each roughly eight meters tall, rise alone in a limestone valley south of Fluminimaggiore, the closest thing Sardinia has to a Greek ruin.
Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens
MeranoEighty garden worlds, Sissi's castle, Touriseum museum, palms beneath the Alps
Vezzolano Abbey
Turin1189 stone rood screen, carved capitals, Romanesque-Gothic facade, Transromanica network
Seceda
OrtiseiSeceda rises above Ortisei, where high pastures meet the Puez-Odle Nature Park.
Abbey of San Fruttuoso
CamogliFresh water runs beneath the arcades of San Fruttuoso, where the wooded Portofino headland meets a small Ligurian cove.
Augusta Bagiennorum
CherascoRoman forum, theatre and amphitheatre, 243-hectare nature reserve, Augustan grid town
Bova Marina Synagogue
Reggio CalabriaMenorah mosaic floor, second-oldest synagogue in Italy, Museo Archeoderi, 1983 discovery
Capitolium of Brescia
BresciaVespasian's Capitolium, Corinthian porch, Republican sanctuary frescoes, UNESCO Longobard site
Carsulae
TerniTwin forum temples, Via Flaminia paving, Arco di San Damiano, mysteriously abandoned Roman town
Castello della Manta
SaluzzoAbove Manta, near Saluzzo, the castle gathers several centuries of courtly life into one hillside complex.
Châtel-Argent
Villeneuve1275 cylindrical keep, Jacques de Saint-Georges design, Romanesque chapel, rock-cut access stair
Chiaravalle Abbey, Fiastra
Tolentino1142 Cistercian foundation, Romanesque-Gothic church, six historic grance farms, surrounding nature reserve
Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso
AostaRomanesque cloister capitals, hidden Ottonian frescoes, 1589 great bell, medieval priory complex
Fountain of the 99 Spouts
L'AquilaNinety-nine carved masks, unknown spring source, 1272 founding legend, checkerboard stone walls
National Archaeological Museum of Taranto
TarantoGold of Taranto jewelry, athlete's tomb display, bronze Zeus of Ugento, Orpheus and the Sirens group
Palazzo dei Consoli
GubbioEugubine Tablets, Gothic civic palace, 1332 construction, valley-to-Apennines view
Reifenstein Castle
BressanoneUntouched medieval interiors, original kitchen, woodcarved chapel, Bavarian log coffins
Sacred Spring of Su Tempiesu
NuoroBest-preserved Nuragic sacred spring, isodoma basalt masonry, 1953 rediscovery, bronze votive figurines
San Giovanni in Venere Abbey
FossacesiaThe abbey of San Giovanni in Venere took shape in 1015, with major rebuilding in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
