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
San Vincenzo al Volturno
IserniaCrypt of Epiphanius frescoes, 731 Benedictine founding, active convent since 2016, early medieval archaeology
Sarriod de la Tour Castle
Saint-PierreHall of Heads ceiling, 171 carved corbels, Sarriod family seat, Fragmenta Picta exhibition
Su Romanzesu
NuoroSacred well and corridor, amphitheater gathering space, megaron temples, labyrinth structure
Udine Castle
UdineBronze Age artificial hill, Tiepolo gallery, civic museums, Alps-to-Adriatic view
Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini
GenoaThree-act romantic park, Michele Canzio's design, Museo di Archeologia Ligure, Italy's most beautiful garden (2017)
Villa Grock
ImperiaGrock's personal mansion, Jugendstil-Art Deco interiors, Museo del Clown, 2013 reopening
Villa Imperiale of Pesaro
PesaroGirolamo Genga's Mannerist wing, Dosso Dossi and Bronzino frescoes, terraced hillside gardens, private ducal villa
Villa Monastero
VarennaLakeside botanical garden, former Cistercian convent, International School of Physics, Fermi's lectures
Ragusa Ibla
RagusaSee Ibla before descending Begin at Santa Maria delle Scale, on the slope between upper Ragusa and Ibla.
Venetian Walls of Bergamo
BergamoSix kilometers of ramparts, fourteen bastions, UNESCO listing since 2017, sunset promenade views to Milan
Aosta Megalithic Area
AostaNeolithic anthropomorphic stelae, six-millennia continuous use, glass-floor museum, 1969 discovery
Archaeological Park of Urbs Salvia
UrbisagliaLargest Marche archaeological park, 23 AD Roman theater, well-preserved amphitheater, on-site museum
Baglioni Chapel
SpelloPinturicchio's frescoed chapel, Annunciation self-portrait, Deruta maiolica floor, Renaissance colour
Carsiana Botanical Garden
TriesteTen recreated Karst habitats, 600 native plant species, sinkhole setting, free admission
Castel Beseno
RoveretoLargest Trentino fortress, 1487 Battle of Calliano, Von Trapp family ownership, Buonconsiglio museum network
Castel Thun
TrentoOriginal family furnishings, Stanza del Vescovo pine room, 2010 reopening, Buonconsiglio museum network
Castello della Pietra
GenoaCastle wedged between rock towers, della Pietra family seat, 1797 burning, Antola Regional Park
Castle of Santa Severina
CrotoneNorman castle over Byzantine fortress, 1076 Guiscard construction, protohistoric bronzes, Calabrian castles centre
Crocifisso del Tufo Necropolis
Orvieto200 inscribed tuff-stone tombs, Etruscan family names, orthogonal street layout, 6th-century BC origins
Duino Mithraeum
GoriziaRare Roman mithraeum, tauroctony carving, cave sanctuary near Duino, 400 votive coins found
Fortress of Civitella del Tronto
Civitella del TrontoLast Bourbon stronghold, 1860-61 siege, half-kilometer ridge fortress, weapons and maps museum
Gradara Castle
GradaraPaolo and Francesca's tragedy, double-walled fortress, Malatesta-Montefeltro feud, Dante's fifth canto
Hermitage of Sant'Onofrio al Morrone
SulmonaCelestine V's hermit years, 1294 papal announcement, cliffside Morrone setting, 15th-century frescoes
International Museum of Ceramics
FaenzaWorld's largest maiolica collection, Picasso ceramic donations, Renaissance-to-contemporary span, active local workshops
