Travelling to Italy

If you are planning a trip to Italy be ready for amazing fashion, breath-taking architecture and sampling one of the most popular global cuisines. We have put together our favourite places to explore across Italy.

Florence

Visiting Florence is like walking inside a Renaissance work of art. The capital of Tuscany is brimming with churches, museums and piazzas, and has been a hub for artists since the days of the Medici family in the 1400s. Must see works include Michelangelo's statue of David in the Galleria dell'Accademia, Botticelli's Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery, and the cathedral with its iconic terracotta dome by Brunelleschi.

Explore the shops lining the Ponte Vecchio bridge, boasting gold and gemstone stalls. The crafts quarter of Oltrarno, south of the river Arno, is well worth a visit, as you can see the silversmiths and papermakers in their workshops. When you need refuelling, you'll be spoilt for choice among the trattorias and gelaterias, most of which allow you to take a table on the pavement and become part of the scenery yourself.

Italian islands

For the majority of UK holidaymakers, the most popular Italian islands remain Sicily and Sardinia, and it's easy to see why - glorious scenery, a great climate and an authentic southern Mediterranean experience make them ideal destinations.

But as an alternative, it's worth exploring the hidden gem, Ischia. Situated in the Bay of Naples - less than an hour from Napoli by hydrofoil and a short sail from its more famous neighbour, Capri - it's a true delight. Natural thermal spas pepper the island while stunning hidden coves and are reachable by water taxi - along with sandy beaches. You'll find fascinating history around every corner, and the local cuisine provides a true taste of Italy. For a longer break it's the perfect base to explore the Amalfi coast.

Italian lakes

This region of northern Italy, near the Swiss border, is where you will find the famous Italian lake district. From magical and relatively undiscovered Orta in the west to the largest and most-visited Garda in the east, the lakes all differ in size and character. The one thing they all have in common, though, is that they're seriously picturesque.

Whether it's the sleepy lakeside fishing villages on lesser-known Lake Iseo or the palatial, pastel-hued hotels overlooking Lake Como, everywhere you look there is beauty. Even the busy watersports resorts on Garda are pretty. The lakes have long had a reputation as the luxury haunt of Hollywood A-listers. However, with plenty of stunning but affordable places on the famous lakes or the option to explore the quieter ones, canny travellers can easily soak up the wonders of the lakes too - even without a film star's bank balance.

Milan

Football, fashion, food, art and architecture: for many northern Italians, Rome may be their country's capital, but Milan is its beating heart. The city was capital of the Western Roman Empire for over a century, and this time spent at the centre of the world has left its mark. Cultural gems can be found all over the city, from Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper to Caravaggio's Basket Of Fruit.

The city's modern landmarks are no less impressive: the San Siro football stadium, one of the world's greatest sporting theatres, and the so-called 'Fashion Rectangle' where you can while away a afternoon browsing the city's famous boutiques. The city has plenty of narrow streets made for wandering around; grab a cappuccino and jump onto one of Milan's yellow vintage 1920s trams when you get tired. If you feel like venturing further afield, a jaunt to the bewitching Lake Garda or Lake Como makes an unforgettable day trip.

Sicily

This lemon-tree scented island is a mesmerising crossroads of Mediterranean culture. Roman theatres sit next to Byzantine mosaics, Arabian domes and Baroque palazzos. Picture-perfect beaches accompany the many historic sights: Taormina's stunning hill-top amphitheatre; Agrigento's ancient temples; and Siracusa's ancient island of Ortigia, with its maze of cobbled streets serving some of the best street food in Italy - utterly magical seen twinkling at twilight from the back of a little motor boat.

Inland, a trip up Etna's smoking volcanic hulk to stare into its simmering sulphuric crater is another must-do; while a Godfather tour of the scenic villages with stunning views around Taormina, where Francis Ford Coppola's seminal movies were shot, will delight film fans - make sure to stop off for a lemon granita when things heat up in the midday sun. Special mention must go to the food, worthy of a visit in itself. With a cuisine that takes as much from North Africa as it does from Italy, simple, fresh ingredients here are elevated to the sublime in a riot of spice and flavour: shellfish, sardines, swordfish, tomatoes, sticky arancini and some of the best spaghetti dishes you will ever taste.

Rome

The capital of Italy and one of the most visited cities in Europe, the Eternal City has a famous landmark on practically every corner. The best way to experience Rome is on foot, soaking up the vibrant atmosphere meandering through the piazzas and cobbled streets. Walking around Rome is like taking a walk through your very own film set - from the Spanish Steps to the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain to the Roman Forum, everywhere you look there's a photo opportunity.

Meanwhile, the Vatican Museum boast one of the world's greatest art collections throughout about 7km of halls and corridors, and of course, the Michelangelo-painted Sistine Chapel. The dome of St Peter's Basilica, which rises up from St Peter's Square in the Vatican City, is visible all over the city. While you wouldn't dream of going to Rome and avoiding the obvious sights, when it comes to eating out try to get off the tourist track. You'll find some superb restaurants hidden away in Trastavere, a charming medieval neighbourhood.

Sorrento

This civilised and chic town just at the bottom of the Bay of Naples oozes sophistication. Handsome Renaissance and Romanesque architecture, a charming Baroque old town, piquant southern Italian food: even its tourist shops are stylish, selling the ceramics and lace for which the town is famous. But Sorrento's greatest appeal is as a base for exploring the Amalfi coast, quite possibly Europe's most magnificent stretch of coastline. Breath-taking scenery, glamorous resorts, glorious weather, spectacular coast roads with plummeting drops; the most pressing problem is the potential to run out of superlatives to describe it.

Hire a car to visit the geographically impossible town of Positano, with wedding-cake coloured houses piled vertiginously around its beach, and wander around shops selling white linen dresses, chic Italian swimwear and brightly coloured art. Stop off at the pretty fishing town of Amalfi for homemade ice cream in the town square, a visit to the beautiful church and a shot of the local limoncello.

This is also the departing point for boats to the fabled island of Capri, whose rustic beauty and dash of stylish hedonism has been attracting everyone from Roman Emperors to Hollywood stars to sample its dolce vita for centuries. Pompeii's world-famous ruins are also within day-tripping distance (don't miss the eerie preserved body casts, caught forever in the throes of death); the town of Herculaneum is equally worth a visit. Buried in Vesuvius's boiling mud at the same time Pompeii was destroyed by ash, it's preserved in a completely different but equally intriguing way.

Venice

The crowds that flock to Venice may be legendary, but there's a reason why thousands of tourists descend on this uniquely enchanting city every year. Built on a marshy lagoon in the Adriatic, Venice doesn't have cars or roads like any old bog-standard city - oh no, it's canals and boats for getting around here.

It may seem a cliché but a gondola ride along the Grand Canal, the main water route that weaves through the city, is the best way to take in some of the famous sights like the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Basilica. Away from the most obvious guidebook hotspots, if you do your research you can find off-the-beaten-track piazzas with restaurants serving up authentic Venetian cuisine. But you can't really escape the tourist scene here - and, in all honesty, nor would you want to. Especially not at carnival time when the city famously comes to life in a burst of colourful costumes and Venetian masks.