On the other side of the Chianti countryside from Florence is Siena, a Tuscan town rife with tradition and mood. Siena is best known as the site of the Palio. This twice-yearly, bareback horserace is held in the central Piazza del Campo, the heart of this UNESCO city. The Palio is a race ...

Valle d'Aosta is a beautiful region located in the northwest corner of Italy, surrounded by the stunning Italian Alps and known for its world-class ski resorts. Here are a few things that travelers should know before visiting Valle d'Aosta: Valle d'Aosta has its own unique language called ...

Trentino-Alto Adige is a beautiful region located in the northernmost part of Italy, in the east bordering Austria. It is a popular destination for travelers due to its stunning mountainous landscapes, Italo-German culture, and diverse array of outdoor activities, particularly in the Dolomites, ...

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, located off the southwestern coast of Italy. The Strait of Messina, a small, churning passageway between mainland Italy at Calabria and Messina, Sicily, was a key location in the ancient Greek epic The Iliad. Sicily, being such a large ...

The second-largest island in the Mediterranean (after Sicily), Sardinia is an autonomous region with its own history, culture, and ancient language/dialect. Because of its distance from mainland Italy, Sardinia is considered its own world by both Sardinians and Italians. Sardinia has a ...

Perched on a peak between Le Marche and Emilia-Romagna, the Republic of San Marino is worth a visit simply because it is, at 24 square miles (61 km2), the smallest republic in the world. Its population is also tiny—just fewer than 34,000 people call San Marino home. In addition to being the ...

Elegant and understated but also industrial and innovative, Piemonte (Piedmont) is the realm of the royal House of Savoy and the home of Fiat. The regional capital, Turin (Torino), is Italy's fourth largest city. It was the first capital of unified Italy (1861) and it is where you will find the ...

The Marches region, known as Le Marche (lay Mar-kay) in Italian, is a tangle of contradictions. Its wild landscape of craggy hills and dramatic mountains gives way to lush forests and pristine beaches. The tidy, sleepy hill towns and farming villages that dot the sage- and wheat-colored patchwork ...

Until 1963, Molise was part of a territory known as the Abruzzi and Molise. The terminology dates from the time when the area was part of the Kingdom of Sicily — a heritage that also groups Abruzzo and Molise with the Italian south or Mezzogiorno despite its central location. Since Molise has ...

If Italy is a boot, then Puglia (Apulia*) is its spur and stiletto heel. A long region on Italy’s southeast coast, Puglia is vast fields of wheat and olive groves in its north and interior and gorgeous beaches and swimming coves in the south. Puglia Map Puglia borders four other regions: ...

The richest and most populous of Italy's regions, Lombardy is home to Milan. Milan is not only the capital of Lombardy, but also Italy's capital of fashion, finance, and media. Known as Lombardia in Italian, Lombardy derives its name from the Longobards, a Germanic kingdom that ruled large ...

Umbria calls itself the "Green Heart of Italy." It's a perfect name for this central, landlocked region of picturesque, medieval hill towns, rolling green farmland and forests. Perugia is the capital of Umbria. Umbria Map Umbria borders Tuscany and Lazio, making it ideal for day trips and ...

Often paired with itineraries for Venice and the Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia is the easternmost region in Italy. One of Italy's five autonomous regions, Friuli-Venezia Giulia has a Central European flavor, owing to its geography and long history as a crossroads for trade. Friuli-Venezia ...

Mount Etna, located in eastern Sicily in the province of Catania, is the tallest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, the most active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. UNESCO inscribed Mount Etna as a natural World Heritage Site in 2013. Mount Etna in ...

The 18th-century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. Located outside of Naples, the palace and grounds make for a pleasant day trip from Rome or from other locations in Campania, ...

If you are visiting Rome, you cannot afford to miss Vatican City, the world's smallest country and home to the Pope. Here you will find the most important church in Christendom, St. Peter's Basilica, as well as some of the world's most significant artistic treasures, including the Sistine Chapel. ...

Venice is one of the most evocative and unforgettable cities in the world. Famous for its canals, bridges, gondolas, and hidden alleys, the city was the seat of the Venetian Republic for 1,000 years. Venice's role as the capital of a maritime republic and as one of the most significant ports ...

The Veneto region is known primarily for the city that gave it its name: Venice (Venezia in Italian). Here was the seat of the Venetian Republic, La Serenissima, which ruled the northern Adriatic for a millennium from the 8th to the 18th centuries. The Veneto is Venice and its canals, islands, ...