Often referred to as the "Florence of the South" Lecce is one of the most captivating cities in Southern Italy. Learn more about this popular city in Puglia.

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

One of the least explored regions in Italy, Calabria is often skipped over as travelers head to its better-known "neighbor" Sicily. The narrow Straits of Messina separate the toe of Italy from the largest island in the Mediterranean. Though Calabria ranks low on travelers' itineraries, its 780 ...

Emilia-Romagna is a region known for its good taste and unforgettable flavors. The region is a major contributor to Italy's gastronomic heritage, being the birthplace of prosciutto, Parmigiano, balsamic vinegar, and pasta like tortellini and lasagne. Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna, is ...

Basilicata, the instep of Italy's boot, is best known for the stony town of Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The region is mostly mountainous, save for two stretches of coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Taranto. Basilicata is also known as "Lucania," a name that dates back to ...

From its rugged, mountainous national parks to its less touristy Adriatic beaches, Abruzzo is, as noted by writer Giorgio Manganelli, "a great producer of silence." Abruzzo is considered the greenest region in Europe owing to the fact that it is made up largely of parks and nature reserves, ...

Campania is one of those regions that has it all. Naples, the capital of Campania, is a lively yet mysterious city whose influence stretches across the entire region and beyond. The cityscape of Naples is unmistakable, with still-active Mount Vesuvius looming along the city edge. Not far ...