La Lanterna, Genoa’s towering stone lighthouse, has been guiding ships into port since medieval times. It stands proudly at 250 feet (76 meters) in height, making it the second-tallest masonry lighthouse in the world. After admiring the stellar views, visit the adjacent Lantern Museum, which covers the history of Genoa and its Old Port.
Genoa is a fitting location for the Galata Maritime Museum (Galata Museo del Mare), as the city has been a major maritime power for centuries. The Museum of the Sea’s four floors feature numerous exhibits on sailing ships and sea explorations—including an entire room dedicated to the famous Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus and his Transatlantic voyage.
Tracing its origins to the fourth century, the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo is among the oldest churches in Rome and a highlight of the Caelian Hill, especially fascinating for Christian history buffs. The church is built above Case Romane del Celio, said to be the home and burial site of the converted Roman soldiers John and Paul, beheaded on the emperor’s orders.
Rome’s Olympic Stadium (Stadio Olimpico) seats more than 70,000 spectators, and when the city’s beloved A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio football (soccer) teams hold their home matches here, there isn’t an empty seat in the house. But the stadium isn’t just for sports fans—the venue also hosts rock concerts and other sporting events, and it’s located within the monument-filled Foro Italico sports complex that lures history and architecture buffs.
Just a few miles from the French border, the Italian city of Ventimiglia is famed for its scenery and for its history. Ancient Roman ruins number among its top attractions, while Côte d’Azur day-trippers regularly cross the border to soak up its seaside charm, shop its weekly market, and relax on its two beaches.
One of the most famous sights in Palermo—albeit a rather macabre one—is the extensive network of catacombs under the city’s historic Capuchin Monastery. The subterranean Capuchin Catacombs (Catacombe dei Cappuccini) are home to thousands of mummified remains in varying states of preservation dating from the 16th to 20th centuries.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Aeolian Islands (Isole Eolie) comprise seven small volcanic islands off the northeastern coast of Sicily, including Lipari, Vulcano, and Stromboli. Famous for their beautiful coastlines and beaches, active volcanoes and mud baths, pretty resort towns and leisurely pace of living, the islands are a popular day trip destination for visitors seeking a largely peaceful (if tectonic) experience.
Italian style is loved and emulated worldwide, and one of the country’s most recognized fashion houses is Prada. Head to the Prada Outlet to find the label’s chic bags, shoes, clothing, and accessories—including pieces from Prada-owned brands such as Miu Miu—at discounts of up to 50 percent off retail prices. Also known as the Space Outlet, the shopping destination is just an hour outside of Florence.
La Triennale Museum (La Triennale di Milano) explores the history of Italian design, highlighting innovative works in furniture and industrial design, architecture, and decorative arts. Fittingly located in Milan (Italy’s design capital), the museum lies within the Palazzo dell’Arte—a venue originally built for the Triennale decorative arts show.
Science buffs of all ages marvel at the array of scientific and mathematical instruments at Florence’s Galileo Museum (Museo Galileo). Check out clocks, globes, and barometers commissioned by the Medici family, as well as the telescope that Galileo Galilei used to make some of his most important discoveries. Interactive exhibits demonstrate these objects’ inner workings and their lasting contributions to science—all in an 11th-century palazzo overlooking the Arno River.
Rome’s 19th-century Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is the Italian capital’s most important opera house. It’s most famous for hosting the premiere of Puccini’s Tosca in 1900. Originally named Teatro Costanzi, the theater was restored in the 1950s and looks straight out of a movie. Unless you’ve been inside a grand rival like London’s Royal Opera House, you haven’t experienced anywhere like this.
One of the top pilgrimage destinations in Italy, the town of San Giovanni Rotondo was home to Padre Pio—a priest canonized in 2002. Faithful followers from around the world flock to the town to honor its most famous resident, paying homage in the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina and Santa Maria delle Grazie, where the saint is buried. A visit here is particularly significant for Roman Catholics, and visitor numbers peak near his feast day in late September.
The House of Augustus, imperial residence of Caesar Augustus, is one of the most striking Roman ruins on the city’s ancient Palatine Hill. This palace is home to well-preserved fresco wall paintings from the first century BC, depicting landscapes and theatrical scenes in bright colors and meticulous detail. Included in the Forum’s SUPER Pass sites, this ancient treasure is often a highlight of ancient Rome tours.
The clifftop town of Orvieto sits above a hidden warren of tunnels and caverns dug through soft tufa bedrock from the time of the Etruscans to the 20th century. Discover this underground network with a visit to Pozzo della Cava, an Etruscan well enlarged in the 16th century that leads to ancient caves, kilns, and a cistern.
One of Sicily’s prettiest baroque cities (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site besides), Scicli is rich in elegant architecture, religious landmarks, and charming restaurants and cafés. The city’s hilltop San Matteo Church is its most recognizable monument, and other popular attractions range from its grand town hall to pretty palazzi.
It’s shoes, shoes, everywhere in the small basement museum of Palazzo Spini Feroni, the historical HQ of the Ferragamo designer. Floor-to-ceiling displays flaunt original Ferragamo shoes that have become works of art in their own right, and collectively tell the story of the shoemaker-stylist and his brand’s influence on footwear around the world. Highlights include décolleté stilettos made for Marilyn Monroe, and an original cork wedge heel, patented in the 1930s.
Just south of the Amalfi Coast, the seaside town of Salerno is home to the magnificent 11th-century Cathedral of Saint Matthew—one of the most beautiful medieval churches in Italy, with an ornate baroque crypt containing the remains of the Apostle Matthew. It’s an easy day trip from Sorrento, Positano, or Amalfi.
Sardinia has a history that stretches more than 6,000 years, and is rich in archaeological sites where scores of important artifacts have been unearthed. See some of the island’s most important ancient treasures in Cagliari’s excellent National Museum of Archaeology, home to finds from the Pre-Nuragic era to the Punic colonization.
Livorno, one of Italy’s most important seaports, is also home to an excellent aquarium. Kids and adults can enjoy watching marine creatures like zebra and blacktip sharks, Napoleon and angel fish, rays, seahorses, tortoises, and other species of marine wildlife in tanks, tunnels, and touch pools.
One of Europe’s first hospitals, Santa Maria della Scala was endowed by Siena’s wealthiest medieval families, who also commissioned artworks to decorate the building. View the original frescoes and altarpieces inside the chapels and oratories of this historic hospital, now a museum, on a tour of Siena’s most important sights.
The historic center of Noto is a treasure trove of Sicilian baroque architecture, and the Palazzo Nicolaci is among the finest examples of this 18th-century style in the city. With ornate balconies and whimsical carvings adorning its facade, the palace—together with a number of equally sublime baroque churches—is a highlight of Noto.
In a city home to hundreds of baroque, Gothic, and Renaissance churches, the neoclassical Basilica of San Francesco di Paola (Basilica di San Francesco di Paola) stands out. Completed by Ferdinand I after his return to the throne—and the ouster of Napoleon and his brother-in-law—the church dominates Piazza del Plebiscito with its portico and oculus reminiscent of Rome’s Pantheon.
Arezzo is famous for its monthly antique market, the oldest in Italy, that takes over the sweeping Piazza Grande in the heart of the old town. Even those who aren’t on a hunt for antique treasures will enjoy visiting this medieval public square lined with handsome palaces and loggias dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries.
The northern Italian lakes are popular destinations, beloved for their placid waters and mountain scenery. Among these, however, sleepy Lake Orta (Lago di Orta) is one of the least well known. Overshadowed by its famous neighbor, Lake Maggiore, and slightly farther from Milan, Lake Orta attracts visitors who want to get away from it all.
One of the many magnificent villas constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the Veneto countryside, Villa Valmarana ai Nani is named for the 17 stone sculptures of dwarves that line the top of its garden wall, and its interior frescoes by Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo are considered among their finest works.
South of the Arno River, across the river from splashy big-ticket attractions like the Duomo, Accademia, or Uffizi Gallery, Florence gets quieter and a whole lot more beatnik. Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the Oltrano neighborhood was known for its craftspeople and artisan workshops. Today, it holds onto that legacy with art galleries and studios, antique shops, and vintage clothing boutiques. San Frediano in particular is where Oltrano veers off the beaten track.
The image of Michelangelo’s David—one of the world’s best-known works of art—is so ubiquitous in Florence that it’s become a symbol of Italy’s Renaissance capital. Carved between 1501 and 1504, then installed at the custom-built Accademia Gallery (Galleria dell’Accademia) in 1873, the sculptural masterpiece symbolizes the liberty of Florence and the beauty of the human form.
Via Nazionale cuts straight through Rome’s historic heart, linking Piazza della Repubblica near the main Termini train station to Largo Magnanapoli, steps from monumental Piazza Venezia. Lined with shops, hotels, and churches, this busy thoroughfare is home to A-list sights including St. Paul’s Within the Walls, the Church of Santa Caterina da Siena a Magnanapoli, and Palazzo delle Esposizioni, a neoclassical exhibition space.
Testament to Taormina’s many layers of history, the Church of Santa Caterina di Alessandria has a wedding-cake-like baroque interior from the 17th century built atop an ancient crypt and Greek and Roman ruins, including those of the Roman Odeon. Archaeology and art enthusiasts alike will delight in this small but captivating church.
Emilia-Romagna’s Motor Valley is legendary among fans of luxury Italian cars and motorcycles, and the Ducati Museum (Museo Ducati) is one of the area’s most impressive attractions. Housed in the Ducati factory headquarters outside of Bologna, this museum is a must for motorcycle enthusiasts.
