Italien

I flera år hade Anna och Mats Eriksson närt drömmen om ett italienskt semesterhus. När de äntligen hittade sitt drömhus på en mäklarsida var det mitt under pandemin och omöjlig att åka ned på husvisning. Så de köpte huset ändå – via video.

Turister på Sardinien har tyckt att sanden på stränderna är så oemotstÙ�ndlig att man valt att packa ner lite i bagaget inför hemresan. Men nu ska sanden som beslagtagits tillbaka där den hör hemma – på den italienska öns idylliska kustlinje.

This part of the city fuses a gutsy market precinct – a covered produce market and noisy street stalls surrounding the Basilica di San Lorenzo – with capacious Piazza San Marco, home to Florence University and a much-loved museum. Between the two is the world’s most famous sculpture, David. The result is a sensory experience jam-packed with urban grit, uplifting art and some fabulously authentic, local-loved addresses to eat, drink and shop.

Vagabonds redaktör Karin Wimark bodde ett år i Florens och förälskade sig i människorna, maten och kulturen. Här är hennes bästa tips till staden bland Toscanas kullar.

With its triple-barrelled moniker, Friuli Venezia Giulia's multifaceted nature should come as no surprise. Cultural complexity is cherished in this small, little-visited region, tucked away on Italy's far northeastern borders with Austria and Slovenia. Its landscapes offer profound contrasts too, with the perpetually snowy Giulie and Carnic Alps in the north, idyllic grapevine-filled plains in the centre, sandy beaches along the southern shore, and limpid lagoons and craggy karst cliffs encircling the regional capital, Trieste.

With its old-world cobbled lanes, ochre palazzi, ivy-clad facades and boho vibe, ever-trendy Trastevere is one of Rome’s most vivacious and Roman neighbourhoods – its very name, ‘across the Tiber’ (tras tevere), evokes both its geographical location and sense of difference. Endlessly photogenic and largely car-free, its labyrinth of backstreet lanes heaves after dark as crowds swarm to its foodie and fashionable restaurants, cafes and bars. Rising up behind all this, Gianicolo Hill offers a breath of fresh air and superb views of Rome, which is laid out at your feet.

Mjuka hästar, cowboyhatt och bubblande rött vin. Följ med till en äkta hästranch i den italienska regionen Emilia-Romagna.

Borromeiska öarna är tre italienska pärlor vackert belägna i Lago Maggiore. Vi tog båten dit och upptäckte botaniska trädgårdar och pittoreska fiskrestauranger.

Tumbling down to the Adriatic from a wild, karstic plateau and almost entirely surrounded by Slovenia, Trieste is physically and psychologically isolated from the rest of the Italian peninsula. As such, it preserves its own unique border-town culture and retains a fascinating air of fluidity encapsulated in the Triestini dialect, a strange melange of Italian, Austrian-German, Croatian and Greek.

Most visitors to the Veneto devote all their time to Venice, which is understandable – until you discover the rich variety of experiences that await just an hour or two away.