Italien

Sagolika stränder, autentiska lantgårdar och underskattade storstäder. Italienska Sardinien har det mesta en Medelhavsö kan tänkas behöva. Här är fem favoriter från norr till söder.

Italy's largest sea port is indefatigably contradictory, full at once of grandeur, squalor, sparkling light and deep shade. It's a gateway to the Riviera for many travellers today, but a weighty architectural heritage speaks of its former glory – the Most Serene Republic of Genoa ruled over the Mediterranean waves during the 12th to the 13th centuries – and history feels alive in Genoa. No more is this true than in its extensive old city, an often confronting reminder of premodern life with its twisting maze of caruggi (narrow streets), largely intact. Emerge blinking from this thrillingly dank heart to Via Garibaldi and the splendid Enlightenment-era gold-leaf halls of the Unesco-listed Palazzi dei Rolli.

Siena is a city where the architecture soars, as do the souls of many of its visitors. Effectively a giant, open-air museum celebrating the Gothic, Siena has spiritual and secular monuments that have retained both their medieval forms and their extraordinary art collections, providing the visitor with plenty to marvel at. The city's historic contrade (districts) are marvellous too, being as close-knit and colourful today as they were in the 17th century, when their world-famous horse race, the Palio, was inaugurated. And within each contrada lies vibrant streets populated with artisanal boutiques, sweet-smelling pasticcerie (pastry shops) and tempting restaurants. It's a feast for the senses and an essential stop on every Tuscan itinerary.

Införandet av den omdiskuterade turistavgiften i Venedig planerades att införas sommaren 2020 men nu skjuts den upp till 1 juli 2021.

Known as the land of the sirens, in honour of the mythical maiden-monsters who were said to live on Li Galli (a tiny archipelago off the peninsula’s southern coast), the area to the west of Sorrento is among the least developed and most beautiful in the country.

Toscana, Veneto och Sicilien i all ära – kanske är du redo att se något nytt av Italien? Abruzzo ligger vid Italiens östra kust och är till och med okänd bland många italienare. Här får du vår guide till regionen som bjuder på björnar, berg och bad!

Italy's famed crescent of Mediterranean coast, where the Alps and the Apennines cascade into the sea, is defined by its sinuous, giddy landscapes. The Italian Riviera, synonymous with the Ligurian region, is shaped by its extreme topography – its daily life is one of ascents and descents, always in the presence of a watery horizon.

The volcanic outcrop of Ischia is the most developed and largest of the islands in the Bay of Naples. An early colony of Magna Graecia, first settled in the 8th century BC, Ischia today is famed for its thermal spas, manicured gardens, striking Aragonese castle and unshowy, straightforward Italian airs – a feature also reflected in its food. Ischia is a refreshing antidote to glitzy Capri.

Nowhere else in Sardinia is nature as overwhelming a force as it is in the wild, wild east, where the Supramonte’s imperious limestone mountains roll down to the Golfo di Orosei’s cliffs and startling aquamarine waters. Who knows where that winding country road might lead you? Perhaps to deep valleys concealing prehistoric caves and Bronze Age nuraghi, to the lonesome villages of the Barbagia steeped in bandit legends, or to forests where wild pigs snuffle amid centuries-old holm oaks. Neither time nor trend obsessed, this region is refreshingly authentic.

Det finns ställen som man helt enkelt inte får nog av. Trots att att det är spännande att upptäcka nya delar av världen finns det vissa platser vi återvänder till om och om igen. Redaktionen listar sina favoriter!