Italien

The most evocative of Venice's southern islands are tiny specks capped with monasteries such as San Servolo, San Lazzaro degli Armeni and (especially) San Giorgio Maggiore, its gracious Palladio church forming the essential backdrop for dreamy lagoon views. The much larger crescent of Giudecca has its own Palladian masterpieces and is a fascinating mash-up of luxury hotels, workaday apartments, the remnants of industry and a still-functioning women's prison. Lido is Venice's 12km beach escape, its A-list film festival a hangover from its days as one of Europe's most glamorous resorts.

Abruzzo är så okänt att knappt italienarna vet var det ligger, trots att här finns både höga berg där man kan åka skidor och fina stränder vid Adriatiska havet. Välkommen till det vilda Italien!

Den eviga staden Rom har ingen brist på varken sevärdheter eller upplevelser. Men kanske vill du maxa din semester med en liten utflykt? Vi har listat sju förslag på trevliga avstickare från Rom.

Apulien var länge Italiens port till Orienten. Idag en bubblande region som lyckats undgå turistradarn. Vagabonds Karin Wimark reste till klacken för en semester på italienarnas bakgård.

Italy's second-largest region is arguably its most elegant: a purveyor of Slow Food and fine wine, regal palazzi and an atmosphere that is superficially more français than italiano. But dig deeper and you'll discover that Piedmont has 'Made in Italy' stamped all over it. Emerging from the chaos of the Austrian wars, the unification movement first exploded here in the 1850s, when the noble House of Savoy provided the nascent nation with its first prime minister and its dynastic royal family.

Formed at the end of the last ice age, and a popular holiday spot since Roman times, the Italian Lakes have an enduring, beguiling beauty.

Vagabond möter Therese Elgquist som förälskat sig i Italien och följt sin dröm. Nu bor hon i Rom när det faller henne in och uppmuntrar andra att våga resa solo.

The Ionian Coast is studded with enough Sicilian icons to fill a souvenir tea towel. It’s here that you’ll find the skinny Strait of Messina, mighty Mt Etna and the world’s most spectacularly located ancient Greek theatre. Catania is the region's centre, a gritty, vibrant city packed with students, bars and nightlife. Its black-and-white baroque is World Heritage–listed, while its hyperactive fish market is one of Sicily’s most appetising sights. Halfway up a rocky mountainside, regal Taormina is sophisticated and exclusive, a favourite of holidaying VIPs and day-tripping tourists. Brooding menacingly on the city's doorstep, Mt Etna offers unforgettable hiking, both to the summit craters and around the woods that carpet its lower slopes. Etna is also a vino-making hotspot, dotted with vines and celebrated wineries. With a car and a little planning, the mountain sets a stunning scene for hunting out the perfect vintage.

Boasting a wealth of diversions, this huge area extends to Rome’s southern limits. Glorious ancient ruins lounge amid pea-green fields and towering umbrella pines along the cobbled Via Appia Antica, one of the world's oldest roads and pot-holed with subterranean catacombs dating to the dawn of Christianity. By contrast, post-industrial Ostiense blasts visitors straight back to the modern age with its edgy street art, superb local dining and heaving nightlife. Then there's EUR, an Orwellian quarter of wide boulevards and linear buildings.

Gardasjöns norra spets är ett epicentrum för alla som törstar efter en aktiv semester. Mellan alptopparna och sjöstränderna väntar slingrande cykelvägar och bedårande utsikter.