Italien

Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper and the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio draw visitors to these leafy streets, but there’s an equal mix of sacred and secular here. Milan’s stock exchange sits on Piazza degli Affari, hence the chic shops on Corso Magenta and the aperitivo bars full of young bankers. Historically affluent, this neighbourhood is also home to the Milanese elite, and if you're lucky you may glimpse a sumptuous private courtyard. To the south and west, the vibe grows more casual, influenced by students at the sprawling Università Cattolica.

Milan’s centre is conveniently compact. The splendid cathedral sits in a vast piazza that throngs with tourists, touts and the Milanese themselves. From here, choose God or Mammon, music or art, or take in all four by visiting the epic Duomo, historic shopping arcade Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, La Scala opera house and the Palazzo Reale, Novecento and Gallerie d’Italia museums.

Rising out of the cobalt-blue seas off Sicily's northeastern coast, the Unesco-protected Aeolian Islands (Vulcano, Lipari, Salina, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) are a little piece of paradise, a seven-island archipelago offering a wealth of opportunities for relaxation and outdoor fun. Stunning waters provide sport for swimmers, sailors, kayakers and divers, while trekkers can climb hissing volcanoes and gourmets can sip honey-sweet Malvasia wine.

Växla mellan varmt och kallt. Här kommer sex ställen där du kan kombinera gnistrande vit snö med ljummet hav och soliga storstadsparker. Bäst tid att blanda skidåkning med utekafésittande i Europa är mars och april.

Named after Sulci, the ancient city the Phoenicians established on the Isola di Sant’Antioco, the Sulcis area encompasses Sardinia’s southwestern corner and its two offshore islands. Attention here is largely focused on its beaches and coastal splendours but venture inland and you'll discover a mountainous interior speckled with historical interest.

En av Medelhavets skönaste öar, med några av Europas vackraste stränder. Kanske tycks ön stor vid en första anblick. Men du kan hinna med många väldigt olika upplevelser under en veckas rundresa.

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.

Milan is Italy's city of the future, a fast-paced metropolis where money talks, creativity is big business and looking good is an art form.

Poets and politicians, divas and dictators, they've all been drawn to captivating Lake Garda (Lago di Garda). In fact, 7% of all tourists to Italy head for the lake’s shores, taking to its wind-ruffled waters in the north and village- and vineyard-hopping in the south. Surrounded by three distinct regions – Lombardy, Trentino Alto-Adige and the Veneto – the lake’s cultural diversity attracts a cosmopolitan crowd. Mitteleuropeans colonise northern resorts such as Riva del Garda and Torbole, where restaurants serve air-dried ham and Austrian-style carne salada (salted beef), while in the south, French and Italian families bed down in Valtenesi farmhouses and family-friendly spa towns such as Sirmione and Bardolino.

Lågsäsong är bästa tiden för att besöka Cinque Terre, det älskade italienska världsarvet som blivit lite för populärt för sitt eget bästa. Vi drog på oss vandringskängorna och hoppade på tåget!