Italien

A local legend says that when Venus rose from the waves seven precious stones fell from her tiara, creating seven islands off the Tuscan coast. These little-known gems range from tiny Gorgona, just 2.23 sq km in size, to the biggest and busiest island, 224-sq-km Elba (Isola d'Elba), best known as the place where Napoleon was exiled.

Cykeltrenden håller i sig. Det blir allt vanligare att vi tar med hojen på resan. Vagabond har letat fram de fem vackraste cykellederna i världen.

Italy's second-largest lake, Maggiore is one of Europe's more graceful corners. Arrayed around the lakeshore are a series of pretty towns (Stresa, Verbania, Cannobio and, on the Swiss side of the border, Locarno) and these serve as gateways to gorgeous Maggiore islands. Behind the towns, wooded hillsides rise, strewn with decadent villas, lush botanical gardens and even the occasional castle. Further still from the lakeshore, but not as far as you might think, the snow-capped peaks of Switzerland provide the perfect backdrop and idyllic vantage points over the lake are many, from the breakfast terrace of your lakeside hotel to the eyries reached by cable car from Locarno, Laveno and Stresa. And fabulous detours await, whether into the high valleys from the northern end of the lake or to Orta San Giulio to the southwest, one of the region's most beguiling villages.

Eternal crossroads of the Mediterranean, the gorgeous island of Sicily continues to seduce travellers with its dazzling diversity of landscapes and cultural treasures.

För den som planerar en resa till den italienska kuststräckan Cinque Terre är det viktigt att packa med rätt skor. Att ge sig ut och vandra med flip-flops, pumps eller sandaler på fötterna kan resultera i böter på upp till 25 000 kronor.

Counting the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps among its A-list sights, this central part of Rome is debonair and perennially packed with tourists. Designer boutiques, fashionable bars, swish hotels and a handful of historic cafes and restaurants crowd the streets between Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo in Tridente, while those around Piazza Barberini and the Trevi Fountain, within shouting distance of the president's palace on the Quirinale Hill, are home to multiple art galleries and an array of eateries that vary wildly in type and quality.

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.

Det finns en hel del mat, sevärdheter och aktiviteter i Italien som lockar alla slags resenärer – även familjer som reser med barn. Vad sägs om att lära sig surfa, upptäcka städer och spana efter delfiner och flamingor?

Vagabond tips för en smakrik resa från strandpärlan Cefalu till den oupptäckta västkusten.

Historiskt och kulinariskt omtumlande. Luggsliten och bedagad som få, men också fascinerande som ingen annan. Vi äter oss fram i Roms mest spännande stadsdel – Testaccio.