Italien

The Penisola Salentina, better known simply as Salento, is hot, dry and remote, retaining a flavour of its Greek past. It stretches across Italy's heel from Brindisi to Taranto and down to Santa Maria di Leuca. Here the lush greenery of Valle d'Itria gives way to flat, ochre-coloured fields hazy with wildflowers in spring, and endless olive groves.

Heavenly devotion and earthly delights coexist in San Polo and Santa Croce, where divine art rubs up against the ancient red-light district, now home to artisan workshops and osterie (taverns). Don’t miss fraternal-twin masterpieces: Titian’s glowing Madonna at I Frari and turbulent Tintorettos at Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Quirky museums fill Grand Canal palazzi (mansions) with fashion and natural history oddities, while island-grown produce crams the stalls of the Rialto Market.

Kombinera sol- och badsemester med Italiens kanske mest underskattade stad. Cagliari bjuder på mysiga uteserveringar, rosa flamingor och närhet till de bästa stränderna på Sardinien.

Du har antagligen sett dem på bild, de fem pastellfärgade byarna som klämmer in sig mellan bergvägar vid den italienska kusten – Cinque Terre, eller "fem länder" som det betyder ordagrant. Få tips om hotell att bo på, restauranger att besöka och vackra leder att vandra!

Set in the shadow of the snow-covered Rhaetian Alps and hemmed in on both sides by steep, verdant hillsides, Lake Como (aka Lake Lario) is perhaps the most spectacular of the three major lakes. Shaped like an upside-down Y, measuring around 160km in squiggly shoreline, it's littered with villages, including exquisite Bellagio and Varenna. Where the southern and western shores converge is the lake's main town, Como, an elegant, prosperous Italian city.

Under Colosseum i Rom går ett enormt närverk av underjordiska tunnlar där gladiatorerna och djuren förbereddes inför sina blodiga strider. För första gången i amfiteaterns historia öppnas nu det 15 000 kvadratmeter stora tunnelnätverket upp för allmänheten!

Anchored by its magnificent basilica, this ancient and intriguing part of Florence defies easy description – from the rough-cut streets around the central train station it’s only a short walk to the busy social scene around increasingly gentrified Piazza di Santa Maria Novella and the hip boutiques on the atmosphere-laden, old-world ‘back streets’ west of Via de’ Tornabuoni. Shopping here, intermingled with a multitude of attractive dining and drinking options, is among the best in Florence.

Italien har ingen brist på cykelvägar med undersköna vyer – men kommande Ciclabile di Limone sul Garda spås bli något i en klass för sig. Den 140 kilometer långa sträckan kommer att gå runt hela Gardasjön och har redan titulerats "Europas mest spektakulära cykelbana".

Rom har ett överflöd av antik historia, mysiga gränder och enastående matupplevelser. Men det är lätt att gå vilse bland alla frestelser. Vagabonds Peter Loewe, som sedan länge bor i Rom, berättar hur du bäst tillbringar din tid i Den eviga staden.

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.