Italien

Turister på Sardinien har tyckt att sanden på stränderna är så oemotstÙ�ndlig att man valt att packa ner lite i bagaget inför hemresan. Men nu ska sanden som beslagtagits tillbaka där den hör hemma – på den italienska öns idylliska kustlinje.

Sicilianska Cammarata vill stoppa utflyttningen. Det gör man genom att skänka bort övergivna bostäder som annars skulle förvandlas till ruiner. Kravet för att få ett hus gratis är att renovera.

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.

The jagged peaks of the Dolomites span the provinces of Trentino and Alto Adige, jutting into neighbouring Veneto. Europeans flock here in winter for highly hospitable resorts, sublime natural settings and extensive, well-coordinated ski networks. Come for downhill or cross-country skiing and snowboarding or get ready for sci alpinismo (an adrenaline-spiking mix of skiing and mountaineering), freeride, and a range of other winter adventure sports including those on legendary circuit Sella Ronda. This is also a beautiful summer destination, offering excellent hiking, sublime views and lots of fresh, fragrant air.

When people imagine classic Tuscan countryside, they usually conjure up images of central Tuscany. However, there's more to this popular tourist region than silver-green olive groves, sloping fields of golden wheat gently rippling in the breeze, sun-kissed vineyards and artistically planted avenues of cypress tress. The real gems are the historic towns and cities, most of which are medieval and Renaissance time capsules magically transported to the modern day.

Home to the spectacular sawtoothed Dolomites, the semi-autonomous provinces of Trentino and South Tyrol are packed with stunning landscapes. The region has long enticed hikers, climbers, poets and fresh-air fanciers, with the scenic Sella Ronda remaining one of the world's most iconic skiing and cycling circuits.

Set amid some of the most dramatic coastal scenery on the planet, these five ingeniously constructed fishing villages can bolster the most jaded of spirits. A Unesco World Heritage Site since 1997, Cinque Terre isn't the undiscovered Eden it once was but, frankly, who cares? Sinuous paths traverse seemingly impregnable cliff sides, while a 19th-century railway line cut through a series of coastal tunnels ferries the footsore from village to village. Thankfully cars were banned over a decade ago.

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.

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.

Reseappen Gayze vill öppna upp världen för HBTQ+-resenärer. Bakom appen, som är en kombinerad dating-, rese-, och informations-app står den svenska doun Stelios Vasilantonakis och Elin Wibel.