Italien

A tightly packed tangle of cobbled alleyways, Renaissance palaces, ancient ruins and baroque piazzas, the historic centre is the Rome many come to see. Its theatrical streets teem with boutiques, cafes, trattorias and stylish bars, while market traders and street artists work its vibrant squares. The Pantheon and Piazza Navona are the star turns, but you’ll also find a host of monuments, museums and churches, many with works by the likes of Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini et al.

Upp på cykelsadeln, botanisera bland vinrankorna och besök Apuliens mathuvudstad. Vagabonds redaktör knådar pasta med proffs och letar södra Italiens bästa vingård.

Home to César Pelli’s spiralling skyscraper, Herzog & de Meuron’s contemporary 'greenhouse' and Stefano Boeri’s high-rise apartment blocks festooned with hanging gardens, the shiny new area between Porta Garibaldi and Porta Nuova is Milan’s mini-Manhattan. It even has its own sprawling public park: the Biblioteca degli Alberi (Library of Trees). Meanwhile, swanky Corso Como seamlessly links Corso Garibaldi with the hip, multicultural neighbourhood of Isola, making this a hotspot for bars, restaurants and independent shops.

Siena is a city where the architecture soars, as do the souls of many of its visitors. Effectively a giant, open-air museum celebrating the Gothic, Siena has spiritual and secular monuments that have retained both their medieval forms and their extraordinary art collections, providing the visitor with plenty to marvel at. The city's historic contrade (districts) are marvellous too, being as close-knit and colourful today as they were in the 17th century, when their world-famous horse race, the Palio, was inaugurated. And within each contrada lies vibrant streets populated with artisanal boutiques, sweet-smelling pasticcerie (pastry shops) and tempting restaurants. It's a feast for the senses and an essential stop on every Tuscan itinerary.

Uppför dig och visa respekt för de som bor här. Eller riskera att bli bötfälld. Det är budet från Florens som infört nya regler för turister som besöker den historiska staden.

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.

Redan 2019 gick Venedigs borgmästare ut med att man skulle börja ta betalt av besökare. Projektet blev sedan framskjutet på grund av pandemin – tills staden återigen såg 80 000 besökare om dagen.

If a Vespa-riding, siesta-loving, unapologetically chaotic Italy still exists, it's in Calabria. Rocked by recurrent earthquakes and lacking a Matera or Lecce to give it high-flying tourist status, this is a corner of Italy less globalised and homogenised. Its wild mountain interior and long history of poverty, Mafia activity and emigration have all contributed to its distinct culture. Calabria is unlikely to be the first place in Italy you'd visit. But if you’re intent on seeing a candid and uncensored version of la dolce vita that hasn’t been dressed up for tourist consumption, look no further, ragazzi (guys).

The Costa Smeralda evokes Sardinia’s classic images: pearly-white beaches and weird, wind-whipped licks of rock tapering into emerald seas. The dazzling coastal strip that the Aga Khan bought for a pittance is today the playground of millionaires and A-listers. Come summer, scandal-hungry paparazzi haunt the marinas, zooming in on oligarchs cavorting with bikini-clad beauties on yachts so big they eclipse the sun.

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.