Italien

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.

Neither part of fashion conscious, Ferrari-producing northern Italy, nor the siesta-loving, anarchic world of the south, Abruzzo is something of an enigma. Despite its proximity to Rome and its long history of tribalism and pre-Roman civilisation, it sits well down the pecking order of Italian regions in terms of touristic allure.

Nowhere else in Sardinia is nature as overwhelming a force as it is in the wild, wild east, where the Supramonte’s imperious limestone mountains roll down to the Golfo di Orosei’s cliffs and startling aquamarine waters. Who knows where that winding country road might lead you? Perhaps to deep valleys concealing prehistoric caves and Bronze Age nuraghi, to the lonesome villages of the Barbagia steeped in bandit legends, or to forests where wild pigs snuffle amid centuries-old holm oaks. Neither time nor trend obsessed, this region is refreshingly authentic.

Much of Basilicata is an otherworldly landscape of mountain ranges, trackless forests and villages that seem to sprout organically from the granite. Not easily penetrated, it is strategically located, and has been dominated by the Lucanians, Greeks, Romans, Germans, Lombards, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans and others. Being the plaything of such powers has not been conducive to a quiet or happy fate.

Swaths of billowing green slopes cloaked by olive groves and sun-ripened wheat fields, castle-topped medieval towns and snow-capped Apennine peaks. No, not Tuscany but Umbria, its quieter and less-trodden neighbour, and Le Marche, one of Italy’s great unsung regions.

Efter flera års försening är det till slut grönt ljus för att börja bygga en ny höghastighetsjärnväg mellan Lyon och Turin. Det innebär att du när allt är klart om tio ska kunna resa från London till Milano på sex timmar och från Paris på bara fyra.

Italienska vinresor bjuder på vacker natur, urgamla anor, modern arkitektur och så klart utsökta viner! Vi tar en svängom i vinlandet och listar 4 unika upplevelser.

När Vagabonds redaktör tar sikte på Sicilien lämnar han de upptrampade stigarna i öst och beger sig till öns västra sida för vandring och en övergiven by.

Buried for centuries beneath metres of volcanic debris, the archaeological sites scattered between Naples and Castellammare to the south are among the most spectacular Roman relics in existence. These include the ruins of Pompeii and the smaller yet better-preserved ruins of Herculaneum. Beyond them are lesser-known yet worthy archaeological wonders, including the lavishly frescoed villa of Oplontis. Their common nemesis, Mt Vesuvius, offers jaw-dropping summit views and bucolic hiking trails. To the west of Naples lie the sulphuric Campi Flegrei, speckled with Graeco-Roman legends, evocative yet little-visited ruins, and an impressive archaeological museum.

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