Holiday destinations

Tucked away in the hills of southern Italy is a neo-Gothic sanctuary that looks like a fairytale castle rising from the mountains.

In southern Tuscany, a small hilltop village is built around 42 thermal springs that have flowed for millennia.

Along cliffs, lighthouses and ancient mule tracks, Italy is home to spectacular walks overlooking the sea, with postcard views and, often, specific rules to follow. In some cases, tickets or advance bookings are required; in others, it’s best to set off during the cooler hours of the day and carry plenty of water. Here’s a selection of 10 coastal routes and sea‑view trails in Italy, with essential information on difficulty, walking times and access.

A recent Guardian feature picked out six of the best natural and free beaches in Italy, highlighting stretches of coastline that remain open to all despite the dominance of private beach clubs. The selection spans the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian and Mediterranean, focusing on protected parks, volcanic

In recent years, a growing number of Italian municipalities have introduced a smoking ban on beaches. The aim is to protect the environment, improve air quality and make beaches more comfortable for everyone.

When the cities start to bake in July, there’s another side to Italy that feels surprisingly liveable.

Just a few minutes beyond the Aurelian Walls in Rome, you’ll find an enormous green corridor where you can literally walk on paving stones laid more than two thousand years ago. Mausoleums rise out of the grass, catacombs run underground, and aqueducts cut across the skyline.

Pastel-colored sands, dunes that look like hills, and coves accessible only by sea: no, it's not a tropical dream.

If you’ve spent any time on an Italian beach, you’ll know it usually means hiring a sun umbrella and a couple of loungers at a privately managed beach club. What’s changed is the price.

Italy isn't just about great art cities and famous villages: there's another geography made up of tiny towns where the houses can be counted on one hand and life flows very quietly. These are the smallest villages in Italy, places where it only takes a few minutes to walk through the entire town. In these tiny villages with very few inhabitants, every house has a story, every alley holds a memory, and every elder is a sort of living archive of traditions, dialects, and legends.

There’s a stretch of central Italy where rust-red rock towers rise sharply above green woodland, with a deep blue lake sitting just below.

Italy has a knack for hiding its best cards. Beyond Rome, Florence and Venice, there are incredible places in Italy that feel lifted straight out of a historical novel: alpine lakes that once turned red, Moorish revival castles, lava-carved gorges and abandoned hilltop towns.

There are beaches you visit and others you remember for years. Cala Mariolu definitely falls into the second group. A natural amphitheatre of white rock and crystal-clear water, the sea here shifts colour throughout the day, from deep emerald to intense turquoise.

June is the perfect month to kick off summer with an unforgettable holiday in Italy.

Italy is one of those countries that genuinely rewards slow travel.

An Italian railway line, often called the Railway of Wonders, runs for just over 100 kilometres.

High above the Valtiberina in eastern Tuscany sits a hilltop town where history isn’t boxed away in a museum but written into the streets and skyline.

Carved deep into the Brasa River gorge, between sheer rock faces and tunnels cut straight through the mountain, a dramatic stretch of road links Lake Garda to the Tremosine plateau. Over the years, it has drawn motorcyclists, drivers, cyclists and photographers, all keen to experience its cinematic curves and vertiginous views. Its reputation has grown to the point that many now refer to it simply as “the most beautiful road in the world.”

Tucked into the mountains of central Italy, Lago di Scanno is the famous heart-shaped lake in Abruzzo that tends to pop up in travel photos without much explanation. Where is the heart-shaped lake in Italy?Sitting at around 930 metres above sea level, the heart-shaped lake in Italy is located i

Milan and the big lakes tend to steal the spotlight. But Lombardy has far more up its sleeve. Beyond the headline names, there’s a patchwork of villages with castles rising straight out of the water, footpaths clinging to cliffs between mountains and lakes, grand villas with vast gardens, and old-school spa towns where slowing down feels natural. Explore lesser-known yet unmissable villages in Lombardy that deserve a spot on your holiday wish list.

Italy’s historic trains are returning to the tracks this year, linking the Alps, the Ligurian Riviera and the Langhe wine hills with a series of carefully curated Sunday journeys.

Can a region be rebuilt with a handful of seedlings? In one Italian village, this is exactly what happened.

Is it really possible to walk along iron stairways suspended above the water and pause on natural terraces that open out across the whole of Lake Garda? It is, and these aren’t fantasy routes dreamt up for Instagram.

There are places in Sardinia where the sand seems to set the sea alight.

If you’re planning a short Italian escape and want somewhere atmospheric, walkable and packed with culture, these five destinations deliver.