Italy
Cities, countryside
& coastal stays
My attachment to Italy began with Rome and Pompeii, as a child who was quite certain she was going to become an archaeologist (spoiler: I didn’t). The fascination with Italy, however, has proved rather more enduring than that particular career plan.
I return to Italy at least once a year, often more. I’ve also based myself here to live and work remotely, alongside many shorter return trips.
These guides bring together the cities and regions I know best, with my own take on what makes each worth your time and the practical detail to help you plan a trip.
Where to go in Italy
Florence, Rome & Venice
Florence
In Florence, a painting can lead you to a patron, a palace to a family feud. The Medici’s rise to power, political intrigue and extraordinary artistic legacy are what I find so intoxicating here. Knowing who commissioned what, and why, gives you another way into its churches, palaces and Renaissance art. Leave time, too, for workshops, food markets and a long lunch between them.
Florence travel guides →
Rome
For all its visitors, Rome remains defiantly Roman, with an almost indignant character that I love. You can spend your days among ancient ruins and extraordinary art, but there is room for slower ones too: a neighbourhood wander, a long lunch, an afternoon with no major sight to reach. There is brilliant dining to seek out among the tourist traps, from traditional Roman cooking to inventive modern restaurants. Give yourself time for that side of Rome as well.
Rome travel guides →
Venice
Venice’s great sights deserve their reputation, but trying to ‘do it once’ can leave you with a visit spent largely in crowds. Give yourself time for the smaller canals and for its food, which is the part I love most. A few stops for ‘cicchetti’, the small bites served in its ‘bacari’, or wine bars, offer a very different afternoon from queuing between monuments. For a city this famous, Venice remains an underrated place to eat.
Venice travel guides →
Naples
If I could hop on a plane to one Italian city for a single night, I would choose Naples. It would always be worth the effort. It feels so different from its northern cousins: the grandeur and the grit, the densely built city opening onto the sea beneath Vesuvius, the extraordinary art and sprawling sites below ground. Its economic hardships are real, too, and part of understanding the place. All these elements exist alongside one another in a city whose particular combination I have never found elsewhere.
Naples travel guides →
Palermo
Palermo is often given a day; a month here left me with more questions than I had ever asked of a destination. Successive rulers and cultures have left so much to unravel in its buildings, food and streets that my reading and explorations became absorbing in their own right. The city is full of stories and humanity, with echoes of past grandeur that can stop you in your tracks. I also came away with a sense of a place looking forward. Give Palermo time, and its many layers become a large part of the pleasure.
Palermo travel guides →Beyond a city break
Tuscany & Campania
Tuscany
Tuscany’s popularity is well earned. There seems to be no end to its hilltop towns and hamlets, each with histories and traditions of their own, and the variety across the region makes returning especially rewarding. Its wine country could occupy a trip in itself, while Siena is a city I would happily build a stay around. You can fill your days with art, towns and vineyard visits, or do very little beyond enjoying the countryside and a good place to stay. I’ve found Tuscany wonderfully accommodating of both.
Tuscany travel guides →
Campania
My introduction to Campania followed a familiar course: the Amalfi Coast, Positano, Amalfi and Capri. Return visits have widened that picture considerably, and Ischia has become the island I find myself championing most. With Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum, the coast and three very different islands to consider, there is plenty here to reward looking beyond the best-known stops. I would give some thought to your base before booking: Positano will suit some trips, but it needn’t be the starting assumption.
Campania travel guides →Planning your Italy trip
Start with the practicalities
Train travel, summer heat, church visits, restaurant habits and the small details that can make a day easier. My Italy travel tips bring together the advice I find myself giving most often, with the reasons behind it.
Read my Italy travel tips →Choose how the trip fits together
If you are combining destinations, these guides work through the order, connections and time each stop needs.
Eating and drinking in Italy
I would leave the idea of a single ‘Italian cuisine’ at home. The meat dishes and wines I look forward to in Tuscany belong to a very different setting from Venice’s lagoon cooking, while Palermo introduces another set of flavours again. These guides help you decide what to seek out and where to eat it.