There are a million reasons to go to Italy, so why do visitors always go to the same few places? Here are our favourite ways to shake up your Italian itinerary.
Does it seem like everyone is in Italy right now? Italy has been ranked as the top destination for American travellers in 2024 and 2025, according to a study by Price Waterhouse Cooper and the United States Tour Operators Association, but the honour should come as no surprise. The nation welcomes 80 million international visitors annually, drawn by its pastel-coloured villages, Renaissance treasures and Roman ruins.
From the Etruscans to the Romans to the Byzantines, each civilisation that has passed through this boot-shaped nation has left their own unique architectural stamp on the land, transforming its cities into open-air museums. Italy also enjoys a reputation for a deliciously laid-back lifestyle – especially in summer, when everybody's in the piazza and beach umbrellas stud the coastlines.
"Italy doesn’t ask you to be a tourist; it invites you to feel something," says Ruben Santopietro, CEO and founder of Visit Italy. "It’s a country where chaos meets elegance, where silence in a mountain village can be as powerful as an opera at [Milan's] La Scala [theatre]. You can visit 10 times, and the 11th time still surprises you, not with something new, but with something ancient you hadn’t noticed before. Italy doesn’t entertain you. It transforms you."
A 2024 study by TourismA found foreign visitors stick to the same few popular cities – equaling just 1% of Italy’s territory. Here are our favourite ways to explore the other 99% this summer.
Why Italy?
There are a million reasons to visit. Here are some of our favourites.
The Palio of Siena attracts history buffs with its recreation of a medieval horse race (2 July and 16 August), while Milan Fashion Week and opera season in Shakespeare's fair city of Verona are musts for culture vultures. Sports fans can experience the Giro d'Italia (9 May to 1 Jun in 2025) or the Formula One Grand Prix held in Imola (spring) and Milan (late summer).
Hack: Upwards of 30 million pilgrims are expected to head to St Peter's Basilica in Italy's already-overtouristed capital city to celebrate the Jubilee year for Roman Catholics. Visitors dreaming of Rome in 2025 would do well to skip summer and come during the shoulder months of October to March, avoiding the religious holidays of Easter, the Immaculate Conception (8 December), Christmas and the Epiphany (6 January).
For a detour from the bucket list art cities, visit the Dolomites. This limestone mountain range – spanning the Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions – is beloved by Italians for its epic skiing and hiking, and lacks the tourist crowds of Rome, Florence and Venice.
"Limited time is an issue," admits Fiorenza Lipparini, DMO of Milan & Partners, which runs the website YesMilano. "There are no close international airports and a lack of accommodation – we're talking about very small villages."
The Dolomites, with their wild valleys, gorges and lakes offer thrilling hikes year-round. "They really are the most beautiful mountains in the world, from the Swiss Alps to [the valley of] Val Gardena," says Lipparini. "They're good in the summer almost as much as in the winter."
Meanwhile, Agrigento, Sicily is Italy's 2025 Capital of Culture. Explore its Unesco-listed Valley of Temples, and unwind on the stunning Scala dei Turchi beach.
Food & drink
Italian food is one of the most beloved cuisines in the world, but its superpower is its deep regionality. Tasting a familiar favourite like pizza in its homeland is a holy pilgrimage, but failing to try the deep culinary cuts is sacrilege.
When in Rome, enjoy pasta alla carbonara (pasta with egg yolk, pecorino Romano cheese and pork cheek) at Da Teo in romantic Trastevere or pasta cacio e pepe at Felice a Testaccio in Rome's ex-slaughterhouse district. Bistecca alla fiorentina – rare, ultra thick T-bone steak – in Florence is iconic (get a great one at Trattoria Mario on Via Rosina). Venice is famous for its cicchetti, baguette bites topped with a variety of seafood, meats and vegetables; they're delectable at Bar All'Arco in San Polo. Try traditional Milanese cuisine at Trattoria Masuelli San Marco, like osso buco (braised veal shanks) and risotto alla milanese (saffron-flavoured risotto).
Seaside Naples is the birthplace of pizza; get a perfect pie at the historic Antonio Starita. Bologna is the epicentre of stuffed pastas such as tortellini and lasagna bolognese; try them at generational pasta maker Sfoglia Rina on Via Castiglione. Be sure to sample artisanal products at the source; visit a caseificio (dairy) like the Caseificio di Biagio Staiano in Ravello to sample – and make! – fresh mozzarella, or one of Italy's 26 stunning national parks for the zero-kilometre culinary experience of a lifetime.
Oenophiles, you'd do well to venture past Tuscany. Sip volcanic island wines like the Biancolella in Ischia, or travel to the Russo family's Cantina del Vesuvio, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, to try Lacryma Cristi ("Tears of Christ"), an ancient wine produced from Vesuvius' indigenous grapes, said to have been drank in Roman times.
How to fit in
Italy's monuments have attracted a lot of misbehaving tourists in recent years – don't be one of them. Keep your shoulders covered when visiting religious sites, and keep your hands off historical treasures.
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