Country guide
Italy holds 62 World Heritage Sites, more than any other country, spread across 301,340 km2 of land that runs from the Alps down into the middle of the Mediterr...
Photograph · Timothy A. Gonsalves · CC BY-SA 4.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Italy holds 62 World Heritage Sites, more than any other country, spread across 301,340 km2 of land that runs from the Alps down into the middle of the Mediterranean. The distances between its cities are short and the differences between them are not: Venice has no roads, Naples sits under a volcano on a bay, Florence fits inside a walkable Renaissance grid, and Milan keeps its art indoors and works for a living. Rome is the capital and the obvious first trip; the argument is always about what comes second. Nearly 800 islands hang off the coast, and Sicily and Sardinia are each large enough to be a trip of their own.
Checked 2026-08-25
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Bert Kaufmann from Roermond, Netherlands · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photograph · Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · Wikibusters · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Martin Falbisoner · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
161 places match
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Interests
Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea is a contemporary art exhibition space in Milan, Italy. Known locally by the same name, it serves as a venue for modern and contemporary artistic presentations.
La Specola
La Specola is the zoological museum of the University of Florence. It brings together scientific heritage, natural-history collections and the history of university teaching in a historic Florentine setting.
Civico museo archeologico di Milano
The Archaeological Museum of Milan, locally named Civico museo archeologico di Milano, preserves and presents archaeological collections relevant to the city's ancient history. Housed within a historic monastic complex, the institution serves as a municipal museum under civic administration.
Galleria d'Arte Moderna
Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Milano is a municipal art museum in Milan, Italy. It occupies the Villa Belgiojoso Bonaparte, a neoclassical palace dating to the late eighteenth century.
Museo Teatrale alla Scala is the museum devoted to the history of opera, ballet and theatre connected with Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.
Palazzo Davanzati is a fourteenth-century Florentine palace and museum devoted to medieval and Renaissance domestic life.
Casa Manzoni
House Manzoni, also known as Casa Manzoni, is the historic Milan residence of Alessandro Manzoni. The novelist and poet is one of Italy's major nineteenth-century literary figures and the author of The Betrothed.
Museo archeologico nazionale di Venezia
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venezia is a national archaeological museum housed within the Procuratie Nuove in Piazza San Marco. It holds collections of Greek and Roman antiquities, sculptures, bronzes, gems, and coins.
Museo Salvatore Ferragamo
The Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, or Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, is a fashion museum in Florence devoted to the work and legacy of shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo.
Villa Necchi Campiglio is a Milan house museum designed by Piero Portaluppi between 1932 and 1935. Built for the Necchi Campiglio family, it preserves a refined example of Milanese rationalist architecture and twentieth-century domestic life.
Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia
The Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia "Leonardo da Vinci" is Italy's largest science and technology museum. Housed in a former Olivetan monastery, the institution honors Leonardo da Vinci's legacy as both artist and inventor.
Museo del Vetro
The Murano Glass Museum, known locally as Museo del Vetro, is a museum dedicated to the art and history of glassmaking on the island of Murano in the Venetian Lagoon.
Armani/Silos is a fashion museum in Milan dedicated to the work of Italian designer Giorgio Armani. Opened in 2015, it occupies a former industrial building in the Tortona district that was originally constructed in 1950 as a granary.
Casa di Dante
The House of Dante, or Casa di Dante, stands in Florence as a museum dedicated to the life and work of Dante Alighieri, the medieval poet whose Divine Comedy shaped Italian literature.
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a historic confraternity building in Venice, founded in 1478 and dedicated to Saint Roch, patron saint of plague victims.
Museo Stibbert is a museum in Florence, Italy. It was founded by Frederick Stibbert, a British-born collector who inherited substantial wealth and dedicated his life to amassing art, armour, and decorative objects from across the world.
Museo del Risorgimento
The Museum of the Risorgimento in Milan documents Italy's unification movement from 1796 to 1870.
The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana is a historic art gallery and library in central Milan, founded in the early seventeenth century by Cardinal Federico Borromeo. It houses the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, one of Italy's oldest public libraries, alongside its picture gallery.
Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia occupies the historic Fondaco dei Turchi beside the Grand Canal. The building gives the visit an architectural setting as distinctive as the collections inside, with Venetian-Byzantine details and a canal-side position.
Fondazione Querini Stampalia is a cultural institution in Venice, Italy, combining a historic house museum, art gallery, library, and architectural garden. It occupies a palazzo in the Castello district, near Santa Maria Formosa.
Museo di Torcello
Museo provinciale di Torcello is the museum of Torcello, an island in the northern Venetian Lagoon.
Cappella de' Pazzi
The Pazzi Chapel, locally known as Cappella de' Pazzi, stands as a significant Renaissance religious structure in Florence. Commissioned by the Pazzi family, prominent Florentine bankers, this chapel represents a key architectural work of the early Renaissance period.
Palazzo Grassi is an eighteenth-century palace on Venice’s Grand Canal. Built for the Grassi family, it now operates as a contemporary art museum and exhibition venue.
Palazzo Grimani di Santa Maria Formosa is a Renaissance palace in Venice's Castello district. The building belonged to the Grimani family, prominent Venetian patricians who later became cardinals and doges.
Museo Ebraico di Firenze
The Jewish Museum of Florence, or Museo Ebraico di Firenze, presents the heritage of Florence’s Jewish community. It is associated with the Great Synagogue of Florence and places religious objects, history, and community life within the city’s cultural landscape.
Ten to fourteen days can combine Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome by high-speed train. Give Venice more than a transfer night and Rome several separate sightseeing days; rural Tuscany needs different transport planning from the rail-linked cities.
Italy is in the Schengen Area, but visa and passport requirements vary by nationality and route. Use Italy's official visa portal to confirm the applicable rule before travel rather than relying on another Schengen trip.
High-speed trains connect Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome, with regional rail and coaches serving smaller places. Drivers must check ZTL restrictions before entering historic centres because access controls are local and can generate fines.
April to June and September to October broadly suit the north-to-Rome rail route. Lagoon conditions in Venice, summer heat in Rome, and seasonal rural services in Tuscany should be checked independently.
Italy uses the euro (EUR). Carry a modest cash reserve for small purchases while using cards where accepted, and verify the euro amount at the terminal instead of accepting an unexamined conversion.
Italy routes emergency calls through 112. Travellers encounter a 230 V supply and Type C, F, or L receptacles. No tap-water assessment is recorded for Italy; obtain current local advice at the destination.
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