Peschiera del Garda

Star-shaped Venetian fortress on Garda's shore

The world would not be the same without Italy. Music would not be as moving. Food, not as delicious. Nor fashion as stylish. Don’t get us started on art and history. It’s almost impossible to overstate the boot-shaped peninsula’s impact on everything that makes life worth living.

Everyone should see Il Stivale at least once, but where do you start? The towering and crisp mountains of Trentino-Alto Adige? The Amalfi’s sun-soaked beaches? Venice’s tangle of canals and skilful gondoliers? It’s a tough call, that’s for sure.

And what about Tuscany’s rolling hills? Cypress trees rock in a gentle breeze. Family vintners cultivate vines whose roots surge centuries down into the black earth. A distant church bell chimes as an old vintage is uncorked. Rich, black liquid glugs into a waiting glass, turning a deep red under the sun’s rays.

Wherever you choose , you’ll find art there. Milan jealously guards Da Vinci’s Last Supper, but Florence envies nothing. Here, Michelangelo sprang David from his marble prison. Brunelleschi set his cathedral dome afloat among the clouds. And what does the Vatican keep under lock and key? One hundred times more than what they show you, already far too much.

Speaking of a last supper, where would you choose to have yours? Rome’s decadent holy trinity – amatriciana, carbonara, caccio e pepe – is one way to go out with a bang. In Naples, they say they invented pizza and make the world’s best. But then there’s the sumptuous sizzle of Florence’s steak, expertly paired with Tuscan tipples.

Of course, as the famous saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. And from Rome, to all of Italy. Toss a coin into the Trevi fountain and you’ll be back here before you know it. It doesn’t mean your choices of where to go, what to see, and what to eat will get any easier. But we can help you make them.