Italy

One ticket also covers the Roman Forum and the Palatine, so allow half a day. Entry is timed, and buying on the day means a long wait or nothing left. The underground and arena floor need a separate booking.

A separate country inside the city. The basilica is free but the security queue is long, and the museums and Sistine Chapel are ticketed and timed. Shoulders and knees must be covered or you will be turned away, so carry a light layer even in summer.

There are no cars, so you walk or take the water bus. Line 1 down the Grand Canal is the cheapest sightseeing cruise in the city, and gondola fares are set by time. A visitor access fee applies on certain days — check whether yours is one.

Built without centring, which makes it a turning point in architectural history. Climbing it means more than four hundred narrow steps and a compulsory booking. From the bell tower next door you can actually photograph the dome itself.

Buried whole by Vesuvius in AD 79 and excavated to reveal streets and houses intact. There is almost no shade and a lot of ground, so a hat and water are essential in summer; local trains run from Naples. Most of the recovered frescoes and objects are in the archaeological museum in Naples.

Coloured houses clinging to sea cliffs across five villages, linked by train and footpath. Which coastal sections are open and whether a permit is needed varies, so check on the day. Trains and villages are both crowded in high summer.

The Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps are all within walking distance of one another. The Pantheon is open to the sky at the crown, so rain comes in, and its two-thousand-year-old concrete dome is still among the largest ever built. The cobbles are uneven — choose your shoes.

The Uffizi holds the painting and the Accademia holds the David, and both require booking. The city is small enough to walk, and shops still line the Ponte Vecchio. Watch for Monday closures at the galleries.

It leaned because the ground was soft, and engineering work later reduced the tilt and stabilised it. Climbing it requires booking and you must leave bags behind. An hour from Florence by train, so half a day is plenty.

Dwellings carved into rock and stacked in layers, once a byword for poverty and now restored into hotels and restaurants. Sleeping in a converted cave is the thing people come for. The south has thin public transport, so a car helps.

Cypress-lined ridges and wheat fields — the image people hold of rural Italy. Driving between villages such as Montalcino and Pienza is the usual approach, and May and June are the greenest. By late summer the harvest leaves it brown.

Positano, Amalfi and Ravello strung along a clifftop road so narrow that the bus or the boat beats driving yourself. In summer the road jams and parking is effectively impossible. Enter from Naples or Sorrento.

The density of ruins and churches means three days minimum. Summer afternoons are fierce and shade is scarce, so split the day into morning and evening. There is little metro, so expect buses and a lot of walking.

Base yourself in Florence and take Siena and San Gimignano as day trips. Winery visits generally need booking and a car. Ninety minutes from Rome by fast train.

The area around St Mark’s takes half a day, but Burano and Murano are the city’s other face. Bridges make wheeled luggage miserable, so travel light. In autumn and winter the square floods on some days.

The cathedral and the Last Supper are the two sights, and the Last Supper caps visitor numbers so tightly that it needs booking months ahead. Plenty of international flights make it a northern starting point. Lake Como is an hour away by train.

Pizza started here and the tangle of the old town is World Heritage. It is the gateway to Pompeii, Amalfi and Capri, and there are areas where you should watch your pockets. Just over an hour from Rome by fast train.

A different history from the mainland, with Greek, Arab and Norman layers, and the temples at Agrigento are better preserved than many in Greece itself. Etna is still active. The island is big enough to want a week and a car.

Good temperatures, and Tuscany at its greenest. Easter is an exceptionally busy week, so check the dates. The south is already warm enough for the sea.

Rome and the south are very hot, and the archaeological sites have no shade. Around mid-August locals take their holidays and city restaurants and shops close. The coastal villages are at their most crowded and expensive.

The heat breaks and the crowds thin — the best months for walking the cities. Grape and olive harvest brings festivals to the villages. Venice starts seeing high-water days from autumn on.

The north is cold and grey but the galleries are empty and prices drop. The south and Sicily stay mild, though some sites close. Rome fills again over Christmas and new year.

The Colosseum, the Uffizi, the Last Supper and the Florence dome are hard or slow to get into on the day. Once your dates are fixed these are the first things to reserve, and the Last Supper releases earliest. Save confirmations offline.

Many kitchens close between roughly three and seven, which makes a proper meal in that window difficult. Dinner normally starts after eight, and somewhere open at seven is often aimed at tourists. For something quick, a bar panino is the answer.

Sitting down at a restaurant normally adds a coperto per head; it is standard, not a scam. The same logic explains why a coffee standing at the bar costs less than one at a table. Tipping is not obligatory.

Only permitted vehicles may enter, cameras enforce it automatically, and a fine arrives months later if you drive in by mistake. Park a hire car outside the old town and walk in. If your accommodation is inside the zone, ask in advance whether they can register you.

One number reaches police, ambulance and fire. Pickpocketing is common around the sights — wear your bag in front on the metro and in busy squares. For an insurance claim you need the police report, so file it in person.

Fast trains have assigned seats and need nothing extra, but a paper regional ticket must be stamped in the platform machine or you can be fined. App tickets are exempt. Strikes happen at short notice, so check service on the morning you travel.