Italy has two mountain systems and they could not be less alike. The Alps arc across the north — Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn in the west, the Dolomites' pale vertical towers in the east, a UNESCO site since 2009 and the host of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The Apennines run the length of the peninsula, emptier and wilder, with the Gran Sasso and the Sibillini at their highest and brown bears and wolves still in them.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Start here
If you only do 5 things on this theme.
-
Tre Cime di Lavaredo Three vertical towers of pale dolomite — the emblem of the range -
Alpe di Siusi Europe's largest high alpine meadow, under the Sciliar -
Cortina d'Ampezzo The Queen of the Dolomites — and a 2026 Olympic host -
Gran Sasso & Campo Imperatore A high plateau under the Apennines' highest peak — 'Italy's little Tibet' -
Skyway Monte Bianco A rotating cable car from Courmayeur to 3,466 m on the Mont Blanc massif
Everywhere else on this theme
-
Bolzano German-speaking, vineyard-ringed, and home to Ötzi the Iceman -
Trento A frescoed Renaissance city at the foot of the Dolomites -
Aosta A Roman town under the highest mountains in the Alps -
Courmayeur Mont Blanc's Italian side, and the Skyway to 3,466 m -
Merano A Habsburg spa town with subtropical gardens under alpine peaks -
Madonna di Campiglio Trentino's smartest ski town, under the Brenta Dolomites -
Riva del Garda Lake Garda's mountain-walled northern tip — wind, water and rock -
L'Aquila A rebuilt mountain capital at the foot of the Gran Sasso -
Sulmona Ovid's birthplace, sugared almonds, and the gateway to the Majella -
Lago di Braies Emerald water under the Croda del Becco, with wooden rowing boats -
Alta Badia Ladin valleys, the Sellaronda ski circuit and Michelin stars at altitude -
Lago di Tovel A glacial lake in the Brenta group that once turned red each summer -
Brenta Dolomites The Dolomites' western outpost, and the birthplace of the via ferrata -
Val di Fassa & the Marmolada The Ladin valley under the Dolomites' highest peak and only glacier -
Bormio & the Valtellina Roman thermal baths, a World Cup downhill and the road to the Stelvio -
Passo dello Stelvio Forty-eight hairpins to 2,758 m — the highest paved pass in the eastern Alps -
Rocca Calascio A ruined castle at 1,460 m — the highest fortress in the Apennines - Capracotta & the Alto Molise One of the snowiest places in Italy, with a giardino della flora appenninica
-
Gran Paradiso National Park Italy's first national park, created in 1922 to save the Alpine ibex -
The Matterhorn & Breuil-Cervinia The Italian side of the Cervino, with skiing across the border to Zermatt -
Pietrabbondante A Samnite theatre and temple at 1,000 m, facing the mountains it was aligned on - Basilica of Addolorata, Castelpetroso A neo-Gothic pilgrimage basilica laid out as a seven-petalled flower under the Matese
-
Forte di Bard A nineteenth-century fortress blocking the valley, now the Museum of the Alps -
Monte Rosa & Gressoney The Walser valleys under Italy’s second-highest massif, with their own Germanic dialect
The regions that deliver on it
- Aosta Valley Italy's smallest region, under the four highest mountains in the Alps
-
Lombardy Milan, the great lakes and the Alps of Valtellina - South Tyrol German-speaking Italy under the Dolomites
- Trentino Dolomite valleys, Lake Garda's northern tip and Italy's alpine lakes
-
Veneto Venice, Verona, Palladio's villas and the Dolomites of Cortina - Abruzzo The wildest Apennines — bears, national parks and a trabocchi coast
-
Molise The region Italians joke doesn't exist — mountains, tratturi and Samnite ruins
Other ways to travel Italy
-
Art & culture More UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country on earth -
Food & wine Regional to the point of parochial — and all the better for it -
Coast & islands 7,900 km of coastline and around eighty inhabited islands -
Italian lakes Como, Garda, Maggiore — the Grand Tour's original destination -
UNESCO Italy Sixty World Heritage sites — the largest tally of any country -
Borghi & villages The hill towns that carry I Borghi più belli d'Italia and the Orange Flag -
Nature & national parks 25 national parks, from alpine glaciers to volcanic islands -
Spirituality & pilgrimage Rome, Assisi, and the pilgrim roads that connect them -
Thermal baths & wellness Volcanic Italy's other output — hot water, since the Romans - Sport & the outdoors Dolomiti Superski, the Giro's climbs and Garda's windsurfing
-
Shopping & markets Milan's Quadrilatero, Florence's leather and the weekly market habit -
Events & festivals The Palio, Carnevale, the Biennale and an opera season in a Roman arena -
Luxury Italy Portofino, the Costa Smeralda, Capri and the great lake villas