Winter first: Dolomiti Superski links 12 valleys and 1,200 km of piste on one pass, and Milano-Cortina hosts the 2026 Winter Olympics. Then the bikes — the Giro d'Italia's legendary climbs (the Stelvio, the Mortirolo, the Zoncolan) plus a fast-growing network of rail-trail ciclovie. Lake Garda's northern end is one of Europe's best windsurfing and climbing centres, and the via ferrate of the Dolomites are a First World War inheritance turned into a sport.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Start here
If you only do 5 things on this theme.
-
Alta Badia Ladin valleys, the Sellaronda ski circuit and Michelin stars at altitude -
Passo dello Stelvio Forty-eight hairpins to 2,758 m — the highest paved pass in the eastern Alps -
Riva del Garda Lake Garda's mountain-walled northern tip — wind, water and rock -
Madonna di Campiglio Trentino's smartest ski town, under the Brenta Dolomites -
Courmayeur Mont Blanc's Italian side, and the Skyway to 3,466 m
Everywhere else on this theme
-
Cortina d'Ampezzo The Queen of the Dolomites — and a 2026 Olympic host -
Aosta A Roman town under the highest mountains in the Alps -
Elba Napoleon's exile island — and the biggest in the Tuscan Archipelago -
Favignana & the Egadi Islands Tuna-fishery islands off Trapani, with Europe's largest marine reserve -
Ustica A small volcanic island north of Palermo, and Italy's first marine reserve -
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 -
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 -
Path of the Gods The Sentiero degli Dei — a cliff path 600 m above Positano -
Castelmezzano & Pietrapertosa Two villages wedged into the Lucanian Dolomites, joined by a zip line -
Mount Etna Europe's highest and most active volcano, at around 3,350 m and rising -
Golfo di Orosei Limestone cliffs with beaches — Cala Goloritzé, Cala Mariolu — reachable only by boat or on foot -
Museo Ferrari, Maranello The heart of the Motor Valley, next door to the factory -
Cinque Terre Five cliff villages joined by footpaths, terraces and a railway -
Monti Sibillini National Park Bare Apennine ridges to 2,476 m, with legends attached to most of them -
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 -
The Matterhorn & Breuil-Cervinia The Italian side of the Cervino, with skiing across the border to Zermatt -
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
-
Liguria The Italian Riviera — Cinque Terre, Portofino and pesto's home port -
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 -
Emilia-Romagna Parmigiano, prosciutto, Ferrari and Ravenna's mosaics -
Tuscany The Renaissance, the Chianti hills and the coast most visitors miss -
Marche Renaissance Urbino, the Conero cliffs and the Sibillini mountains -
Abruzzo The wildest Apennines — bears, national parks and a trabocchi coast -
Campania Naples, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and the islands of the bay -
Basilicata Matera's cave city, the Lucanian Dolomites and a sliver of Tyrrhenian coast -
Sicily Greek temples, Arab-Norman Palermo, Etna and its own archipelagos -
Sardinia Caribbean-clear water, 7,000 nuraghi and a mountain interior
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 - Mountains & the Dolomites The Dolomites, the western Alps and the wild Apennines
-
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 -
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