Overview
What would it be like to wake in the heart of the Roman Empire, lunch in a sumptuous 16th-century Renaissance villa, and go to bed in the capital of 21st-century designer chic? Visit Italy, taking in Rome, Florence and Milan, and the experience is yours. But that’s not all. Italy combines art history and contemporary fashion with stunning natural landscapes: the turquoise waters of the Costa Smeralda offer one of Europe’s most beautiful stretches of sand, sea and sunshine, while the snow-covered slopes of the Dolomite mountains are a haven for winter sports enthusiasts. Besides the renowned cities of Venice, Genoa and Naples (each with its own unique identity – Italy was only unified in 1870), there are romantic Medieval hill towns, such as San Gimignano in Tuscany, and unspoilt fishing villages, like the unforgettable Positano on the Amalfi coast. Visit vineyards and cellars to taste the very best regional wines: the Veneto, famed for the sparkling white prosecco, and Tuscany, home of the highly acclaimed robust red, Brunello di Montalcino. And to really get away from it all, take a boat to the islands of Sicily or Sardinia to experience rural hospitality in the blissful Mediterranean. Italy: still so much more to discover.
Geography
Italy is situated in Europe and attached in the north to the European mainland. To the north, the Alps separate Italy from France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.
Northern Italy: The Alpine regions, the Po Plain and the Ligurian-Etruscan Appennines. Piedmont and Val d’Aosta contain some of the highest mountains in Europe and are good areas for winter sports. Many rivers flow down from the mountains towards the Po Basin, passing through the beautiful Italian Lake District (Maggiore, Como, Garda). The Po Basin, which extends as far south as the bare slopes of the Appennines, is covered with gravel terraces and rich alluvial soil and has long been one of Italy’s most prosperous regions. To the east, where the River Po flows into the Adriatic Sea, the plains are a little higher than the river itself; artificial (and occasionally natural) embankments prevent flooding.
Central Italy: The northern part of the Italian peninsula. Tuscany (Toscana) has a diverse landscape with snow-capped mountains (the Tuscan Appennines), lush countryside, hills and a long sandy coastline with offshore islands. Le Marche, lying between the Appennines and the Adriatic coast, is a region of mountains, rivers and small fertile plains. The even more mountainous regioni (administrative districts) of Abruzzo and Molise are bordered by Marche to the north and Puglia to the south, and are separated from the Tyrrhenian Sea and to the west by Lazio and Campania. Umbria is known as the ‘green heart of Italy’; hilly with broad plains, olive groves and pines. Further south lies Rome, Italy’s capital and largest city. Within its precincts is the Vatican City.
Southern Italy: Campania consists of flat coastal plains and low mountains, stretching from Baia Domizia to the Bay of Naples and along a rocky coast to the Calabria border. Inland, the Appennines are lower, mellowing into the rolling countryside around Sorrento. The islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida in the Tyrrhenian Sea are also part of Campania. The south is wilder than the norh, with mile upon mile of olive trees, cool forests and rolling hills. Puglia, the ‘heel of the boot’, is a landscape of volcanic hills and isolated marshes. Calabria, the ‘toe’, is heavily forested and thinly populated. The Calabrian hills are home to bears and wolves.
The Islands: Sicily (Sicilia), visible across a 3km- (2 mile-) strait from mainland Italy, is fertile but mountainous with volcanoes (including the famous landmark of Mount Etna) and lava fields, and several offshore islands. Sardinia (Sardegna) has a mountainous landscape, fine sandy beaches and rocky offshore islands. |
