I’ve been devoted to Lonely Planet for decades and this new approach to travel guides will definitely keep me both delighted and engaged. Discover erotic frescoes and kilometres of haunting Hobbit-like tombs in the Etruscan cemeteries of Cerveteri and Tarquinia 4 in northern Lazio. If you can add a couple more days to the trip, consider adding a night in the Alta Murgia area to enjoy a dinner in Minervino Murge. Region profiles cover when to go, where to stay, what's on, cultural insights, and local food and drink recommendations to refuel and refresh. Admiring Italy’s architectural icons often involves little more than keeping your eyes open as you roam around its historic towns and cities.

The Italian Riviera is not short of rugged coastline or romantic towns and villages, but the five fishing communities of the Cinque Terre are its most iconic highlight. High summer means packed beaches as cities empty and holidaymakers head to the coast, while winter promises good times in the country’s many ski resorts. In that case, land in Bari in the morning, have a focaccia barese slice at Panificio Fiore, and accompany it with a cold Peroni beer while checking out the Basilica di San Nicola and the historic city center.The Church has also played a starring role, sponsoring the great architects of the day to push boundaries and build ever greater churches. Italy’s wines are classified: DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita; pictured); DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata); IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica); vino da tavola (table wine). See how it’s really done – dig into tagliatelle al ragù (the original spag bol) in a Bologna 2 trattoria. For more than two weeks, the Umbrian town stages art exhibitions, opera, ballet and classical music.

Tàccaru, for example, is processing the beautiful century-old dead olive wood to replant young resistant olive trees. Brainwash – l’arte di accontentare (Fedez; 2013) Platinum-selling album by homegrown rapper, partner of social-media star Chiara Ferragni. Hotels are more affordable, and the quality of food and services improve, freed from the high-season pressure.grazie (gra-tsye) is ‘thank you’, to which the traditional response is prego (pre-go), ‘you’re welcome’. We’re united by many things, including our shared love for our heritage, which we hate to see disrespected, so my heartfelt advice is to not jump in any fountains or take stones from archaeological sites.

Pani ca meusa Palermo’s street-food aficionados swear by these sandwiches of beef spleen and lungs dipped in boiling lard. Float around the Venetian lagoon on a boat tour with Torcello Birdwatching, spying the local fauna and an old cemetery island.Vernazza's small harbor – the only secure landing point on the Cinque Terre coast – guards what is perhaps the quaintest, and steepest, of the five villages. I am not the biggest Lonely Planet person but I have a few and they do have accommodation recommendations which I haven't used in more than a decade if not longer - well since the internet.