Which part of Italy is best for a holiday?

Italy is outrageously spoilt when it comes to holiday material. This is a country of cliff-hugging coastlines, glossy lakes, blonde beaches and cities that casually serve up world-famous landmarks before lunch. If you’re trying to narrow down your perfect patch, consider this your shortcut. From romantic road-trip territory to beachy fly-and-flop favourites, here’s where to go and why.

Tuscany & Umbria

Best for: romance, road trips and wine lovers

For an Italy mood board of cypress-lined roads, patchwork vineyards and hilltop hamlets, Tuscany is your dream match. Most first-timers get their introduction in Florence or Pisa, both spot-on for a short stay, but the magic kicks in more once you head out into the hills.

This is a region that makes a strong case for hiring a car. Queue up a little Andrea Bocelli, if only for the scenery, and take the back roads through rural Tuscany to San Gimignano – the 'Medieval Manhattan' – and Siena, where Gothic architecture and the grand Piazza del Campo earn it a place among the region’s biggest stars. Just next door, Umbria has the same good looks, but with a quieter, more off-grid feel.

And if a holiday is not quite a holiday without beach time, the Tuscan Riviera serves up wide sandy beaches and a dose of old-school Italian seaside glamour.

Foodie highlights: truffle-laced pasta in Umbria, bistecca alla Fiorentina in Tuscany and plenty of Chianti along the way.

The ultimate must-do: make room for Bolgheri, if only for that painterly cypress road leading into one of the prettiest wine villages on the Etruscan Coast.

Make your holiday: try our Tuscan self-drive trip or our Perugia, Siena and Florence fly-drive.

The Neapolitan Riviera

Best for: lido days and knockout views

If your ideal postcard scene is clifftop hotels and candy-coloured towns stacked above the water, the Neapolitan Riviera should be top of your list. For many, Sorrento is the first love affair, with its grand old hotels, lively piazzas and lemon-scented lanes. It works brilliantly as a base, whether you want to hop across for spa time on Ischia, whirl through the coast’s big-name sights or sink into a week of pool lounging and passeggiata strolls.

For the coastline at its most photogenic, Amalfi is your move. Honeymooners, luxury lovers and dress-for-dinner types, we’re looking at you. This is where you check into some of Italy’s most swoon-worthy stays, from Palazzo Avino, Ravello’s legendary pink palace, to Anantara Convento di Amalfi, a 13th-century cliffside monastery turned hotel. Add bucket-list day trips like Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, and this stretch of coast is very hard to beat.

Foodie highlights: seafood linguine, lemon-drenched desserts and limoncello in its rightful home.

The ultimate must-do: lace up for the Path of the Gods and see the coast from its most show-stopping angle.

Make your holiday: pair restorative spa days in Ischia with Sorrento’s bright-blue bays on a twin-centre trip, then finish with time in Rome.

Italian Lakes

Best for: alpine drama and lake dips

The Italian Lakes are for anyone who likes their holidays with mountain views, freshwater swims and lunches with a blockbuster backdrop. Days here unfold around market mornings, waterside wanders and flower-draped promenades, with plenty of gelato, ferry rides and aperitivo stops folded in for good measure.

Each lake has its own way of winning people over. Como is all villa gardens, manicured shorelines and a celebrity guest list that feels very on-brand. Garda is the crowd-pleaser, with storybook towns, castle-topped shores and all the right ingredients for a family holiday. Maggiore is the one for grand old resorts like Stresa, graceful promenades and boat trips to the Borromean Islands, while little Lake Orta is a hidden gem you almost want to keep to yourself.

And if you want to keep the hits coming, the Dolomites make a seriously good day trip, while high-speed trains put Verona, Milan and Venice firmly in play.

Foodie highlights: lake perch risotto, pumpkin ravioli and buttery slices of torta miascia for pudding.

The ultimate must-do: make time for a tasting of the region’s wines, from crisp Lugana to light, ruby-red Bardolino.

Make your holiday: stay at a lakeside gem like Du Lac et Du Parc Grand Resort in Riva del Garda, or combine Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore in one easy twin-centre.

Sicily

Best for: smouldering scenery & bold flavours

Sicily feels richer, hotter and a little less buttoned-up than mainland Italy, which is a big part of the appeal. Its history comes at you from every angle, from Greek temples and Arab influences to Norman grandeur and baroque townscapes. Some travellers head west for Palermo, the island’s capital and cultural heavyweight, while others set their sights on Taormina, lured by its cinematic setting and proximity to Etna.

You could come for the beaches and seafood alone, but Sicily’s real pull is its range. There is the gloriously gritty, old-soul side of the island people fall hard for, and then there is the rarefied Sicily of velvet-rope beach clubs and old-money hotels. Head inland for vineyard sips and lava-dark landscapes, or out to the Aeolian Islands for black-sand beaches, and volcanic spas.

Foodie highlights: arancini, pasta alla Norma, sweet ricotta cannoli and pistachio granita.

The ultimate must-do: channel your inner Corleone on a Godfather tour through Sicily’s timeless hill villages and film-set streets.

Make your holiday: we love Villa Sonia as a Taormina base, or combine a Sicily beach stay with adventures in the Aeolian Islands.

Puglia & Basilicata

Best for: authentic Italy

Down in the heel of the boot, Puglia offers a more offbeat, atmospheric side of Italy, with chalky hill towns, quiet beaches in improbable shades of blue and little roads that wind past olive presses, cactus pears and camomile fields. This is road-trip country, with stops in Ostuni, Lecce and Alberobello, taking you from honey-stone baroque beauty to the fairytale trulli houses that have made this corner of Italy so distinctive.

Then there’s neighbouring Basilicata, which flies even further under the radar. Matera is the big draw, with its cave dwellings hewn into the rock and a setting that feels almost biblical. Together, these two regions make a brilliant choice if you want to skip the usual Italy circuit for somewhere with soul, style and a more local pulse.

Foodie highlights: orecchiette, burrata, just-caught seafood and Altamura-style bread with its thick crust and yellow, chewy crumb.

The ultimate must-do: road-trip from Alberobello’s trulli to Matera’s cave-carved streets, then watch the light fade over the Sassi from the other side of the gorge.

Make your holiday: our Essential Puglia & Matera fly-drive is ideal for a first look at this quietly compelling corner of Italy.

Sardinia

Best for: castaway coves and chic family time

People love to compare Sardinia to the Caribbean, and for once it is not holiday hyperbole. The water really is that blue. This is an island of white-sand crescents, gin-clear shallows and beaches that look as though someone has been at work with the saturation dial. It suits families down to the ground, but it is just as good for couples and anyone who likes their holidays sunny, swim-heavy and blissfully uncomplicated.

That said, Sardinia is not all beach towels and sea views. Head inland and the landscape flips fast, with rugged mountains, sheep-dotted hillsides and ancient Nuragic ruins left behind by one of the Mediterranean’s oldest civilisations. And don’t miss a trip to Cagliari, where the old Castello quarter rises above the city and evenings tend to end with a glass of mirto on the Bastione.

Foodie highlights: culurgiones, lobster pasta, shaved bottarga and honey-drenched seadas.

The ultimate must-do: spend a day on the water around Tavolara, dropping anchor for swims in Molara’s glass-clear pools.

Make your holiday: for sunshine, sea and heaps of family-friendly fun, head to Falkensteiner Resort Capo Boi.

The information is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication.