Italy Travel Guide: Regions, Routes and Practical Tips

Italy is long, and that is the first thing a trip plan has to deal with. From the Dolomites on the Austrian border to the southern tip of Sicily is well over a thousand kilometres, and the country changes along the way: the food, the architecture, the dialect, the pace of a Tuesday afternoon. Most first-timers try to see too much of it. This guide is about choosing well, linking places by train, and knowing the handful of rules (fees, zones, dress codes) that trip people up.

Italy in short

Short answer: for a first trip, pick two or three bases on the high-speed rail line and stay at least three nights in each. Rome, Florence and Venice is the classic triangle for a reason: the trains between them are fast, and together they cover ancient Rome, the Renaissance and a city built on water.

Italy suits people who like to walk, eat and look at things, in roughly equal parts. It suits art lovers more than almost anywhere in Europe, and it rewards slow travellers who give a town an extra day with nothing planned. It is harder on people who hate crowds in summer, who need everything to run on time, or who want beaches and cities in one short week (the good beaches are rarely next to the famous cities).

The regions at a glance

Twenty regions, and no trip covers all of them. These are the ones that shape most first itineraries.

• Rome and Lazio. The capital needs three or four days on its own. The Colosseum, the Vatican and the Pantheon each take a morning, and the evenings belong to Trastevere and Monti. We cover it in depth in our Rome travel guide, so here we'll only say: book the big sights before you fly.
• Florence and Tuscany. Florence is compact and dense with art: the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, Brunelleschi's dome. Outside the city, Tuscany is hill towns (Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano) and the vineyards of Chianti and the Val d'Orcia. The countryside needs a car.
• Venice and the Veneto. Venice is small, and on a summer afternoon around the Rialto and San Marco it can feel like a theme park. Stay overnight and it changes completely after the day visitors leave. Verona and Padua are short train rides away.
• Milan and the Lakes. Milan is a working city more than a museum, with Leonardo's Last Supper (booked well ahead) and the marble cathedral. Lake Como and Lake Garda are an hour or so by train.
• Cinque Terre and Liguria. Five fishing villages stacked on cliffs, joined by a railway and by footpaths. Beautiful and very crowded; stay in La Spezia or Levanto and go in early.
• Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Naples is loud, chaotic and the home of pizza. From there: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, Sorrento, and the cliff road through Positano and Amalfi.
• Puglia. The heel. Whitewashed towns like Ostuni, the trulli (conical stone houses) of Alberobello, Baroque Lecce and a long coastline. Flat, and easier to drive than most of Italy.
• Sicily. Greek temples at Agrigento and Segesta, Palermo's street markets, Baroque towns in the southeast, and Etna. It is a trip in itself, not a two-day add-on.
• The Dolomites. Jagged pale peaks in Trentino and South Tyrol, where German is as common as Italian. Summer hiking and winter skiing; a car helps a lot.

How long you need, and three routes

Count travel days realistically. A two-hour train ride still eats half a day once you add checkout, the walk to the station and finding your hotel. These routes assume trains and arriving and leaving from different airports (an open-jaw ticket), which saves a day of backtracking.

7 days: the short triangle

1. Rome, 3 nights. Our 3-day Rome itinerary fits this exactly.
2. Florence, 2 nights, with a half day in Siena or Pisa if you're restless.
3. Venice, 2 nights. Fly home from Venice.

10 days: add the countryside

1. Venice, 2 nights.
2. Florence, 3 nights, with one day in Chianti or Siena.
3. Rome, 3 nights.
4. Naples, 2 nights, with a day at Pompeii. Fly home from Naples.

14 days: north to south

1. Milan, 1 night, then Lake Como, 2 nights.
2. Venice, 2 nights.
3. Florence, 3 nights, including a car day in the Val d'Orcia.
4. Rome, 3 nights.
5. The Amalfi Coast, 3 nights, based in Sorrento or Amalfi town. Fly home from Naples.

If two weeks feels like too much moving, drop Milan and give Florence or the coast the extra nights. Puglia and Sicily fit better as their own trip than squeezed into these.

Getting around: trains first, car only for the countryside

Italy's rail network is the backbone of any first trip. Two companies run high-speed trains on the main line from Turin and Milan through Bologna, Florence and Rome to Naples and Salerno, with branches to Venice. Trenitalia is the state operator; its fastest trains are the red Frecciarossa. Italo is a private competitor running on the same tracks with burgundy trains. Compare both apps before booking; on popular routes one is often cheaper than the other on a given day. High-speed tickets are for a specific train and seat, and fares rise as the date approaches, so book as soon as your plans are fixed.

Regional trains (regionale) are slower, cheaper and not tied to a seat. They serve the Cinque Terre, the Lakes, Pisa, Siena and most small towns. A paper regional ticket must be validated in the green or white machines on the platform before you board, or you can be fined even with a ticket in hand. Digital tickets from the app need a check-in instead; read the instructions on the ticket.

Driving and ZTL zones

A car makes sense in rural Tuscany, Puglia, Sicily and the Dolomites. In cities it is a liability. Almost every historic centre has a ZTL (zona a traffico limitato, restricted traffic zone), marked by a round sign with a red border and a camera. Drive past it without a permit and a fine arrives by post, sometimes months later, often with a rental company fee added on top. If your hotel is inside a ZTL, ask it to register your plate with the local police before you arrive. Pick the car up on the edge of town, or after you've finished with the cities.

On the Amalfi Coast, skip the car in summer. The road is narrow and parking is scarce; ferries and SITA buses do the job.

When to go

Late April to early June and September to October are the sweet spots. The weather is warm enough for long days outdoors, the sea in the south is swimmable from late May, and the crowds are thinner than in high summer. July and August are hot, especially in Rome, Florence and the south, where afternoons often pass 35°C. Much of Italy takes its own holiday around Ferragosto (15 August), and some family-run restaurants close for a week or two.

Winter works well for cities. Rome, Florence and Venice are quieter, museum queues shrink, and Venice in fog has its own mood. Coastal towns like Positano go half asleep between November and March, with many hotels closed. For the Dolomites, it depends on what you want: skiing from December to March, hiking from late June to September.

Money, the coperto and church dress codes

Cards are accepted in most places, and contactless payment is normal even for a coffee. Keep some cash for small bars, markets and rural spots. Watch for these on the bill and at the door:

• Coperto. A per-person cover charge for bread and the table, printed on the menu. It is legal and it is not a tip.
• Servizio. A service charge, more common in tourist areas. If it's on the bill, you don't need to add anything.
• Tipping. Not expected. Rounding up or leaving a few coins for good service is plenty.
• Coffee at the bar. Standing at the counter costs less than sitting at a table, sometimes a lot less near the big sights.
• Tourist tax. Most cities charge an imposta di soggiorno per person per night, usually paid at the hotel on top of the room rate.
• Churches. Cover shoulders and knees. St Peter's in Rome, St Mark's in Venice and the cathedrals of Florence and Milan check at the door. Carry a light scarf in summer.

Eating your way down the peninsula

There is no single Italian cuisine, only regional ones, and the menu changes every couple of hundred kilometres. Order what the place is known for.

• Rome: carbonara, cacio e pepe (pecorino and black pepper) and fried artichokes in spring. Our Rome food guide lists what to order.
• Tuscany: bistecca alla fiorentina, a thick T-bone sold by weight and served rare; ribollita, a bread and vegetable soup; pici, thick hand-rolled pasta.
• Emilia-Romagna: Bologna's tagliatelle al ragù (never spaghetti bolognese), tortellini, Parmigiano Reggiano and Parma ham. Bologna is a food stop on the Florence to Venice line.
• Venice: cicchetti, small snacks eaten standing in a bàcaro (wine bar), and sarde in saor, sweet and sour sardines.
• Liguria: pesto, the real thing, with trofie pasta, and focaccia from the bakery in the morning.
• Naples: pizza, soft and blistered, eaten with a knife and fork. Also sfogliatella, a shell-shaped pastry with ricotta.
• Sicily: arancini (fried rice balls), pasta alla Norma with aubergine, and cannoli filled to order.

Lunch is from about 12:30 to 14:30, and dinner rarely starts before 19:30 in the north or 20:30 in the south. A restaurant open all afternoon with a menu in six languages is cooking for tourists.

Practical questions

What changed at the border in 2026?

The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully running since 10 April 2026. Non-EU visitors on a short stay have fingerprints and a photo taken at the first Schengen border they cross, instead of a passport stamp. The first registration takes longer, so leave extra time at the airport. ETIAS, the online travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors, is not live yet. The EU's latest target was late 2026, and reports now point to 2027. Apply only through the official EU site once it opens, and ignore the private sites already selling "ETIAS applications".

Does Venice charge an entry fee?

Venice has run an access fee (contributo di accesso) for day visitors on selected days in spring and summer since 2024. The 2026 trial ended on 26 July, and there is no fee for the rest of the year. Overnight guests are exempt because they pay the tourist tax. Dates for 2027 have not been announced; check the official Venice access fee site before you go.

What about fees in Rome?

The Pantheon has an entry ticket, and since February 2026 the area at the rim of the Trevi Fountain costs a small fee during the day. The Colosseum sells named, timed tickets; our Colosseum guide explains the options.

Do we need the Cinque Terre Card?

If you plan to hike between the villages, yes. Since March 2026 the card combines the regional trains between La Spezia and Levanto with the coastal path, including the reopened Via dell'Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola, which still needs a timed booking. Buy it from the national park's official site or the station offices. Some trail sections close after heavy rain, so check the park's trail status that morning.

What is a sciopero?

A strike, and transport strikes are common in Italy. They are announced days in advance, usually last 24 hours or less, and some services are guaranteed by law: on Trenitalia, local trains run from 6:00 to 9:00 and 18:00 to 21:00 from Monday to Saturday, and a list of long-distance trains keeps running. Check the Trenitalia and Italo sites, or the Ministry of Transport strike calendar, in the days before a long journey.

Is Pompeii a day trip from Rome?

It can be done, but it's a long day. Pompeii works much better from Naples or Sorrento, where it's a short ride on the Circumvesuviana train. Tickets are personal and there is a daily visitor limit, so book online.

Where we would start

If this is your first time, we'd fly into Venice and out of Rome, with Florence in between. Three cities, two train rides of about two hours each, no car and no wasted day. Spend the first morning in Venice before the day visitors arrive, give Florence a day for the Uffizi and a day for the hills, and finish in Rome with the Colosseum and the Vatican booked (see our Vatican guide for how to avoid the worst queues). Save Naples, Sicily and the Dolomites for the second trip. There nearly always is one.