Italy,

Italy doesn’t really need an introduction, but the Italy we write about is the one you don’t see on the first trip — lunch in a quiet Rome piazza, the five in the afternoon light off Lake Como, the way a waiter corrects your pasta order and pours you the right wine anyway. We come back often; each time the country feels both bigger and smaller than we remembered.

Spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October) are our favourites: warm days, softer light, and the cities breathe again. July and August are hot — brutally so in Rome and Florence — and the coast fills with Italians on holiday. If you only have August, flee inland to the Dolomites or north to Lake Como. Winter has its own quiet charm: empty churches in Rome, Venice in fog, and real skiing in the Alps. Avoid the ten days either side of Easter and Ferragosto (Aug 15) if you can.

Rome. Walk everywhere. Sunrise at the Pantheon, coffee standing at Sant’Eustachio, sunset from the Gianicolo, and dinner in Trastevere. Skip the Spanish Steps and spend that hour in the Centrale Montemartini museum instead. Venice. Two nights minimum — it changes after the day-trippers leave. Cicchetti crawl in Cannaregio, an early vaporetto to Torcello, coffee in a quiet campo. Milan. Underrated. Aperitivo at Bar Basso, a proper walk in Brera, and the Last Supper if you book far enough ahead. Lake Como. Base in Varenna, not Bellagio; take the fast ferry across. One slow afternoon on the water and you understand the rest.

For a first trip: four nights in Rome, two in Florence, two in Venice — the classic triangle, and it works. For a second trip: skip Rome, fly Milan, base yourself on Lake Como for three nights, then head south to Venice or east to the Dolomites. Rome neighbourhoods: Monti for atmosphere, Prati for quiet, Trastevere if you don’t mind evening noise. Skip hotels by Termini station unless you’re moving on in the morning.

High-speed trains are the backbone. Frecciarossa and Italo connect Rome, Florence, Milan, and Venice in 1–3 hours — book early and they’re cheap. Regional trains are slower but fine for short hops. Inside cities: Rome’s metro is limited, so walk and use buses; Milan’s metro is excellent; Venice is all on foot and vaporetto. Don’t rent a car unless you’re heading for Tuscany back-roads, the Dolomites, or the Amalfi coast — and even then, pick it up outside the city.

Italian food is regional to the street. Carbonara in Rome, Bolognese in Bologna (never in Rome), seafood on the Adriatic, risotto in Milan, pesto in Liguria. What we always eat: cacio e pepe the first night in Rome, a proper pizza al taglio for lunch, gelato daily (Fatamorgana in Rome, Gelateria del Teatro), and a long Sunday lunch somewhere without a menu. Coffee is taken standing at the bar in the morning; after 11 only tourists order a cappuccino.

Italy rewards the second visit more than the first. The first trip is about the big sights — Colosseum, Rialto, the Duomo — and you need to do them. The second is about slower afternoons: an aperitivo on a piazza with no name, a train to a town you’ve never heard of, a long meal in a restaurant where no one speaks English. Start with Rome and Venice. Come back for everything else.

Both, of course — but if forced to choose: Rome if you want scale, street life, and ruins underfoot; Florence if you want art and compact walkability. Rome rewards time; Florence rewards a focused three days.

Yes, but pick your month. May, June, or late September are the sweet spot. In high summer (July–August) the coastal road is gridlocked and everything feels squeezed. Base in Ravello or Praiano rather than Positano, and take the ferry where possible.