Things to do in Italy

Italy has famous sights, food experiences, historic cities, beaches, islands, hill towns and outdoor adventures. The hard part isn’t finding things to do. It’s choosing the right things for your trip.

This guide breaks down the best things to do in Italy by interest, whether you love ancient history, art, food, beaches, hiking, road trips or hidden gems. Pick the sections that match what you’re after, then use them to build your itinerary.

I live in Chieti, in the Abruzzo region, so you’ll notice I have a soft spot for places outside the usual Rome-Florence-Venice route too.

How to choose what to do in Italy

Italy is shaped like a long boot, and it’s bigger than most people expect. Your favourite spots might be much farther apart than they look on a map. So before you plan an itinerary, decide what you actually want to see.

• Make a list of must-sees and nice-to-sees. Italy has endless sights, so write down everything that interests you, then split it into two lists: what you can’t miss and what would be nice to fit in if time allows. This makes your trip easier to plan and easier to enjoy.
• Choose experiences based on your interests. An art lover and a beach lover will have very different ideal trips through Italy. Neither is wrong. Pick a theme, whether that’s food, ancient history or the outdoors, and build around it.
• Set realistic expectations. You won’t see all of Italy in one trip, no matter how much you plan. Rather than jumping between regions, pick a smaller number of cities or areas and spend real time there.
• Avoid rushing between too many regions. A whirlwind week that touches five cities sounds efficient, but you end up seeing very little of any of them. Fewer stops with more time at each one almost always makes for a better trip.
• Book major attractions ahead. Sites like the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum limit daily entries. Booking ahead saves you from long lines and from missing out entirely.
• Use guided tours when they add context or save time. A good guide gets you past the queues and fills in the history and stories you’d otherwise miss.

Recommended tours and activities:

• Vatican: Museums & Sistine Chapel Entrance Ticket
• Florence: Uffizi, Pitti Palace & Boboli Garden Ticket Combo
• Colosseum: Underground and Ancient Rome Tour

Quick interest guide

Best classic things to do in Italy

If it’s your first trip, start here. These are the sights most people picture when they think of Italy.

• Visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum
• See the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
• Explore Florence’s Uffizi Gallery and the Duomo
• Ride a vaporetto in Venice
• Visit Pompeii or Herculaneum
• See the Leaning Tower of Pisa
• Take a day trip to Tuscany
• Eat pizza in Naples or take a food tour in Bologna

Things to do in Italy for art and culture lovers

Few places in the world pack in as much art and architecture as Italy. You could spend weeks in the galleries of Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan and still not see it all. Even walking the streets, you’ll pass artwork on churches, fountains and building facades that most cities would put in a museum.

Book your guided tour of the Uffizi Gallery or a guided tour of the ancient rock city of Matera today.

Some highlights to build a trip around:

• Public art in piazzas, fountains and churches across the country
• Florence’s Uffizi and Accademia galleries
• The Vatican Museums
• Baroque Rome, including its fountains and piazzas
• Venice’s churches, palaces and museums
• Milan’s Duomo and Leonardo’s Last Supper
• The Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna
• Matera’s cave churches

What to book

Padua walking tour | Borghese Gallery | Dodge’s Palace & St. Mark’s Basilica

Things to do in Italy for history lovers

Italy is like a cake, filled with layers of history at every turn. In one city, you can walk from ancient ruins to medieval streets to Renaissance palaces to Baroque churches, all within a few blocks.

In the countryside are villages that have stood unchanged by time. Stroll the cobbled roads between stone buildings and piazzas as you admire the surrounding landscapes. You’ll likely find several churches and a castle or two in every town. Some are now ruins, while others have been meticulously restored. Part of the fun is finding out which one you’ll find once you arrive.

Places and experiences worth building a trip around:

• Ancient Rome, including the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Nero’s palace
• Pompeii and Herculaneum, the towns buried by Vesuvius
• Ancient Greek temples in Paestum
• Etruscan tombs in Tuscany
• Greek ruins across Sicily
• Medieval hill towns
• Castles and fortresses scattered through the countryside
• Renaissance Florence
• Venice’s Carnival, if the timing works for your trip

What to book

Pompeii guided tour | Colosseum Underground | Necropolis of Tarquinia + Etruscan Museum

Things to do in Italy for food and wine lovers

Italians take their food seriously. Considering that Italian cuisine is one of the most popular in the world, you can’t blame them. What surprises visitors is that regional cooking varies a lot from north to south, so what you eat in Bologna will look nothing like what you eat in Palermo.

Regional food cities worth planning around include Bologna, Parma and Modena for pasta and cured meats, Naples for pizza, Palermo for street food, Lecce for Puglian cooking, and Genoa for pesto and focaccia.

• Food tours through local neighbourhoods and markets
• Cooking classes
• Wine tasting, especially in Tuscany and Piedmont or Catania
• Agriturismo stays on working farms
• Truffle hunting
• Olive oil tasting
• Cheese making

What to book

Palermo Street Food Tour | Cooking class in Venice | Rome Food Tour

Best things to do in Italy for outdoor lovers

Italy isn’t the first place people think of for outdoor trips, but it should be. Here you’ll find a diverse range of natural landscapes that offer many opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, cycling and water sports.

Italy is also home to three mountain ranges, the Italian Alps, the Apennines and the Dolomites. Not only are they spectacular, but they also offer plenty of outdoor activities, including hiking, skiing, rock climbing and mountain biking. The Dolomites, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, are known for their dramatic peaks and rugged landscapes. The Alps are also a popular destination for skiing, and here you’ll find many famous ski resorts.

• Hiking and skiing in the Dolomites
• Ski resorts in the Italian Alps
• Gran Sasso and the national parks of Abruzzo
• Lake Como and Lake Garda
• Cycling routes through the countryside
• Coastal walks along the cliffs and beaches
• Water sports along the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian and Mediterranean coasts

What to book

Hike Italy’s Deepest Canyon | Mount Etna Mountain Hiking and Cable Car Tour | Canyoning Vione | Path of the Gods Hike

Best things to do in Italy for beach and island lovers

The Italian peninsula is surrounded by the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian and Mediterranean Seas, with a spectacular coastline lined with beaches and cliffs. It’s perfect for beach lovers and water enthusiasts. Going to the beach is a national pastime for Italians, and it’s easy to see why. Here are some destination ideas for beach lovers.

• Sicily
• Sardinia
• Puglia
• The Abruzzo coast
• Cilento coast of Campania
• The Aeolian Islands
• Elba
• Ischia

Summer is peak season on the coast, and prices climb fast. Book accommodation early if you’re travelling between June and August.

Best things to do in Italy for hidden gem travellers

Once you’ve covered the classics, there’s a lot more to see. These spots aren’t undiscovered exactly, they’re just less visited by North American travellers and a lot less crowded than the usual route.

• L’Aquilla
• Matera
• Lecce
• Benevento
• Ravenna
• Smaller hill towns across the countryside
• Less crowded archaeological sites
• National parks and inland regions