Things to do in Italy: 41 experiences worth the trip

45 minutes, 2 hours with Trevi and the PantheonFree

Catch the Spanish Steps nearly empty, with the street cleaners still at work, then set off on an easy early loop through Rome.

A full dayNo booking needed

A whole slow day of eating in Bologna: mortadella, Parmigiano and bread from the old market streets, then tagliatelle al ragù for lunch.

15 minutes Positano to Amalfi; a day to hop the coastBook ahead

Skip the narrow coast road: in the warm months the boats are the better way between the Amalfi Coast towns, with the cliffs alongside.

30 to 45 minutesBook ahead

Under the Pantheon's only window, a disc of sunlight crosses the coffers like a sundial run backwards; in rain, water falls straight in.

2 to 3 hoursFree

After midnight the day crowds have gone back to the mainland and Venice is just stone, water and your own footsteps.

Half a day for one or two stretchesNo booking needed

Five villages joined by one coastal path: walk it in stretches, start early, and let the train carry you back.

1 to 2 hours with the walk upFree

From the terrace above the Arno, Florence fits in one frame: the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio's tower, Santa Croce and the bridges.

A full day, or 4 hours for the coreBook ahead

A whole Roman town to walk, from the Forum under Vesuvius along Via dell'Abbondanza, past bakeries and street counters, to the amphitheatre.

A full day by carBook ahead

Brunello tasting in Montalcino, lunch in Pienza and cypress-lined lanes in late light: a slow day through the farmed hills south of Siena.

1 to 3 hours with the Blue Grotto stopBook ahead

Loop around Capri by boat past the Faraglioni rocks, the sea caves and the cliffs below Anacapri that walkers only see from above.

Half a day with the Forum and PalatineTimed entry

About 75 minutes inside the Colosseum's first and second levels, then the Roman Forum and Palatine on the same ticket.

30 to 40 minutesNo booking needed

Glide through Venice's narrow rii by gondola, fare agreed first, or cross the Grand Canal on a traghetto for small change.

About 3 hours, plus the descent to PositanoFree

Three hours gently downhill from Bomerano to Nocelle above Positano, with the coast and Capri in front of you.

About 3 hours for the Museums and the chapelTimed entry

The Sistine Chapel ends the Vatican Museums: stand under Michelangelo's Creation of Adam for as long as the guards allow.

30 minutes at the table, plus the queueNo booking needed

A Naples pizzeria open since 1930 that still keeps just two pizzas on the menu: the Margherita and the Marinara.

30 minutes in the tower, 2 hours for the squareTimed entry

Climb the 251 steps of the Leaning Tower on a booked time slot, and the Cathedral comes free with the ticket.

2 to 3 hoursFree

Tall painted houses drop down Via Colombo to a tiny harbour, and the sea path gives you the stacked façades in late-afternoon light.

2 to 3 hoursTimed entry

Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera early on, the Caravaggios near the end: enter the Uffizi with a booked slot and a route.

1 hour at dawn, a day with the ferriesFree

From the tip of Bellagio, where Lake Como splits in two, watch dawn light come over the eastern mountains onto the western shore.

4 to 6 hoursTimed entry

In the Garden of the Fugitives, casts of 13 victims lie where the ash caught them; plan your Pompeii ticket so you reach it fresh.

45 minutesNo booking needed

Italy's oldest coffee house in continuous operation, open since 1720 on St Mark's Square: come for the small mirrored and painted rooms.

Half a day over the top and backFree

Climb to 2,757 metres on the highest pass road in the Eastern Alps, through 48 tight hairpins, each numbered on a stone.

45 minutesBook ahead

Raphael's tomb under the Madonna del Sasso he commissioned, then the kings' chapels: the Pantheon is still a working church.

2 to 3 hours, plus the marketBook ahead

Follow a trifolau's trained dog through the woods around Alba in white truffle season, then choose a truffle at the fair's market.

20 minutes, longer at sunsetFree

The only Florence bridge the retreating German army spared in 1944, its jewellers' workshops still hanging off both sides.

Half a day in Barolo, a full day with an estateBook ahead

Learn Nebbiolo in a castle wine museum, compare Barolos in its cellars, then look out over the vineyard slopes from La Morra.

Half a day, or overnightNo booking needed

Around 1,500 trulli, dry-stone houses under conical stone roofs, with a tax story behind them and lanes that empty by evening.

3 to 6 daysBook ahead

Three ski areas around Cortina, from Tofana's World Cup course to Cristallo's Staunies, among the steepest runs in the Dolomites.

A full day for the pageant and the raceFree

Ten horses and bareback riders, three laps around the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, usually no more than 90 seconds of racing.

A full day, ideally with a nightNo booking needed

Cave houses and rock-cut churches dug into limestone on both sides of a ravine, and a viewpoint across it facing the whole city.

1 hour, 2 with the Pala d'Oro and the LoggiaBook ahead

Gold-ground mosaics cover the walls and domes of St Mark's; book a slot and give the nave time before the side chapels.

An eveningNo booking needed

Milan's old canals, their banks lined with bars, for an evening aperitivo where a fixed-price spritz comes with snacks.

A full day from CataniaBook ahead

Ride and walk up the south side of an active volcano to around 3,000 metres, with a guide for the upper slopes.

About 45 minutes, Ferrovia to San MarcoNo booking needed

The slow boat down the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge and past the palaces to San Marco, from an open seat at the bow.

Half a day for the townNo booking needed

Saffron and Vernaccia gelato eaten on the steps by the old well, in a town that keeps 14 of its medieval tower houses.

15 minutes in the refectoryTimed entry

Fifteen minutes, at most 40 people, in front of Leonardo's mural on the end wall of an old refectory.

Exactly 2 hours, the length of a slotTimed entry

Bernini's Apollo and Daphne and the Rape of Proserpina, then the Caravaggios, in a villa you can only enter by reservation.

About 1 hourTimed entry

Michelangelo's David under a skylit tribune, reached past his unfinished Prisoners, still half inside their blocks of marble.

About 1 hour for the climbTimed entry

Climb narrow stairs, partly between the dome's inner and outer shells, to the lantern of Florence Cathedral.

2 to 3 hoursBook ahead

Walk the council chambers to the Hall of the Great Council, then cross the Bridge of Sighs into the prisons.

2 to 3 hoursBook ahead

Volcanic flows carbonised Herculaneum's wood instead of burning it, so its houses keep upper floors, beams and doors.