Here are the top five tourist cities in Italy:

Rome: Known as the “Eternal City,” Rome is a must-visit destination in Italy. It’s home to iconic landmarks like the Colosseum (map), the Pantheon (map), the Vatican City (map), and the Trevi Fountain (map).

Florence: Located in the heart of Tuscany, Florence is famous for its beautiful architecture, world-class art museums, and delicious cuisine. Highlights include the Uffizi Gallery (map), the Duomo (map), and the Ponte Vecchio (map).

Venice: Venice is a unique and romantic city that’s built on a network of canals. Visitors can take a gondola ride through the city’s waterways, visit St. Mark’s Square (map), and explore the historic *Rialto Bridge (map).

Milan: Milan is the fashion and design capital of Italy and home to iconic landmarks like the Duomo (map) and La Scala opera house (map). The city is also known for its shopping, art, and nightlife.

Naples: Located in the southern region of Italy, Naples is a vibrant and bustling city with a rich history and cultural heritage. Visitors can explore the city’s historic center, taste authentic Neapolitan pizza, and take a day trip to the nearby ruins of Pompeii (map).

Northwest Italy – Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardia and Valle d’Aosta.

Home of the *Italian Riviera, including Portofino, *Sanremo, and of *Cinque Terre. There are many historic cities in this part of Italy: Turin, Milan, *Genoa are the most popular tourist destinations of the area. Other cities like Aosta, Bergamo, Brescia and Como have a rich cultural heritage, which share the region’s visitors with beautiful landscapes such as the lakes *Garda (map), Como (map) and Maggiore.

There are also important ski resorts like Sestriere (map), *Courmayeur (map), Breuil-Cervinia (map), Livigno (map) and Bormio (map).

Northeast Italy – Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto.

This part of Italy also boasts several important tourist attractions, such as the canal-filled city of Venice, the cities of Verona, *Vicenza, Padua, Trento, Bolzano, Cremona, Bologna, Ferrara, Mantova/Mantua, Parma, Ravenna, *Cesena, *Rimini and Trieste. There are also several mountain ranges such as the Dolomites, the Carnic and Julian Alps and first-class ski resorts like *Cortina d’Ampezzo (map) and Madonna di Campiglio (map).

Central Italy – Lazio, *Marche, Tuscany and Umbria.

Rome boasts the remaining wonders of the Roman Empire and some of the world’s best known landmarks such as the Colosseum (map). Florence, regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, is Tuscany’s most visited city, whereas nearby cities like Siena, Pisa, Arezzo and Lucca also have rich cultural heritages. Umbria’s population is small but it has many important cities such as Perugia and Assisi.

Southern Italy – Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Abruzzo, and *Molise.

Naples is the most visited city in the area, and the ruins of Pompeii (map) are the most visited sights. Other important tourist destinations include the *Amalfi Coast (map), *Ravello, *Benevento, *Caserta, *Salerno and *Pozzuoli. The natural parks of Abruzzo, the greenest region in Europe, include the *Abruzzo National Park, the National Park of Gran Sasso and *Monti della Laga the Maiella National Park and Sirente-Velino Regional Park.

Apulia, which includes the historical cities of *Lecce and *Bari and villages composed of trulli. Calabria it is famous for its coasts the capital city is *Catanzaro but its most populated city is Reggio Calabria (map). Basilicata is very famous for so-called *Sassi di Matera (map).

Sicily – The largest island in the country is a diverse and popular tourist island, famous for its archaeology, seascape and unique Sicilian cuisine. There are many important cities such as Palermo, Messina, Catania. An important sight is *Val di Noto (map) that offers a lot of Late Baroque cities built after the catastrophic earthquake of 1693.

Sardinia – is a large island some 250 km west of the Italian coastline. It includes several popular tourist attractions and has several beaches and archaeological ruins. It is also known for its beaches, that are among the most beautiful in the world, and include the famous pink beaches in the archipelago of *La Maddalena (map).

Useful information on the travel documents required to enter Italy. Consular Services and visas. Visa for entry and stay in Italy.

Our article about the city of Rome. Information about the city’s attractions, culture, events, and activities. Public transport.

Trenitalia offers national rail transport in Italy and international connections to Austria, France, Germany, and Switzerland.