Italy Attractions

Florence Cathedral (or, Florence Duomo) is the cathedral church of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 and completed in 1435 in the Gothic style. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival facade. The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting the region of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

St Mark's Basilica is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It lies on Piazza San Marco adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers, and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807 it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. For its opulent design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building was known by the nickname Chiesa d'Oro (Church of gold).

The Spanish Steps are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinità dei Monti. The Scalinata is the longest and widest staircase in Europe. The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, today still located in Palazzo Monaldeschi in the piazza below, with the Trinità dei Monti the church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France.

The Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome is a museum celebrating the lives and works of the Romantic poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The museum is home to one of the world's most extensive collections of memorabilia, letters, manuscripts, and paintings relating to Keats and Shelley, as well as Byron, Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Oscar Wilde, and others. It is located on the second floor of the building situated just to the S of the base of the Spanish Steps and E of the Piazza di Spagna.

Uffizi Gallery is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. It is housed in the Palazzo degli Uffizi, in Florence, Italy. The museum is a showcase for the Renaissance movement, one of the greatest periods in the history of art. Here is just a small selection from the world-class collection of paintings: Leonardo da Vinci (The Annunciation, The Adoration of the Magi) Sandro Botticelli (Primavera, The Birth of Venus, The Adoration of the Magi and others) Giotto (The Ognissanti Madonna, Badia Polyptych) Titian (Flora, Venus of Urbino) Michelangelo (The Doni Tondo) Raphael (Madonna of the Goldfinch, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi) Cimabue (Maestà) Duccio (Maestà) Simone Martini (The Annunciation) Paolo Uccello (The Battle of San Romano) Piero della Francesca (Diptyc...

Piazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic centre of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza. At the NW edge is the Fonte Gaia.

The Doge's Palace is a gothic palace located in Venice’s renowned Piazza San Marco, adjacent to the Basilica di San Marco. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice.(government of the former Venetian Republic from AD 697 to 1797). Although the palace was originally built in AD 814, the present structure was completed in the early 15th century. The palace was a showplace for artistry, craftsmanship and architecture, and still exemplifies the splendour of Venetian Gothic style. The palace is filled with works by Venetian Renaissance masters such as Veronese and Tintoretto. The Ponte dei Sospiri, or Bridge of Sighs, is an integral part of the palace and forms the link between the courts and the prisons across the canal. It is named after the noise prisoners used to make as they were led to confinement in the damp and gloomy cells, which can still be visited o...

The Colosseum (originally the Flavian Amphitheatre), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. It is the largest ever built in the Roman Empire and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman engineering and architecture. Situated just E of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96). The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia). The Colosseum,  Capable of seating 50,000 spectator, was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for enter...

The Trevi Fountain is the largest Baroque fountain in the city, standing 25.9 metres (85 feet) high and 19.8 metres (65 feet) wide. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy. However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain. The fountain is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rome and a popular site for marriage proposals.

The Rialto Bridge is the oldest and most famous of four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. The Rialto market, located on the Bridge itslef and surrounding area is ideal for shoppers. Surrounding the bridge is a neighborhood of small shops and restaurants. The bridge has become one of Venice's most recognisable icons and has a history that spans over 800 years. Today's Rialto Bridge was completed in 1591 and was used to replace a wooden bridge that collapsed in 1524.

The Roman Forum, located between the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill of the city of Rome, is now an archaeological site and tourist attraction. It is part of the centralised area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed. The oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located in or near the Forum which include the ancient former royal residency the Regia as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, both of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome. The kingdom's earliest shrines and temples were located on the forum's W edge. These shrines developed into the Republic's formal Comitium, where the Senate, as well as Republican government began. The Senate House, government offices, Tribunals, religious monuments, memorials and statues cluttered the area. The Forum became the economic hub of the city, as well as the centre o...

Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. Along with Herculaneum, its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. The eruption buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 meters of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery around 1592. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year.

The Pantheon (meaning "to every God") is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment opening into the rotunda, under a coffered, concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a freestanding bell tower (campanile), of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the SE soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower currently leans to the SW. The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the lowest side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the highest side and has 294 steps. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is 3.9&...

The San Siro is an 80,000 capacity football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan, Italy. It is the home of both A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano.  who played for Internazionale, and briefly for Milan, in the 1930s and 1940s. Other than football matches, the San Siro has been host to many pop music concerts. Artists that have performed at San Siro include Laura Pausini, U2, Feeder, Ash, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, David Bowie, Robbie Williams, Madonna and The Rolling Stones, among others.

The Castel Sant'Angelo (also known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian), is a towering cylindrical castle style building in Rome. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.

Gardaland is the third-most-popular theme park in Europe and is between Peschiera and Lazise, at Lake Garda in Italy. Built on the eastern shore of Lake Garda at Castelnuovo del Garda, the park opened on July 19, 1975. It has expanded steadily in both size and attendance, topping 1 million visitors annually for the first time in 1984. By 2007, attendance reached 3 million. Run and operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group, the park is promoted as first in Italy. This statistic is believable as the different attractions are considerably spaced throughout the park. It currently is home to six roller coasters and a total of 32 rides. The coasters are called Raptor, Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Sequoia Adventure, Orto Bruco, Mammut and Fuga da Atlantide.

Stretching along a ridge to the south of the city are a string of five Greek temples, a sight worthy of comparison to the Acropolis itself in Athens. The temples are usually divided into two zones: the Eastern Zone and Western Zone each side of the main entrance and the road from the city centre. It can get punishingly hot in summer and there is little shade other than some olive trees along the ridge itself. Entrance costs €6 plus extra for an audio tour or a simple map (July 2007). The first temple east of the entrance is the Tempio di Ercole or Temple of Hercules - long, thin and about 1/3 standing. It is the oldest of the temples, built towards the end of the 6th century BC. Next to it are some interesting deep ruts formed by ancient carriages. Next heading east is the large Tempio della Concordia or Temple of Concord - a very impressive almost comp...

Neptune's Grotto is a stalactite cave near the town of Alghero on the island of Sardinia, Italy. The cave was discovered by local fishermen in the 18th century and has since developed into a popular tourist attraction. The grotto gets its name from the Roman god of the sea, Neptune. Tourists visiting Neptune's Grotto are given guided tours and led single-file through a lit pathway, with tour guides providing information about the cave in Italian and English. The grotto is widely visited, and during the peak tourist season in August, can contain around 200 people at a time.

The Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor, commonly known as the Franciscan Order, in Assisi (Italy), the birthplace of St. Francis. Burial place of St. Francis, the basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. The basilica, which was begun in 1228, is built into the side of a hill and comprises two churches known as the Upper Church and the Lower Church, and a crypt where the remains of the saint are interred. With its accompanying friary, the basilica is a distinctive landmark to those approaching Assisi. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. The interior of the Upper Church is important as an early example of the Gothic style in Italy. The Upper and Lower Churches are decorated with frescoes by numerous late medieval painters from the Roman and Tuscan schools,...

The Fountain of Neptune (Fontana di Nettuno) is a monumental civic fountain located in the eponymous square, Piazza Nettuno, next to Piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, Italy Its bronze figure of Neptune, extending his reach in a lordly gesture of stilling and controlling the waters, is an early work of Giambologna's maturity, completed about 1567. An innovation of Giambologna's fountain designs is the fantastic and non-geometrical forms he gave to the basins into which water splashed and flowed, "curiously folded, bulging and elastic in form", as Rosalind Grippi remarked. The fountain is a model example of Mannerist taste of the courtly elite in the mid-sixteenth century: construction of the statue was commissioned by the Cardinal Legate of the city, Charles Borromeo, to symbolize the fortunate recent election of Borromeo's uncle as Pope Pius IV.

Piazza Maggiore is a large pedestrian square located in the monumental center of the old part of the city (Bologna, Italy). It was created in its present appearance in the 13th century. The square is surrounded by the Palazzo dei Notai, the Palazzo d'Accursio, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Basilica of San Petronio. The square is surrounded by the Basilica of San Petronio, the City Hall Building, the portico dei Banchi and the Palazzo del Podestà.

The Towers of Bologna are a group of medieval structures in Bologna, Italy. The two most prominent ones, also called the Two Towers, are the landmark of the city. The Two Towers, both of them leaning, are the symbol of the city. They are located at the intersection of the roads that lead to the five gates of the old ring wall (mura dei torresotti). The taller one is called the Asinelli while the smaller but more leaning tower is called the Garisenda. Their names derive from the families which are traditionally credited for their construction between 1109 and 1119. However, the scarcity of documents from this early period makes this in reality rather uncertain. The name of the Asinelli family, for example, is documented for the first time actually only in 1185, almost 70 years after the presumed construction of the tower which is attributed to them.

The Basilica of San Petronio is the main church of Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates the Piazza Maggiore. It is the fifth largest church in the world, stretching for 132 meters in length and 60 in width, while the vault reaches 45 meters inside and 51 meters in the facade. It can contain about 28,000 persons. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. The Basilica houses an invaluable number of treasures such as the sundial by Cassini and Guglielmini, which indicates the exact period of the current year at all times, the "S. Rocco" by Parmigianino and the marvelous Bolognini Chapel. From the left nave of the basilica, the visitor can gain access to the Museum where many bas-reliefs are collected.

This famous car maker in Italy has been producing some of the most sought-after luxury sports cars in the world for decades. The Lamborghini Museum shows off some of these cars and a look into the history of the company. There is a bus you can take from Bologna to the center of Sant’Agata Bolognese, which is a five minute walk from the museum location. The ATB 576 bus (direction Crevalcore) departs from the main bus station in Bologna and takes roughly 50 minutes to get to the “S. Agata Bolognese Chiesa Frati” stop in Sant’Agata Bolognese, which is five minutes on foot from the museum.

Bologna's main park created in 1875. The chalet converts to a nightclub in the summer evenings. Open: daily 06:00 to midnight.

Galleria Ferrari is a Ferrari company museum dedicated to the Ferrari sports car marque. The museum is not purely for cars; also on view are prizes, photographs and other historical objects relating to the Italian motor racing industry. The exhibition also introduces technological innovations, some of which had made the transition from racing cars to road cars. It is located just 300 metres from the Ferrari factory in Ferrari's home town of Maranello, near Modena, Italy. The museum first opened in February 1990, with a new wing being added in October 2004. Ferrari itself has run the museum since 1995. The total surface area is now 2,500 square metres. The number of annual visitors to the museum is around 180,000. The exhibits are mostly a combination of Ferrari road and track cars. Many of Ferrari's most iconic cars from throughout its history are present in the museum.

The Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra) is a noted sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri, Italy. Sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern. The Blue Grotto can be reached by motorboat from the port of Marina Grande, by bus from Anacapri, or by taxi. To enter the low opening to the grotto, the tourist transfers from the motorized boat that brought him or her from the port into a small wooden rowboat manned by one of the oarsmen who specialize in ferrying travellers into the cave. Because there is no headroom, visitors must lie on their backs in the bottom of the rowboats as they clear the entranceway. Once inside, the grotto is quite roomy and it is possible to sit upright, until conveyed back out through the same tiny hole. Visitors can also swim to the grotto but it is importa...

Villa Jovis, the splendid residence of the Emperor Tiberius, start from Piazzetta Umberto I and turn into Via delle Botteghe, continuing straight on through Via Fuorlovado, Via Croce and, finally, Via Tiberio. After visiting the villa, you could dedicate some time to other attractions in the vicinity, such as the Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso, the Cave of Tiberius and the Lighthouse Tower.

The Cathedral-Basilica of Cefalù, (Duomo di Cefalù) is a Roman Catholic church in Cefalù, Sicily, southern Italy. The cathedral, dating from 1131, was commenced in the Norman style, the island of Sicily having been conquered by the Normans in 1091. According to tradition, the building was erected after a vow made to the Holy Saviour by the King of Sicily, Roger II, after he escaped from a storm to land on the city's beach. The fortress-like character of the building, which, seen from a distance, rises as a huge bulk above its medieval town, may in part reflect the vulnerability of the site to attack from the sea. It also made a powerful statement of the Norman presence. Numerous changes were made over succeeding centuries and the edifice was never entirely completed.

The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. The museum houses masterpieces by Michelangelo, such as his Bacchus, Pitti Tondo (or Madonna and Child), Brutus and David-Apollo. Its collection includes Donatello's David and St. George Tabernacle, Vincenzo Gemito's Pescatore ("fisherboy"), Jacopo Sansovino's Bacco, Giambologna's L’Architettura and his Mercurio and many works from the Della Robbia family. Benvenuto Cellini is represented with his bronze bust of Cosimo I. The museum also has a fine collection of ceramics (maiolica), textile, tapestries, ivory, silver, armours and old coins. It also features the competing designs on Isaac's Sacrifice (Sacrificio di Isacco) that were performed by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi to win th...

The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions. In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a power base by Napoleon, and later served for a brief period as the principal royal palace of the newly united Italy. The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, and its doors were ope...

Giotto’s Campanile is a free-standing campanile that is part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy. Standing adjacent the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistry of St. John, the tower is one of the showpieces of the Florentine Gothic architecture with its design by Giotto, its rich sculptural decorations and the polychrome marble encrustations. This slender structure stands on a square plan with a side of 14.45 meters (47.41 ft). It attains a height of 84.7 meters (277.9 ft) sustained by four polygonal buttresses at the corners. These four vertical lines are crossed by four horizontal lines, dividing the tower in five levels.

The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") is a Medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. The Ponte Vecchio's two neighbouring bridges are the Ponte Santa Trinità and the Ponte alle Grazie.

The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres south east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Foscolo, Gentile and Rossini, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie).

The Boboli Gardens are a park in Florence, Italy, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities. The gardens provide wonderful city views. Don't miss the Bardini gardens which is in the combination ticket price for the Boboli, and it's only a short walk from the Boboli Gardens. There are great views of the Duomo from the Bardini gardens. A single adult ticket to the gardens costs around €7.

Gardaland is the third-most-popular theme park in Europe and is between Peschiera and Lazise, at Lake Garda in Italy. Built on the eastern shore of Lake Garda at Castelnuovo del Garda, the park opened on July 19, 1975. It has expanded steadily in both size and attendance, topping 1 million visitors annually for the first time in 1984. By 2007, attendance reached 3 million. Run and operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group, the park is promoted as first in Italy. This statistic is believable as the different attractions are considerably spaced throughout the park. It currently is home to six roller coasters and a total of 32 rides. The coasters are called Raptor, Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Sequoia Adventure, Orto Bruco, Mammut and Fuga da Atlantide.