The best places to visit in Italy for the first time are dotted all around the Italian peninsula.
What makes these particular cities, towns, and villages such a good introduction to Italy? These destinations are either emblematic of a region and impossibly gorgeous, such as Alberobello or the Cinque Terre, or one of those Italian towns or cities that are repositories of the country’s history and culture, such as Rome and Florence.
Whether you’re here for the cuisine, the wine, the art, or the natural beauty, enjoy discovering your personal favorite place in Italy and embrace la dolce vita for yourself.
Alberobello
Alberobello
Located in the rural countryside north of the coastal city of Taranto, Alberobello is the epitome of what makes the Puglia region such a wonderful introduction to Italy. It’s a concentrated dose of charming rusticity, unique tradition, and relatively few visitors compared to headline attractions like Rome or the Cinque Terre.
Now UNESCO-protected, Alberobello’s architectural heritage is what makes it one of the best places to visit in Southern Italy. Its tiny trulli houses, like something out of a fairytale, are conical and white-washed, built from local limestone, and in Alberobello, they’re found in unusual density.
This village makes for a delightful day trip in Southern Italy. Visit its Trullo Sovrano museum to learn more about its history, and revel in Puglia’s renowned produce at Ristorante Trullo D’Oro—seated within a trulli house, of course.
Cagliari
Cagliari
One of the best places to visit in Italy for the first time, colorful Cagliari offers an intriguing mix of mainstream Italian culture mingled with the multi-layered history and traditions of the island of Sardinia.
Situated south of the French island of Corsica, Sardinia is a jewel of the Mediterranean. It’s home to some of the best hikes in Italy and visitors delight in its rugged, cork-forested interior while sun-worshippers bask on its famously beautiful beaches.
Poetto Beach, Cagliari
Cagliari knits the island’s charms into an intoxicating, multicultural weave. Its Il Castello quarter, with its 13th-century cathedral and fortified towers, resonates with history, while its urban Poetto beach is one of Italy’s best beaches.
African aromas mingle with Italian flavors in the city’s kitchens, but don’t worry: you’re never far from a pizzeria; this is Italy, after all.
Taormina
Taormina
Despite being located on Sicily—an island famous for its distinctive character—the town of Taormina is, in many ways, the ideal Italian seaside resort.
With a wonderful outlook over the Bay of Naxos, this gorgeous Sicilian town is set into the verdant, craggy hillside above the beautiful Isola Bella beach. The terraces of its hotels float amid the cumuli of umbrella pines and Spritz-sipping guests switch their gaze between the cerulean sea and the often smoking cone of Mount Etna.
Orange and lemon trees line the streets of Taormina, their branches daubed with citric color. Holidaying couples browse the boutiques of Corso Umberto I, stopping at counters for Sicilian treats like lemon granita or ricotta-filled cannoli.
Greek Theater of Taormina
On top of it all this bijou pleasure spot fits in a heavyweight historical site: its astounding Greek Theater, with magnificent views of Etna in the distance. In summer, the theater is used as a venue for concerts.
Florence
Florence
How can one summarize somewhere as magnificent as the beautiful Italian city of Florence? The Tuscan capital is readily acknowledged as one of the essential stops in Italy.
Florence is known for its wealth of Italian artistic treasures, many housed in “Italy’s Louvre”—the stately Uffizi Gallery.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Florence is how its immense cultural legacy—including works from talents such as Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, and Donatello—is often found on display in the city streets.
Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Florence’s cobblestoned historic center is a maze of medieval architecture and sculptural masterpieces. Among the intricate marble facades and lifelike artworks, you have a vibrant Italian city, with street markets, fabulous people-watching, and food halls serving Neapolitan pizza, or Florentine tripe rolls for the authenticity seekers.
Santa Margherita
Santa Margherita
Santa Margherita is one of the best places to visit in Italy for the first time if you want something glamorous but more low-key. It’s a seaside resort that enjoys relatively low visibility on the Italian Riviera, but with the soft morning light warming its terracotta and lemon-hued belle epoque architecture, you’ll marvel at the oversight of other travelers who have headed to its more famous neighbors, Portofino and the Cinque Terre.
For those who know it, this is a blessing. During summer in Italy, its beachfront looks out over racing sailboats. Return visitors check in to their favorite seafront grand hotels, while the fishermen haul in the famous red shrimp for the town’s restaurants’ dinner service.
Pisa
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Home to one of the most famous symbols of Italian culture, Pisa is easily one of the best places to visit in Italy for the first time.
For many, a vacation, even one focused on high-minded matters such as art and culture, requires iconic snapshots for posterity. And there’s no greater backdrop than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
Once you’ve scratched that itch, the blinkers come off and Pisa awaits. Its major medieval sights are conveniently gathered close to the Leaning Tower in the UNESCO-protected Piazza dei Miracoli or “Square of Miracles”.
Descend into the city streets and you’ll enter a place at ease with itself. Window shop on Borgo Stretto and sit down to some Tuscan food at the excellent Ristoro Pecorino on Via Santa Maria.
Read: Best Things to Do in Tuscany
Cinque Terre
Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre, or “Five Lands” is a chain of five brightly painted fishing villages clinging to the mountainous coastline of Liguria.
Manarola, Cinque Terre
Each of the towns of Cinque Terre has a unique character. Manarola, with its dramatic limestone cliffs, is often cited as the “most romantic”. The Cinque Terre is, in general, a romantic place, so much so that its most famous hiking path, connecting the villages, is called the “Lover’s Walk”.
Meanwhile, Monterosso al Mare, the largest, has a spacious beach and the feel of a classic Italian resort town. But you couldn’t mistake the Cinque Terre’s scenery for just anywhere—this place is one of a kind.
Read: Best Things to Do in Cinque Terre
Naples
Naples
With the Italian natural wonder of Mount Vesuvius looming nearby, Neapolitan culture often draws volcanic comparisons. But the allusions can be fair, as this southern coastal city is one of Italy’s most charismatic, from its Maradona-worshiping street art to its world-renowned culinary culture.
“Culinary culture” in this instance is a synonym for “pizza”. Naples is the home of the fluffy and light pizza base known throughout the West. If you’re a Margherita-lover, then a first stop has to be Pizzeria Brandi, regarded as the origin point for this marriage of buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce, and fragrant basil.
The history of this gloriously attractive part of Italy is as alluring as the food. UNESCO-listed Pompeii is a short drive south of Naples. And the city’s 16th-century Quartieri Spagnoli with its web of lanes acts as a delicious counterpoint to the stately architecture of Naples’ adjacent historic district.
Pompeii
Pompeii
One of the world’s most dramatic archaeological parks, Pompeii is one of the best places to visit in Italy for first-timers.
Before it was buried in 79AD beneath an avalanche of pumice and lava, Pompeii was a thriving Roman town. Today, its excavated buildings and streets have been transformed into a profoundly affecting open-air museum.
Among the remarkable sights are the casts of the former inhabitants on display, frozen in their last moments. Once you’ve spent a good half day exploring Pompeii, it’s back to neighboring Naples with its pizza, beaches, and vibrant city life. And maybe a nervous glance or two at slumbering Mount Vesuvius.
Sorrento
Sorrento
The word “Sorrento” conjures up sunbeams and the scent of lemons. This cliffside town on the Gulf of Naples is famous for its lemony limoncello liqueur and its super-sized citrus, but its appeal runs deeper than just yellow fruit.
Sorrento looks back across the water towards the cone of Mount Vesuvius. Its town planners did a fabulous job. A haunt of holidaying Roman nobles 2,000 years ago, today its artisan workshop-lined side streets are open to all.
While it is a favorite weekend shopping destination for monied Neapolitans, Sorrento’s history is never too far away. Only a short walk outside of town is a bathing pool—Bagni Regina Giovanni—where the medieval Queen of Naples would reportedly carry out extramarital trysts.
Read: Best Things to Do in Sorrento
The Amalfi Coast
Amalfi Town, Amalfi Coast
The rumpled beauty of the Amalfi Coast, to the south of Naples, is a fusion of California’s Big Sur and the most dramatic karst landscapes of southern Thailand. Add that quintessential Italian style, and you have an area of undeniable glamor and visual lushness.
Experience glitzy Positano with its eye-popping architecture. Visit Ravello to understand what drew artists like Truman Capote here, and hike or ferry-hop between its many gorgeous and distinctive towns and villages.
It’s one of the best places to visit in Italy for the first-time traveler, however, due to its renown, the shoulder season is the best time to visit the Amalfi Coast to avoid the busiest time.
Even in high summer, the Amalfi’s undulating coastline with its snaking highway and high-stepping bridges offers numerous sunny nooks in which to escape the crowds.
Read: Cinque Terre vs. Amalfi Coast: Which Should You Visit?
Portofino
Portofino
The pastel-hued destination for high flyers of the 1960s, Portofino is a perfectly formed jewel of a fishing village located on its namesake peninsula in Liguria. It’s one of the best places to visit in Italy for the first-time traveler, as it’s undeniably glamorous and close to a whole host of other Italian Riviera destinations such as the Cinque Terre.
Portofino is surrounded by a marine park that protects flourishing acres of seagrass meadows. Above the water, sleek superyachts moor in one of the world’s most exclusive marinas.
Portofino
Roped alongside them, and colorfully coordinated with the bright carousel of tall, narrow buildings on the quayside, are the traditional gozze ligure fishing boats. Boutiques and upscale restaurants inhabit what were once the homes of fishermen.
After wandering the town’s polished cobbles, order a Paciugo gelato sundae on the quayside and enjoy the top-tier people-watching.
Read: Best Things to Do in Portofino
Ravenna
Ravenna
On the Adriatic coast about an hour’s drive from Emilia-Romagna’s capital of Bologna, the smaller, less well-known Ravenna quietly presides over a trove of UNESCO-listed treasures.
It’s the best place to visit in Italy for first-timers who are concerned about crowds but don’t want to miss out on the country’s astonishing cultural treasures. In Ravenna, the former capital of the Western Roman Empire, you’ll find Byzantine frescoes and mosaics to rival the Sistine Chapel.
While Ravenna is a thriving city, you can enjoy this more off-the-beaten-path experience in Italy without feeling a sense of being crowded.
One of the best things to do in Ravenna is to visit its historic center, offering excellent traditional restaurants as well as Adriatic-washed crescents of sand located only a short bus or car ride away.
Bologna
Bologna
One of the best food cities in Italy, Bologna has superb name recognition thanks to its meaty Bolognese pasta sauce.
If food is an important factor when considering the best places to visit in Italy for the first time, then Bologna should be your list-topper. On the outskirts of the city sits Eataly FICO, the world’s first food theme park. And amid Bologna’s brick-hued streets, you’ll breathe in the aromas of classic Italian cooking wafting from its busy trattorias.
But while Italian food is central to this city, it isn’t all of what Bologna is about. Besides its 12th-century Two Towers, it is also home to the oldest university in the West. While visiting, you’ll see students wandering beneath the colonnades clutching traditional prosciutto-stuffed flatbreads, or piadini, for fuel between classes.
Read: What to Eat in Bologna
Rome
Colosseum, Rome
Once the epicenter of the Roman Empire and now the capital of modern Italy, Rome remains a city of remarkable attributes.
Its nickname of “the Eternal City” is realized by the weave of historic buildings and ruins embedded throughout the more modern cityscape. From the Colosseum to the Baths of Caracalla, Rome and its secrets reward repeat visits. This is why it’s one of the best places to visit in Italy for the first time. Go once, and you’ll always have a burning desire to return.
The city thrums with life. Its many neighborhoods are distinctive and ever-engaging, from Campo Marzio to trendy Trastevere. For a first trip to Italy, Rome leaves an indelible stamp—an often surprisingly unvarnished introduction to what makes Italy one of the world’s great destinations.
Naples
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