One region until 1963, Abruzzo and Molise - previously just plain Abruzzi - together make Italy's transition from north to south. Both are sparsely populated mountainous regions prone to earthquakes, and both have always been outside the mainstream of Italian affairs. You could spend a whole and very varied holiday in Abruzzo . Bordered by the Apennines, it holds some of Italy's wildest terrain: silent valleys, vast untamed mountain plains and abandoned hill-villages, as well as some great historic towns, many of them rarely visited by outsiders. But this is only half the story: the Abruzzesi have done much to pull their region out of the poverty trap, developing resorts on the long, sandy Adriatic coastline and exploiting the tourist potential of a large, mountainous national park.
Molise is manifestly a part of the south, its countryside gentler than Abruzzo, its mountains less forbidding, and its villages and towns usually modern and functional to withstand the shock of earthquakes. The lasting impression is of new, fast roads snaking across rolling countryside planted with grain, but although you can drive across Molise in less than an hour on the motorway it's not a region you can get the most out of by hurriedly passing through. This is a land which has long experienced peasant hardship; it still has a close affinity to traditional festivals and rituals, and demands time to be understood. Tourism is low-key: tratturi for example - ancient sheep-droving routes 111m wide - are gaining a new life as mountain-bike or horseback riding trails, served by occasional farmhouse guesthouses and riding stables along the way. Other focuses are the seaside town of Térmoli; one of Italy's least-visited Roman sites, Saepinum; and the hiking trails in the Matese mountains on the border with Campania. Don't expect to rush through, though; in both regions, getting around on public transport demands patience and the careful studying of bus and train timetables.
 

• Calabria and Basilicata

More than any other of the regions of the Italian South, Calabria and Basilicata represent the quintessence of the mezzogiorno . Culturally impoverished, underdeveloped and - owing to emigration - sparsely populated, these rural regions were long considered only good for taxation, and even then they were mismanaged. Although agriculture was systematized to an extent when these lands formed a part of Magna Graecia, by the time the Normans arrived there was little infrastructure or defence against the depredations of maritime raiders. Moreover, the feudal era didn't really die here until the Bourbons were ejected at Unification, and remnants of the older society persist in the widespread system of patronage and an exaggerated use of titles. Respect for authority co-exists with a deep scepticism and an apathy and inertia vividly described by Carlo Levi in his Christ Stopped at Eboli - a book that for many Italians was the introduction to the very deep problems besetting the mezzogiorno .
Indeed, this area is if anything even more marginalized than it was before Unification, when it was at least the geographical centre of the Bourbon state, and today talk of the Two Nations of Italy is most strikingly manifest in what can seem a very distant region from the emphatically European north - to which its people provide a reluctant supply of cheap labour. But despite lingering attitudes on both sides that perpetuate this gulf, much has changed in the south, to the extent that the picture drawn in Levi's book would hardly be recognized today, thanks largely to a massive channelling of funds since the war to finance huge irrigation and land-reclamation schemes, industrial development and a modern system of communications, all helping to set the southern economy on its feet. Unemployment remains the highest in the country, and emigration is still very much a reality, but malaria has been eradicated, previously unproductive land made fertile, and construction is under way everywhere - though often hand-in-hand with the forces of organized crime and with frequently dire consequences for the physical aspect of the land.
The landscape provides the main reason to come to Basilicata and Calabria: artistically they are the most barren regions in Italy, but the combination of mountain grandeur and a relatively unspoilt coastline, often in close proximity, give them a powerful appeal, and one only beginning to be exploited by the tourist industry. Two of the main cities, Cosenza , lying just inland of the Tyrrhenian coast, and Reggio , at its southern tip, lie within the shadow of the forested slopes of the Sila massif and the craggy wilderness of Aspromonte , respectively, and Cosenza also holds Calabria's most compelling old centre, in striking contrast to the progressive and prosperous sheen of its modern counterpart. In Basilicata, Potenza is useful as a transport hub for the string of medieval towns lying to the north, although the town holds none of the fascination of the region's second city, Matera , whose distinctive sassi - cavelike dwellings in the heart of the town - give it a uniquely dramatic setting. Of the coasts, it's the Tyrrhenian that is most engaging, with spots like Maratea, Tropea and Scilla favourite hideaway resorts for discerning Italian and foreign visitors. The Ionian coast, on the other hand, can be bleak and is visited mainly for its ancient sites - relics of the once mighty states that comprised the Greek colonies known as Magna Graecia.
Good transport services exist, but in hilly and coastal areas a car is useful, especially to penetrate some of the more far-flung inland areas. Once arrived somewhere, park up as soon as you can as a vehicle can only be an encumbrance in the smaller places. Walking around, you'll notice a general suspicion of strangers, especially in rural areas, though it's reassuring to remember that violence against strangers is very uncommon, even in Calabria, where the crime rate is notoriously high. As for sexual harassment, this is still a reality in some parts of the south - macho values prevail and women travelling alone will often be stared at

• Campania

The region immediately south of Lazio, Campania , marks the real beginning of the Italian south or mezzogiorno . It's the part of the south too, perhaps inevitably, that most people see, as it's easily accessible from Rome and home to some of the area's (indeed Italy's) most notable features - Roman sites, spectacular stretches of coast, tiny islands. It's always been a sought-after region, first named by the Romans, who tagged it the campania felix , or "happy land" (to distinguish it from the rather dull campagna further north), and settled down here in villas and palatial estates that stretched right around the bay.
You might, of course, find this hard to believe now, and anyone coming in search of the glories of the Bay of Naples is likely to be disappointed. Industry has eaten into the land around the city so as to render it almost unrecognizable, and even in the city the once-grand vistas are often cluttered by cranes and smoke-belching chimneys. Many people take one look and skate right out again, disappointed at such a grimy welcome.
But give the area time. Naples is the obvious focus, an utterly compelling city and one that dominates the region in every way. At just two-and-a-half hours by train from the capital, there's no excuse for not seeing at least this part of Campania, though of course you need three or four days to absorb the city properly, before embarking on the remarkable attractions surrounding it. The Golfo di Napoli , certainly, is dense enough in interest to occupy you for a good week: there are the ancient sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum , just half an hour away - Italy's best-preserved and most revealing Roman remains; there is the odd, volcanic Campi Flegrei area to the north of the city; and of course there are the islands, Capri, Ischia and Prócida - Capri swarms with visitors but is so beautiful that a day there is by no means time squandered, while Ischia, which is the largest island and absorbs tourists more readily, is a lively and attractive base from which you can explore the bay by ferry.
Inland Campania is, by contrast, a poor, unknown region for the most part, but the nearby towns of Cápua and Caserta repay visits and are easily seen on day-trips. Similarly Benevento , an old stop on the Roman route to Bríndisi, has its moments, though you might want to make this part of a wider trip through Campania's interior (or on to Puglia), bearing in mind that it's a difficult and not especially rewarding area to travel through. The area south of Naples has more immediate appeal - beach-bum territory on the whole, though certainly not to be avoided. Sorrento , at the far east end of the bay, is a major package-holiday destination but a cheery and likeable place for that; and the Amalfi coast , across the peninsula, is probably Europe's most dramatic stretch of coastline, harbouring some fantastically enticing - if crowded - beach resorts. Further south, the port of Salerno is an inviting place and gives access to the Hellenistic site of Paestum and the uncrowded coastline of the Cilento just beyond.

• Emilia-Romagna

Set between Lombardy and Tuscany, and stretching from the Adriatic coast almost to the shores of the Mediterranean, Emilia-Romagna is the heartland of northern Italy. It is two provinces really: Emilia to the east and the Romagna to the west - the former Papal States, joined together after Unification. Before the papacy took charge in the area, it was a patchwork of ducal territories, ruled over by a handful of families - the Este in Ferrara and Modena, the Farnese in Piacenza and Parma, and lesser dynasties in Ravenna and Rimini - who created sparkling Renaissance courts, combining autocracy with patronage of the arts alongside a continual jockeying for power with the Church. Their castles and fortresses remain, preserved in towns with restored medieval centres which, apart from a few notable exceptions, are relatively off the tourist track, since many visitors are put off by the extreme weather (searingly hot in summer, close to freezing in winter), or are sidetracked by the more immediate pleasures of Tuscany and Umbria.
The region's landscape is a varied one, ranging from the foothills of the Apennine mountains in the south to the flat fields of the northern plain, the Pianura Padana, interrupted only by windbreaks of poplars, shimmering in the breeze. The area has grown wheat since Roman times, and nowadays its industry and agribusinesses are among Italy's most advanced - there are currently more pigs than people in the Po Valley. Emilia-Romagna remains one of the richest regions in Italy, holding some of the country's most successful small-scale, specialist industrial enterprises.
Carving a dead-straight route through the heart of Emilia-Romagna, from Piacenza to Rimini on the coast, the Via Emilia is a central and obvious reference point, a Roman military road constructed in 187 BC that was part of the medieval pilgrim's route to Rome, and the way east to Ravenna and Venice. The towns that grew up along here are among Emilia's most compelling. Bologna , the region's capital, is one of Italy's largest cities. Despite having one of the most beautifully preserved city centres in the country, some of its finest food, and inhabitants whose openness and seemingly unflappable temperaments contrast markedly with the stressed-out Milanese, it has been relatively neglected by tourists, and most people pass straight through - definitely a mistake. Bologna also gives easy access to places like Modena and Parma (each just an hour or so away by train): wealthy provincial towns that form the smug core of Emilia and hold some of its finest and most atmospheric architecture, as well as giving access to routes south into the Apennines . With a car you can dip into the foothills at will from any of these points, sampling local cuisine and joining in the festivals; and even by bus it's possible to get a taste of the area, which at its best can be very beautiful, not at all like the functional plain to the north. If you're a keen hiker, there's the Grand Escursione Apenninica, a 25-day-long trek following the backbone of the range from refuge to refuge, and which can be accessed from the foothills south of Reggio Emilia .
The north of Emilia-Romagna is less interesting than the Via Emilia stretch, the Po disgorging into the Adriatic from its bleak delta (which it shares with the Veneto), a desolate region of marshland and lagoons that is mainly of appeal to birdwatchers. However, Ferrara , just half an hour north of Bologna, is one of the most important Renaissance centres in Italy, formerly under the tutelage of the Este family; and Ravenna , a short way east from here, preserves probably the finest set of Byzantine mosaics in the world in its churches and mausoleums. The coast south is an overdeveloped ribbon of settlement, although Rimini , at its southern end, provides a spark of interest, with its wild seaside strip concealing a surprisingly historic town centre.
None of this comes cheap, though: Emilia is a wealthy area that makes few concessions to tourists; the tone is, rather like Lombardy to the north, well mannered, well dressed and comfortable. If you need to economize, it would be a shame to stint when it comes to food, which is where the region excels

• Friuli-Venezia Giulia

The geographical complexity of Friuli-Venezia Giulia - around eight thousand square kilometres of alps, limestone plateau, alluvial plain and shelving coastlands - is mirrored in its social diversity. The mountainous north is ethnically and linguistically Alpine; the old peasant culture of Friuli, though now waning, still gives a degree of coherence to the area south of the mountains; Udine seems Venetian, and Grado , slumbering in its Adriatic lagoons, Byzantine-Venetian; while Aquileia , a few kilometres north of Grado, is still redolent of its Roman and early Christian past. And Trieste itself, the regional capital, is a Habsburg city, developed with Austrian capital to be the empire's great southern port. In spirit and appearance it is central European, more like Ljubljana in Slovenia than anywhere else in the region with the possible exception of Gorizia .
If one thing unites the different parts of the region, it's how far removed they are from the conventional image of Italy, a remoteness that intensifies the further east you travel. This area has always been a bridge between the Mediterranean world and central Europe - that hazy multinational entity which begins, according to Eric Newby at least, at Monfalcone, north of Trieste. It has been invaded - sometimes enriched, often laid waste - from east and west and north, by the Romans, Huns, Goths, Lombards, Nazis and even the Cossacks. Venice in its heyday controlled the coast and plain as far as Udine; Napoleonic France succeeded the Venetian Republic, to be supplanted in turn by the Habsburgs. Earlier this century the region saw some of the fiercest fighting of World War I on the Carso (the plateau inland from Trieste), where artillery shells splintered the limestone into deadly shrapnel and the hills are still scarred with trenches. Vast war memorials and ossuaries punctuate the landscape: the bones of 60,000 soldiers lie at Oslavia, near Gorizia; 100,000 at Redipuglia; 25,000 in the Udine ossuary. There was less loss of life in World War II, but just as much terror. Fuelled by widespread and long-standing anti-Slavism, Italian Fascism in Trieste was especially virulent, and the city held Italy's only death camp. One of the strangest sideshows of the war was staged north of Udine: Cossack troops, led by White Russian officers, made an alliance with the Nazis and invaded Carnia, on the promise of a Cossack homeland among the Carnian mountains once the Reich was secure. No more invading armies have taken this road, but the last border dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia was not settled until the 1970s, and when neighbouring Slovenia became independent in June 1991 the border posts with Italy were the scene of brief but fierce confrontations between Slovene and Yugoslav troops. Despite Italian fears, however, the fighting did not spill across the border.
While the Friulani want Italian nationality, they don't care for the baggage of Italian identity. Respect for Rome and the government is in short supply, and enthusiasm for the separatist north Italian "League" movement has spread from Lombardy in recent years. It is unlikely that this marks the birth of Friulian separatism, but there's no doubt that the people here have their own ways and traditions, fostering a strong sense of identity. The local dialect, friulano , is undergoing something of an official revival - many road signs are bilingual in Italian and friulano , while studies of the dialect's history and many local variants are published by the Società Filologica Friulana in Udine. (Pier Paolo Pasolini, who grew up in Casarsa, near Pordenone, wrote his early poetry in friulano .) Economically the region is in fairly good shape: Udine and Pordenone are thriving, while Trieste is a focus for container traffic and is becoming a centre of computer technology and electronics.
Tourism is growing too. Increasing numbers of visitors, mostly Italian and German, are discovering places which almost rival the claims of the neighbouring Veneto, with none of the crowds or the cynical attitudes to tourists. Notwithstanding it's post-industrial atmosphere, Trieste makes a good base for walking trips into the extraordinary, cave-riven landscape of the Carso, with the option of a day at one of the purpose-built beach resorts along the Triestine Riviera - which isn't as glamorous as it sounds. Udine , with its beautiful Venetian centre and excellent art collections, is within easy reach to the north, as is tiny Cividale del Friuli , which preserves a picturesque historic centre perched on the gorge of the Natisone, as well as some fascinating Lombard remains. The archeologically minded will head straight for Aquileia , however, which has some of the most important Roman and early Christian remains in Italy, and is fifteen minutes from the lagoon resort of Grado , which conceals a tiny early Christian centre amid the beach hotels. Further north, towards the Austrian border, the Carnia is struggling to develop itself as a rival to the Dolomites for skiing and hiking, though in truth it has little over its neighbour other than peace and quiet.

• Lazio

Of all Italy's historic cities, it's perhaps Rome which exerts the most compelling fascination. There's more to see here than in any other city in the world, with the relics of over two thousand years of inhabitation packed into its sprawling urban area. You could spend a month here and still only scratch the surface. As a historic place, it is special enough; as a contemporary European capital, it is utterly unique.
Perfectly placed between Italy's North and South, and heartily despised by both, Rome is perhaps the perfect capital for a country like Italy. Once the seat of a great empire, and later the home of the papacy, which ruled its dominions from here with a distant and autocratic hand, it's still seen as a place somewhat apart from the rest of Italy, spending money made elsewhere on the corrupt and bloated government machine that runs the country. Romans, the thinking seems to go, are a lazy lot, not to be trusted and living very nicely off the fat of the rest of the land. Even Romans find it hard to disagree with this analysis: in a city of around four million, there are around 600,000 office-workers, compared to an industrial workforce of one sixth of that.
For the traveller, all of this is much less evident than the sheer weight of history that the city supports. There are of course the city's classical features, most visibly the Colosseum, and the Forum and Palatine Hill; but from here there's an almost uninterrupted sequence of monuments - from early Christian basilicas, Romanesque churches, Renaissance palaces, right up to the fountains and churches of the Baroque period, which perhaps more than any other era has determined the look of the city today. There is the modern epoch too, from the ponderous Neoclassical architecture of the post-Unification period to the self-publicizing edifices of the Mussolini years. All these various eras crowd in on one another to an almost overwhelming degree: there are medieval churches atop ancient basilicas above Roman palaces; houses and apartment blocks incorporate fragments of eroded Roman columns, carvings and inscriptions; roads and piazzas follow the lines of ancient amphitheatres and stadiums.
Inevitably, Rome is not an easy place to absorb on one visit, and you need to approach things slowly, even if you only have a few days here. You can't see everything on your first visit to Rome, and there's no point in even trying. Most of the city's sights can be approached from a variety of directions, and it's part of the city's allure to stumble across things by accident, gradually piecing together the whole, rather than marching around to a timetable on a predetermined route. In any case, it's hard to get anywhere very fast. Despite regular pledges to ban motor vehicles from the city centre, the congestion can be awful. On foot, it's easy to lose a sense of direction winding about in the twisting old streets. In any case, you're so likely to come upon something interesting it hardly makes any difference.
Beyond Rome, the region of Lazio inevitably pales in comparison, with relatively few centres of note and a landscape that varies from the gently undulating green hills of its northern sector to the more inhospitable mountains south and east of the capital. It's a fairly poor region, its lack of identity the butt of a number of Italian jokes, and it's the closest you'll get to the feel of the Italian south without catching the train to Naples. Much, however, can be easily seen on a day-trip from the capital, not least the ancient sites of Ostia Antica and the Roman Emperor Hadrian's villa at Tivoli - two of the area's most important ancient sites. Further afield, in the north of Lazio the Etruscan sites of Tarquinia and Cerveteri provide the main and most obvious tourist focus, the slightly gloomy town of Viterbo the best base; Romans, meanwhile, head out at weekends to soak up the gentle beauty of lakes Bracciano , Vico and Bolsena . The region east of Rome is sparsely populated and poor, though scenically appealing, its high hills unfolding beyond the main, rather dull, regional centre of Rieti . The south, on the other hand, is the one part of Lazio where you might want to spend a little longer, especially if you're beating a leisurely path to Naples. You can see coastal resorts like Anzio and Nettuno as a day-trip too, and they make the best places to swim while based in the capital. But the coast beyond demands more attention: resorts like Terracina and Sperlonga are relatively unknown outside Italy; and islands like Ponza one of the loveliest spots, out of season at least, on the entire west coast. Inland, much is mountainous and fairly inaccessible, but that's part of its appeal: the monasteries at Subiaco and Montecassino are just two worthwhile stops on what might be a rewarding and original route south.

• Liguria

Sheltering on the seaward side of the mountains that divide Piemonte from the coast, Liguria is the classic introduction to Italy for travellers journeying overland through France. There's an unexpected change as you cross the border from Nice and Monaco: the Italian Riviera (as Liguria's commercially developed strip of coast is known) has more variety of landscape and architecture than its French counterpart, and is generally less frenetic. The mountains which, in places, drop sheer to the sea are treated as an irrelevance by most visitors eager to press on to their chosen resort, but Liguria's lofty hinterland can offer respite from the standard format of beach, beach and more beach. Teetering on slopes carpeted with olives and vines are isolated mountain villages that retain their own rural culture and cuisine.
The chief city of the region is Genoa , an ancient, sprawling port often acclaimed as the most atmospheric of all Italian cities. It has a dense and fascinating old quarter that is complemented by a vibrant social and ethnic mix and a newly energized dockside district. The city stands midway between two distinct stretches of coastline. To the west is the Riviera di Ponente , one long ribbon of hotels packed out in summer with Italian families who book a year ahead to stay in their favourite spot. Picking your route carefully means you can avoid the worst of it. San Remo , the grande-dame of Riviera resorts, is flanked by hillsides covered with glasshouses, and is a major centre for the worldwide export of flowers; Albenga and Noli are attractive medieval centres that have also retained a good deal of character; and Finale Ligure is a thoroughly pleasant Mediterranean seaside town.
On Genoa's eastern side is the more rugged Riviera di Levante . Umbrella pines grow horizontally on the cliff-faces overlooking the water, and in the evening a glassy calm falls over the little bays and inlets. Walks on Monte di Portofino and in the coastal scenery of the famed Cinque Terre take you through scrubland and vineyards for memorable vistas over broad gulfs and jutting headlands. This mix of mountains and fishing villages accessible only by boat appealed to the early nineteenth-century Romantics, who "discovered" the Riviera in the eighteenth century, preparing the way for other artists and poets and the first package tourists. Now the whole area explodes into quite a ruck every July and August, with resorts like Portofino qualifying as amongst the most expensive in the country - although nearby Santa Margherita Ligure has its unpretentious moments, and Lévanto is a great place to make for if you just want to soak up the sun on a budget. Visiting out of season, of course, is a peaceful way to enjoy the beauty without the hubbub.
In the summer months, though, the only real way to avoid the crowds is to travel inland. Minor roads and mule tracks link villages built spiral-fashion around hilltops, originally as protection against Saracen invasion. A testing long-distance footpath, the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri runs from pass to mountain pass along the length of Liguria, but aside from the odd section accessible on public transport from the coast it's mainly for hardened pros. Nonetheless, high-altitude resorts such as Santo Stefano d'Aveto and Torriglia offer plenty of summer walking (and, in places, winter skiing) that can lift you a world away from the resorts down below on the sea.
In a car , the shore road is for the most part a disappointment: the coast is extremely built up, and in fact you get a much better sense of the beauty of the region by taking the east-west autostrada which cuts through the mountains a few kilometres inland by means of a mixture of tunnels and viaducts. Fleeting bursts of daylight between tunnels give glimpses of the string of resorts along the coast, silvery olive groves and a brilliant sea. However, the easiest way to take in the region is by train : there are regular services stopping just about everywhere and, because the track is forced to squeeze along the narrow coastal strip, stations are invariably centrally located in towns and villages.
Liguria's regional tourist office is based at Piazza Matteotti 9, Genoa (tel 010.530.8201 , www.turismo.liguriainrete.it ) - check out their encyclopedic website, which has information in English on every town and village in the region, plus the option to reserve at any hotel, campsite or agriturismo farmhouse. The excellent spiral-bound Liguria Tourist Atlas , published by the regional government in collaboration with cartographers DeAgostini, is invaluable if you're spending any time in the region and has useful detailed plans of town centres.

• Lombardy and the lakes

Lombardy , Italy's richest and most developed region, often seems to have more in common with its northern European neighbours than with the rest of Italy. Given its history, this is hardly surprising: it was ruled for almost two centuries by the French and Austrians and takes its name from the northern Lombards, who invaded the region and ousted the Romans. As a border region, accessible through numerous mountain passes, Lombardy has always been vulnerable to invasion, just as it has always profited by being a commercial crossroads. It was long viewed by northerners as the capital of Italy - emperors from Charlemagne to Napoleon came to Lombardy to be crowned king - and northern European business magnates continue to take Lombardy's capital, Milan, more seriously than Rome, the region's big businesses and banks wielding political as well as economic power across the nation.
The region's landscape has paid the price for economic success: industry chokes the peripheries of towns, sprawls across the Po plain in the south, and even spreads its polluting tentacles into the northern lakes and mountain valleys. Nonetheless Lombardy has its attractions: the upper reaches of its valleys are largely unspoilt; its towns and cities all retain wanderable medieval cores; and the stunning scenery and lush vegetation of the lakes make it easy to forget that the water is not sparkling clean.
As for Lombardy's people, from the cossetted residents of the provincial towns to Milan's workaholics, they hardly fit the popular image of Italians. In fact, they don't have much time for a substantial proportion of their compatriots: urban northerners are rather dismissive of the south, derisive of Rome and historically all too ready to exploit the so-called terroni (literally earth-people) - a highly insulting term for southern Italians who leave their poverty-stricken villages to find work in the north.
Milan , a natural gateway to the region, and where you may well arrive, dominates the plain that forms the southern part of Lombardy. The towns across here - Pavia , Cremona , Mantua - flourished during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and retain their historical character today, albeit encircled by burgeoning suburbs. To the north, Lombardy is quite different, the lakes and low mountains of the edge of the Alps sheltering fewer historic towns, though Bergamo and Brescia are notable exceptions. This has long been popular tourist territory, particularly around the lakes of Maggiore , Como and Garda , and wealthy Italian holiday-makers and day-trippers are much in evidence. Although the western shore of Lago Maggiore and the eastern and northern shores of Lago di Garda are, strictly speaking, in Piemonte, Veneto and Trentino respectively, the lakes region and all its resorts are all covered in this section.

• Marche

Lying between the Apennines and the Adriatic, Marche (sometimes anglicized as The Marches) is a varied region, and one you could spend weeks exploring. Large areas of it are unspoilt, particularly in the southwest between Macerata and the Sibillini mountains, where crumbling hill-villages make atmospheric bases for hikes into the stunning Monti Sibillini range. Not that all of Marche is free from tourism; much of its coastline is studded with modern grid-plan resorts, and ranks of sun-umbrellas fill many of its beaches. The area also has a fair amount of industry - in particular light engineering, shoe manufacturing and ceramics - heaviest around the port of Ancona and along the main road and rail route from Umbria.
Of Marche's old-fashioned and slightly forgotten seaside resorts, Pésaro is the largest with a Renaissance centre maintaining its dignity behind the package-tour seafront; for more interesting sunning and swimming it's a better idea to head to the south of Ancona to the Cónero Riviera , a spectacular stretch of coast, with small beaches nestling beneath the dramatic cliffs of Monte Cónero. San Benedetto del Tronto has six kilometres of beach, five thousand palm trees, and numerous discos, but is not exactly a happening place compared with say Rimini . Really, though, the most appealing - and best known - of Marche's sights are the small hilltop town of Urbino , with its spectacular Renaissance palace, and the fortress of San Leo , just across the border from San Marino. Further south, Macerata is a sleepy university town surrounded by lovely countryside, and, right on the regional border, the fascinating city of Áscoli Piceno is a worthy stop-off on the way into Abruzzo .
Getting around on public transport is not too much of a problem, though you'll obviously save time in the remotest parts of the region with your own vehicle. The provincial capitals - Urbino, Pésaro, Macerata, Ancona and Áscoli Piceno - are all well served by public transport; and Ancona is also a major port for ferries to Greece and Croatia. For hiking in the Sibillini, Amandola has the best bus service; if you don't mind relying on fewer buses, Montefortino is a prettier base.

• Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta

Fringed by the French and Swiss Alps and grooved with mountain valleys, there are no less "Italian" regions than Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta , in the extreme northwest of the country. French was spoken in Piemonte until the end of the nineteenth century and still influences Piemontese dialects; Valle d'Aosta remains bilingual. Piemonte (literally "at the foot of the mountains", and indeed more than forty percent of its surface is mountainous) is one of Italy's wealthiest regions, known for its fine wines and food and for being home to key Italian corporations such as Fiat and Olivetti. The mighty River Po, Italy's longest, begins here, and the towns of its vast plain - which stretches right across northern Italy - have grown rich on both manufacturing and rice, cultivated in sweeping paddy fields.
Turin , on the main rail and road route from France to Milan, is the obvious first stop: despite being Italy's second industrial city, it retains a Baroque core and is well placed for days out. South of Turin, Alba and Saluzzo are perhaps the most enticing centres, the former a good base for visiting the wine cantinas, the latter convenient if you want to explore the western valleys; Asti , to the southeast, really comes to life during its famous medieval Palio. For the rest, winter sports and walking are the main activities, with Sestriere the main skiing centre and the ascent of Monviso in the far west appealing to the climbing fraternity. Greater challenges - and more spectacular views - are to be found in the adjoining region of Valle d'Aosta . Cut off from Switzerland and France by the highest of the Alps - Monte Rosa , the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc - and with a national park around the Gran Paradiso mountain, this is serious skiing and hiking country. The main town of Aosta itself repays a visit, and the surrounding countryside is sprinkled with castles .

• Puglia

Puglia is the long strip of land, 400km from north to south, that makes up the "heel" of Italy. It was for centuries a strategic province, colonized, invaded and conquered (like its neighbours, Calabria and Sicily) by just about every major power of the day, from the Greeks through to the Spanish. As elsewhere in the South, each ruling dynasty left its own distinctive mark on the landscape and architecture - as seen, for example, in the surviving traces of Roman agricultural schemes and the fortified medieval towns. There's no escaping some of the historical influences in Puglia. Perhaps most distinctive are the Saracenic kasbah-like quarters of many towns and cities, the one at Bari being the biggest and most atmospheric. The Normans endowed Puglia with splendidly ornate cathedrals; there's one at Trani which skilfully blends many strands of regional craft traditions from north and south. And the Baroque exuberance of towns like Lecce and Martina Franca are testament to the Spanish legacy. But if there's one symbol of Puglia that stands out, it's the imposing castles built by the Swabian Frederick II, all over the province - foremost of which are the Castel del Monte and the remnants of the palace at Lucera .
Clean seas and reliable sunshine have made Puglia a popular spot for holidays, with acres of campsite-and-bungalow type tourist villages - as well as a large number of flashy four-star hotels - principally serving tourists from Italy and Germany. The cities, however, including Bari, have little that's characteristic enough to warrant long stays: Táranto and its surroundings have fought a losing battle with the local steel industry, while Bríndisi is known and visited only for its ferry connections with Greece; even Lecce has little to hold you once you've trekked your way along modern boulevards to see the crazed confectionery of its Baroque churches. Nevertheless, there's a geographical diversity to Puglia that can be very attractive, though to get to the best of the province you either need your own transport or the patience to use the often erratic local buses. The very southern tip, the Salentine peninsula , is rocky and dry, more Greek than Italian, while there's plenty of barren mountain scenery in the undulating plateau of Le Murge , in the centre of the province. The best escape, though, is north to the mountains, forests and beaches of the Gargano promontory with some of the finest unpolluted sand and sea to be found anywhere on the Adriatic.
Getting around Puglia by public transport is fairly easy, at least as far as the main towns and cities go. FS trains connect nearly all the major places, while small, private lines head into previously remote areas - in the Gargano and on the edges of Le Murge. Most other places can be reached by bus , though as ever services are often infrequent or inconveniently early - a problem that can only really be solved by taking, or renting, your own car . Incidentally, if you're on your way to Greece , it's worth noting that you don't have to leave from Bríndisi: there are also departures from Bari and from Otranto , south of Lecce.

• Sardinia

A little under 200km from the Italian mainland, slightly more than that from the North African coast at Tunisia, Sardinia is way off most tourist itineraries of Italy: D.H. Lawrence found it exotically different when he passed through here in 1921 - "lost", as he put it, "between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere." Your reasons for coming will probably be a combination of plain curiosity and a yearning for clean beaches. The island is relatively free of large cities or heavy industry, and its beaches are indeed some of the cleanest in Italy and are on the whole uncrowded, except perhaps for peak season, when ferries bring in a steady stream of sun-worshippers from what the islanders call il continente , or mainland Italy. But Sardinia offers plenty besides sun and sea - the more so if you are prepared to penetrate into its lesser-known interior.
Although not known for its cultural riches, the island does hold some surprises, not least the remains of the various civilizations that passed through here. Its central Mediterranean position ensured that it was never left alone for long, and from the Carthaginians onwards the island was ravaged by a succession of invaders, each of them leaving some imprint behind: Roman and Carthaginian ruins, Genoan fortresses, a string of elegant Pisan churches, not to mention some impressive Gothic and Spanish Baroque architecture. Perhaps most striking of all, however, are the remnants of Sardinia's only significant native culture, known as the nuraghic civilization after the 7000-odd nuraghi that litter the landscape. These mysterious, stone-built constructions, unique to Sardinia, are often in splendid isolation, which means they're fairly difficult to get to without your own transport, but make the effort to see at least one during your stay - or failing that, drop in on the museums of Cágliari or Sássari to view the lovely statuettes and domestic objects left by this culture.
On the whole, Sardinia's smaller centres are the most attractive, but the capital, Cágliari - for many the arrival point - shouldn't be written off. With good accommodation and restaurants, it makes a useful base for exploring the southern third of the island. The other main ferry port is Olbia in the north, little more than a transit town but well geared for accommodation and conveniently close to the jagged northern coast. The Costa Smeralda , a few kilometres distant, is Sardinia's best-known resort area and lives up to its reputation for opulence. The prices may preclude anything more than a brief visit, although there are campsites for those outside the ranks of the super-rich.
Both Olbia and Cágliari have airports, as does Sardinia's main package destination of Alghero - a fishing port in the northwest of the island that has been known to British holiday-makers for years, yet retains a friendly, unspoiled air. But Alghero's main attraction is its Spanish ambience, a legacy of long years in which the town was a Catalan colony, giving it a wholly different feel from the rest of the island. Inland, Nuoro has impressive literary credentials and a good ethnographical museum. As the biggest town in Sardinia's interior, it also makes a useful stopover for visiting some of the remoter mountain areas, in particular the Gennargentu range, covering the heart of the island. This is where you can find what remains of the island's traditional culture, best embodied in the numerous village festivals .

• Sicily

like Sicily extremely - a good on-the-brink feeling - one hop and you're out of Europe &
- D. H. Lawrence in a letter to Lady Cynthia Asquith, 1920
The Sicilians aren't the only people to consider themselves, and their island, a separate entity. Coming from the Italian mainland, it's easy to spot that Sicily (Sicilia) has a different feel, that socially and culturally you are all but out of Europe. Occupying a strategically vital position, and as the largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily's history and outlook are not those of its modern parent but of its erstwhile foreign rulers - from the Greeks who first settled the east coast in the eighth century BC, through a dazzling array of Romans, Arabs, Normans, French and Spanish, to the Bourbons seen off by Garibaldi in 1860. Substantial relics of these ages remain: temples, theatres and churches are scattered about the whole island. But there are other, more immediate hints of Sicily's unique past. A hybrid Sicilian language, for a start, is still widely spoken in the countryside; the food is noticeably different, spicier and with more emphasis on fish and vegetables; even the flora echoes the change of temperament - oranges, lemons, olives and palms are ubiquitous.
Sicily also still promotes a real sense of arrival . The standard approach for those heading south from the mainland is to cross the Straits of Messina, from Villa San Giovanni or Reggio di Calabria: this way, the train-ferry pilots a course between Scylla and Charybdis , the twin hazards of rock and whirlpool that were a legendary threat to sailors. Coming in by plane, too, there are spectacular approaches to either of the coastal airports at Palermo and Catania.
Once on land, deciding where to go is largely a matter of time. Inevitably, most points of interest are on the coast: the interior of the island is often mountainous, always sparsely populated and relatively inaccessible. The capital Palermo is a memorable first stop, a bustling, noisy city with an unrivalled display of Norman art and architecture and Baroque churches, combined with a warren of medieval streets and markets. From modern and earthquake-ravaged Messina , the most obvious trips are to the chic resort of Taormina and the lava-built second city of Catania . A skirt around the foothills, and even up to the craters of Mount Etna , shouldn't be missed on any visit to the island; while to the south sit Siracusa , once the most important city of the Greek world, and a Baroque group of towns centring on Ragusa . The south coast's greatest draw is the Greek temples at Agrigento , while inland, Enna is typical of the mountain towns that provided defence for a succession of the island's rulers. Close by is Piazza Armerina and its Roman mosaics, and to the west, most of Sicily's fishing industry - and much of the continuing Mafia activity - focuses on the area around Trápani . To see all these places, you'll need at least a couple of weeks - more like a month if you want to travel extensively inland, a slower and more traditional experience altogether.

• Trentino-Alto Adige

Trentino-Alto Adige is something of an anomaly: a mixed German-Italian region, much of which has only been part of Italy since 1919. Before then Alto Adige was known as the South Tyrol and was part of Austria. At the end of World War I, Austria ceded South Tyrol to the Italians, and, in a bid to make the new territory instantly Italian, Mussolini turned the name on its head, naming it after the upper reaches of the Adige River, which bisects the region. Many Tyroleans opted for resettlement in Germany, but others stayed and have clung tenaciously to their language, culture and traditions.
Even now, one of the first things you'll notice about Alto Adige is its German character. Gothic onion-domed churches dot the landscape of vineyards and forests, street signs are in German, and there's sauerkraut and strudel on the menu. By contrast Trentino , just to the south, is 98 percent Italian-speaking, and the food and architecture belong more to the Mediterranean world than to the Alps. Both parts of the region enjoy semi-autonomy from central government, along with one of the highest standards of living in Italy, a consequence of special grants and aid they receive from Rome - intended to defuse the ethnic tension that has existed ever since enforced union took place.
If some German speakers are unwilling to remain part of Italy, there are right-wing Italian speakers who would be equally pleased to see them go. Friction between the two camps flared up in the Sixties, when Germanic activists staged disturbances. Talks between the Austrian and Italian governments brought about a package of concessions and promises from central government, known as the pachetto , all the provisions of which have now been implemented. These days, the political climate has shifted slightly: in the 1993 general elections, the fascist MSI (Movimento Sociale Italiano), once the most popular party among Italian-speakers, lost votes; and German-speakers moved away from the extreme nationalist Union Für Südtirol towards the Northern League and the Greens.
Tourism, farming and wine production are the mainstays of the economy, and there are plenty of good, reasonably cheap guesthouses and agriturism places in the mountains and vineyards. Although the region's resorts can be lethargic, the landscape, dominated by the stark and jagged Dolomites , is among the most beautiful in the country. Circling the spiked towers of rock that characterize the range, a network of trails follows the ridges, varying in length from a day's walk to a two-week trek; the long-distance trails, called alte vie , can be picked up from the small resorts.
The chief towns of Trento and Bolzano are the transport hubs for the region. Trento gives access to most of the western Dolomites: the Pale di San Martino , a cluster of enormous peaks encircling the high, rocky plain above San Martino di Castrozza; the Catinaccio (or Rosengarten) range between the Val di Fassa and Bolzano; the Gruppo di Sella , with its vie ferrate ; and the glacier-topped Marmolada . Still in the western Dolomites, but with easier access from Bolzano, are the Alpe di Siusi , a magical plateau of grass and wetland, high above the valley. The alpe are enclosed by the peaks of Sasso Lungo (or Langkofel) and Sciliar (or Schlern); to the north is the quieter Odle (or Geisler Gruppe). Even further to the west, on the other side of Trento, are the Dolomiti di Brenta , a collection of wild peaks above the meadows of Valle Rendena.
The eastern Dolomites start on the opposite side of the Adige Valley, past Passo di Campolongo and Corvara, with activity focusing on Cortina d'Ampezzo , self-styled "Queen of the Dolomite resorts" - though actually just across the regional border in the Veneto. In summer, avoid the overpopulated peaks like the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and head for Sorapiss or Monte Pelmo to the south, or Le Tofane and the mountains of the Fánes-Sénnes-Bráies group to the west. In winter, Cortina comes into its own as an upmarket ski resort with excellent, if expensive, facilities.

• Tuscany

Tuscany harbours the classic landscapes of Italy, familiar from Renaissance paintings and TV travel shows alike, with their backdrop of medieval hill-towns, rows of slender cypress trees, vineyards and olive groves, and artfully sited villas and farmhouses. It's a picture that has long held an irresistible attraction for northern Europeans.
The expat's perspective may be distorted, but Tuscany is indeed the essence of Italy in many ways. The national language evolved from Tuscan dialect, a supremacy ensured by Dante, who wrote the Divine Comedy in the vernacular of his birthplace, Florence, and Tuscan writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio. But what makes this area pivotal to the culture of Italy and all of Europe is the Renaissance , which fostered painting, sculpture and architecture that comprise an intrinsic part of a Tuscan tour. The very name by which we refer to this extraordinarily creative era was coined by a Tuscan, Giorgio Vasari, who wrote in the sixteenth century of the "rebirth" of the arts. Florence was the most active centre of the Renaissance, flourishing principally through the all-powerful patronage of the Medici dynasty. Every eminent artistic figure from Giotto onwards - Masaccio, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo - is represented here, in an unrivalled gathering of churches, galleries and museums.
Few people react entirely positively to Florence's crowds and its rather draining commercialism. Siena provokes less ambiguous responses. This is one of the great medieval cities of Europe, almost perfectly preserved, and with superb works of art in its religious and secular buildings. Its beautiful Campo - the central, scallop-shaped market square - is the scene, too, of Tuscany's one unmissable festival, the Palio , which sees bareback horse-riders careering around the cobbles amid the brightest display of pageantry this side of Rome. Other major cities, Pisa and Lucca , provide convenient entry points to the region, either by air (via Pisa's airport) or along the coastal rail route from Genoa. Arezzo serves as the classic introduction to Tuscany if you're approaching from the south (Rome) or east (Perugia). All three have their splendours - Pisa its Leaning Tower, Lucca a string of Romanesque churches, Arezzo an outstanding fresco cycle by Piero della Francesca.
Tucked away to the west and south of Siena are dozens of small hill-towns that, for many, epitomize the region. San Gimignano is the best-known, and is worth visiting as much for its spectacular array of frescoes as for its much-photographed bristle of medieval tower-houses, though it's now a little too popular for its own good. Montepulciano, Pienza and Cortona are each superbly located and dripping with atmosphere, but the best candidates for a Tuscan hill-town escape are little-mentioned places such as Volterra, Massa Maríttima or Pitigliano , in each of which tourism has yet to undermine local character.
If the Tuscan countryside has a fault, it's the popularity that its seductiveness has brought, and you may find lesser-known sights proving most memorable - remote monasteries like Monte Oliveto Maggiore , the sulphur spa of Bagno Vignoni , or the striking open-air art gallery of the Tarot Garden . The one area where Tuscany fails to impress is its over-developed coast , with uninspired beach-umbrella compounds filling every last scrap of sand. The Tuscan islands have rather more going for them - Elba may be a victim of its own allure, but the smaller islands such as Giglio and Capraia retain a tranquil isolation.
Tuscany's tourist office is based at Via di Novoli 26, I-50127 Firenze (tel 055.438.2111 , www.turismo.toscana.it ) - their Web site gives access to a comprehensive accommodation database and links to all fifteen of Tuscany's area tourist offices. Finding accommodation can be a major problem in the summer: you should definitely reserve in advance, even at budget level. Be warned that the region is also expensive, even by northern Italian standards, with few hotel doubles costing less than L80,000/¬42.32 in high season (L100,000/¬51.65 in Florence). Agritourism is big business, with a plethora of family-run places dotted around the countryside offering anything from budget rooms in a farmhouse up to luxury apartments within restored castles or Renaissance villas set amidst wine estates. The regional government's Web site ( www.agriturismo.regione.toscana.it ) has plenty of information. Call the toll-free number tel 800.570.530 for timetable and fare information for all forms of transport - trains, buses and boats.

• Umbria

Often referred to as "the green heart of Italy", Umbria is a predominantly beautiful region of rolling hills, woods, streams and valleys, and despite the growing number of visitors has largely retained an unspoilt air. Within its borders it also contains a dozen or so classic hill-towns, each resolutely individual and crammed with artistic and architectural treasures to rival bigger and more famous cities. To the east, pastoral countryside gives way to more rugged scenery, none better than the dramatic twists and turns of the Valnerina and the high mountain scenery of the Parco Nazionale dei Sibellini.
Umbria was named by the Romans after the mysterious Umbrii , a tribe cited by Pliny as the oldest in Italy, and one that controlled territory reaching into present-day Tuscany and the Marche. Although there is scant archeological evidence pertaining to them, it is known that their influence was mainly confined to the east of the Tiber; the darker and bleaker towns to the west - such as Perugia and Orvieto - were founded by the Etruscans , whose rise forced the Umbrii to retreat into the eastern hills. Roman domination was eventually undermined by the barbarian invasions, in the face of which the Umbrians withdrew into fortified hill-towns, paving the way for a pattern of bloody rivalry between independent city-states that continued through the Middle Ages. Weakened by constant warfare, most towns eventually fell to the papacy, entering a period of economic and cultural stagnation that has continued almost to the present day.
Historically, however, Umbria is best known as the birthplace of several saints, St Benedict and St Francis of Assisi being the most famous, and for a religious tradition that earned the region such names as Umbra santa, Umbra mistica and la terra dei santi ("land of saints"). The landscape itself has contributed much to this mystical reputation, and even on a fleeting trip it's impossible to miss the strange quality of the Umbrian light, an oddly luminous silver haze that hangs over the gentle curves of the land.
After years as an impoverished backwater, Umbria has begun to capitalize on its charms. Foreign acquisition of rural property is now as rapid as it was in Tuscany twenty years ago, though outsiders have done nothing to curb the region's renewed sense of identity and youthful enthusiasm, nor to blunt the artistic initiatives that have turned Umbria into one of the most flourishing cultural centres in Italy. Headline-grabbing earthquakes in 1997 briefly dented tourist numbers, but they have had a negligible long-term effect - at least as far as visitors are concerned - as the majority of sights suffered little damage.
Most visitors head for Perugia, Assisi - with its extraordinary frescoes by Giotto in the Basilica di San Francesco - or Orvieto , where the duomo is one of the greatest Gothic buildings in the country. For a taste of the region's more understated qualities, it's best to concentrate on lesser-known places such as Todi , Gubbio , ranked as the most perfect medieval centre in Italy, and Spoleto , for many people the outstanding Umbrian town. Although there are few unattractive parts of the Umbrian landscape (the factories of Terni and the Tiber Valley being the largest blots), some districts are especially enticing: principally the mountainous Valnerina , Piano Grande and Lago Trasimeno , the last of which is the largest lake in the Italian peninsula, with plenty of opportunities for swimming and watersports.
Getting around the region by public transport presents no problems. Distances between the main sights are short, and there are excellent rail links both within the region and to Florence and Rome

• Venice and the Veneto

The first-time visitor to Venice arrives with a heavy freight of expectations, most of which turn out to be well founded. All the photographs you've seen of the Palazzo Ducale, of the Basilica di San Marco, of the palaces along the Canal Grande - they've simply been recording the extraordinary truth. All the bad things you've heard about the city turn out to be right as well. Economically and socially ossified, it is losing people by the year and plays virtually no part in the life of modern Italy. It is deluged with tourists - the annual influx exceeding Venice's population two-hundredfold. Occasionally things get so bad that entry into the city is barred to those who haven't already booked a room. And it is expensive - the price of a good meal almost anywhere else in Italy will get you a lousy one in Venice, and its hoteliers make the most of a situation where demand will always far outstrip supply.
As soon as you begin to explore Venice, though, every day will bring its surprises, for this is an urban landscape so rich that you can't walk for a minute without coming across something that's worth a stop. And although it's true that Venice can be unbearably crowded, things aren't so bad beyond the magnetic field of San Marco and the kitsch-sellers of the vicinity, and in the off-season (October to Christmas and January to Easter) it's even possible to have parts of the centre virtually to yourself. As for keeping your costs down, Venice has plenty of markets in addition to the celebrated Rialto, there are some good-value eating places, and you can, with planning, find a bed without spending a fortune.
Tourism is far from being the only strand to the economy of the Veneto , however. The rich, flat land around the Po supports some of Italy's most productive farms and vineyards, and industrial development around the main towns rivals even the better-known areas around Milan, making the region one of the richest in Europe. At Marghera, just over the lagoon from Venice, the Veneto has the largest industrial complex in the country, albeit one that is now in decline. But tourism is important, and the region has more tourist accommodation than any other in Italy. After Venice, it's Padua and Verona that are the main attractions, with their masterpieces by Giotto, Donatello and Mantegna and a profusion of great buildings from Roman times to the Renaissance. None of the other towns of the Veneto can match the cultural wealth of these two former rivals to Venice, but there are nonetheless plenty of places between the plains of Polésine in the south and the mountains in the north that justify a detour - the Palladian city of Vicenza , for instance, the fortified settlements of Montagnana , Cittadella and Castelfranco , or the idyllic upland town of Ásolo .
For outdoor types, much of the Veneto is dull, consisting of flatlands interrupted by gentle outcrops around Padua and Vicenza. The interesting terrain lies in its northern part, especially in the area above Belluno and Vittorio Veneto , where the wooded slopes of the foothills - excellent for walking - soon give way to the savage precipices of the eastern Dolomites. Because most of the high peaks of the Dolomites lie within Trentino-Alto Adige, and the mountains of the eastern Dolomites are most easily explored as part of a tour of the range as a whole, the area of the Veneto to the north of Belluno is covered in the "Trentino-Alto Adige" section. Similarly, the eastern shore of Lago di Garda is covered as part of the lakes region in the "Lombardy and the Lakes" section.