Italy. Italy. Discover MAP OUT MAP. Experience the best of Italy. Discover PULL- Experience the best of Italy PULL-OUT

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1 PULL-OUT MAP Now it s even easier to plan the perfect trip Must-see sights and all the best experiences ITINERARIES ITI LOCAL EXPERTS LO Great trip ideas to make Get advice from people your planning easy who know the place Milan, the Lakes & Piedmont Discover this and more inside p111 Explore the Colosseum in Rome Drift along Venice s canals Climb to the top of Florence s Duomo Shop till you drop in Milan Soak up the sun on the Amalfi Coast Venice, p161 Veneto & Bologna p215 Tuscany & Umbria Rome & p51 the Vatican p273 Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast Florence, PULL- p313 Sicily & Southern Italy Choose Lonely Planet because Our job is to make amazing travel experiences happen. We visit the places we write about each and every edition. We never take freebies for positive coverage, so you can always rely on us to tell it like it is. OUT MAP Discover Italy Experience the best of Italy 3RD EDITION discover-italy-3-cover.indd 1 Italy HIGHLIGHTS HIG Discover Experience the best of Italy Published Apr 2014 First Published Apr 2010 USA $24.99 UK /12/2013 4:08:39 PM

2 Discover Italy Experience the best of Italy This edition written and researched by Abigail Blasi, Cristian Bonetto, Kerry Christiani, Gregor Clark, Duncan Garwood, Paula Hardy, Virginia Maxwell, Brendan Sainsbury, Helena Smith, Donna Wheeler

3 Milan, the Lakes & Piedmont p111 p161 Venice, Veneto & Bologna Highlights Florence, p215 Tuscany & Umbria Rome & p51 the Vatican Venice, Veneto & Bologna Legendary Palazzo Venice Ducale Basilica di San Marco Gallerie dell Accademia Bologna s Quadrilatero Naples, p273 Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast p313 Sicily & Southern Italy Florence, Tuscany & Umbria Highlights Duomo, Sacred Florence Assisi David, Galleria dell Accademia San Gimignano Orvieto s Rome & the Vatican Cathedral Highlights Milan, the Lakes & Piedmont Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast Pantheon Highlights Highlights Colosseum Cinque Terre Positano Museo Milan s Duomo Pizza e Galleria Borghese Vatican St Museums Peter s Basilica Lago di Como Turin s Da Eataly Vinci s Last Supper Grotta Azzurra Museo Archeologico Nazionale Ruins 00-contents-dc-ita3.indd 2 Paradise in the Centro Storico of Pompeii 20/12/2013 8:22:36 AM

4 Contents Sicily & Southern Italy Highlights Greek Drama, Syracuse Beachside Taormina Mt Etna Sassi, Matera Baroque Lecce Plan Your Trip This Is Italy...6 Italy Map...8 Italy s Top 25 Highlights...10 Italy s Top Itineraries...32 Month by Month What s New Get Inspired...47 Need to Know Discover Rome & the Vatican 51 Highlights Best Walking Tour...58 Rome Ostia Antica Milan, the Lakes & Piedmont 111 Highlights Best Itineraries Milan The Lakes Lago Maggiore Lago di Como Como Bellagio Lago di Garda Sirmione Gardone Riviera Riva del Garda Malcesine Piedmont, Liguria & the Italian Riviera Turin Aosta Genoa...155

5 Contents Discover Italy Cinque Terre Monterosso Vernazza Corniglia Manarola Riomaggiore Venice, Veneto & Bologna 161 Highlights Best Itineraries Venice Dolomites The Veneto Verona Padua Bologna Florence, Tuscany & Umbria 215 Highlights Best Itineraries Florence Tuscany Pisa Lucca Siena Chianti San Gimignano Montalcino Montepulciano Umbria Perugia Urbino Assisi Spoleto Orvieto Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast 273 Highlights Best Itineraries Naples Bay of Naples Sorrento Capri South of Naples Mt Vesuvius Pompeii Amalfi Coast Amalfi Positano Ravello Paestum Sicily & Southern Italy 313 Highlights Best Itineraries Sicily Palermo Cefalù Aeolian Islands Catania Mt Etna Taormina Syracuse Valley of the Temples Puglia Bari Castel del Monte Vieste Alberobello Ostuni Lecce Matera Otranto

6 In Focus Survival Guide Italy Today History Family Travel Art & Architecture The Italian Table Lifestyle Outdoor Experiences Fashion & Design Directory Accommodation Customs Regulations Climate Discount Cards Electricity Food Gay & Lesbian Travellers Health Insurance Internet Access Legal Matters Money Opening Hours Public Holidays Telephone Time Tourist Information Travellers with Disabilities Visas Women Travellers Transport Getting There & Away Getting Around Language Behind the Scenes Index How to Use This Book Our Writers...416

7 This Is Italy Italy positively overflows with charm and brilliance. It s endlessly amazing, ebullient and highly strung, like any bona fide genius. This is a country that s blessed with natural splendour. Italy effortlessly combines knife-edge mountains, glimmering beaches, hilltop towns and the royal-blue Mediterranean. It s packed with artistic masterpieces: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Verdi and Puccini have all left their mark. It s full of Unesco World Heritage Sites (49 at last count), with the evocative remains of lost empires ready to be explored. There are the exquisite cities: Florence, Venice and Rome, to name a few, and beautiful towns and villages, such as Lucca, Positano, Ravello, and Orvieto. Italians themselves are full of warmth and wit, and often notably handsome. The nation might sometimes feel more like a collection of regions, but there s a shared love of celebration, particularly if food s involved. Festivals take place all year round; you don t have to wait for Venice s Carnevale or yet another World Cup victory to party in the streets. And oh, the food and wine... Most locals would argue, with good reason, that their cuisine is the best in the world. Thanks to ancient volcanoes and an unusually sunny disposition, there s always some seasonal speciality bursting with flavour, and it will be delivered to you atop the best pasta or risotto you will eat in this lifetime. City-state turf battles long fought by armies are now waged by pizzaioli (pizza makers) over the correct thickness of a crust best not to get the Neapolitans and Romans started. Just eat and smile, which should be easy. Italy wears its millennia of turbulent history extraordinarily well. Roman towns such as Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia Antica were stunningly preserved by their better-than-botox masks of mud and volcanic ash. And there are glimpses into the future, too, with myriad cutting-edge design showcases and some dazzling new contemporary art museums. Italy overflows with charm and brilliance Gondolas, Venice (p170) JEAN-PIERRE LESCOURRET/GETTY IMAGES 6

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