12 most beautiful places in Italy

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective and does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Italy is the cradle of eminent artists, poets, sculptors, thinkers, the birthplace of the Renaissance and home to historical figures who lived and worked there: da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael. The country amazes the imagination with the number of monumental buildings and incredible beauty of places that are the pride of any Italian. Your attention is the 12 most beautiful – just a few of the many.

The most beautiful places in Italy: top 12 recommended to visit

Nomination	a place	Sight	rating
top 12 recommended to visit	1	Cinque Terre	5.0
	2	Trevi Fountain	4.9
	3	Sassi di Matera cave town	4.8
	4	Blue Grotto on the island of Capri	4.7
	5	Grand Canal, Venice	4.6
	6	Frassisi Caves	4.5
	7	Antique Pompeii	4.4
	8	Trulli, Alberobello	4.3
	9	Valley of Aosta, Valle d'Aosta	4.2
	10	San Gimignano, Tuscany	4.1
	11	St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican), Rome	4.0
	12	Valley of the Temples of Sicily	4.0

Cinque Terre

Attraction rating (Italy): 5.0

On the Ligurian coast, the Cinvke Terre is a national park declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a kind of ancient commune, consisting of five small villages. They stand out brightly against the background of the lush landscape with the monochrome facade of the houses and their rather original colors.

Everything is simple in the Cinque Terre: from the unpretentious streets and ending with the uncomplicated lifestyle of its inhabitants. And yet, the place invariably attracts many travelers, which is not surprising, because this is a real paradise for tourists. Luxurious beaches, breathtaking landscape, amazingly beautiful sights, the main of which are the incredibly clear azure sea and cliffs covered with dense greenery against the background of colorful houses built in antiquity.

Interesting fact. Driving is prohibited in the commune. Residents of the settlement and its guests can only travel by boats, comfortable trains and environmentally friendly buses.

Trevi Fountain

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.9

Among the many Roman fountains, the solo part belongs to the Trevi Fountain. The most beautiful architectural structure is an ode to the master Bernini, according to whose sketch this masterpiece was created. The Trevi Fountain is deservedly considered the most beautiful in the world. The impressive structure, 26 m high and 20 m wide, is located in front of Palazzo Poli, whose splendor organically complements.

On the central stage of the fountain is the god of the sea world Neptune, standing on a chariot in the form of a shell drawn by sea horses. Tritons pave the way for the deity, and allegorical figures are located on the sides. Behind there are several bas-reliefs filled with deep meaning. The composition of the fountain is a unique place that bewitches in the daytime, and in the evening, in the light of the lights, it seems to come to life.

Sassi di Matera cave town

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.8

Matera is one of the oldest cities in Italy, located in the valley of a full-flowing river. Initially, it was a simple Greek settlement, but as the Roman Empire flourished, it gradually turned into a formidable fortress, protected by a powerful wall. Due to climatic conditions and the need for shelter, local residents gradually began to build houses in quiet grottoes, cutting down dwellings right in the rock.

This is how the unique Sassi quarter with cozy streets of cave houses appeared. Inside, such houses were a small room, divided into a kitchen, sleeping area and a stall for animals. The tuff (porous rock), in which the houses were built, maintained a stable temperature in the room – about +15 0С. The inhabitants got water from the melted snow, and daylight penetrated into the houses through small windows cut by hand in the rocks.

The lack of water forced the inhabitants of the cave town to build special channels through which the precious liquid was collected. The zeal of the townspeople led to the fact that over time the settlement turned into a blooming oasis with lush greenery, rich vegetable gardens, orchards. Many churches were built here.

The decline of the town fell on the 1950s, when the local inhabitants of Sassi di Matera had to relocate from unsanitary conditions. Residents of this place have repeatedly made attempts to return home, so the entrances to the caves were walled up. Today it is one of the most unusual sights in the region.

Blue Grotto on the island of Capri

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.7

This unique Naples landmark is a real decoration of the Tyrrhenian Sea. A small grotto is accessible to curious travelers only in calm weather. To get into it, you need a boat. The 56-meter low-vaulted tunnel that has no analogues in the world was discovered by the German poet August Kopisch in 1826, although the first mentions of it are in the works of ancient literature. It is believed that it was here that Odysseus saw sirens luring travelers with their singing to death.

Impenetrable and formidable-looking stone 'walls' greet the guests of the cave with bright highlights and create a feeling of peace and ancient spirituality as they approach the grotto. Azure water fills the cave with a fabulous neon light, and the stones at the bottom reflect it with light silvery lights. The Blue Grotto amazes with its splendor, creating the feeling that it is the creation of human hands. But nature proves once again that she is a perfect architect.

Grand Canal, Venice

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.6

It is deservedly considered one of the most beautiful and undoubtedly the most romantic places in all of Italy. But once it was just a modest channel connecting the colorful Venetian islets. Nowadays, this channel has turned into a large canal – a real waterway with a length of more than 4 km. Its width in some places reaches 70 m, and its depth is 5 m.

The Grand Canal is a whole waterway that runs through the entire city. This allows tourists traveling on it to enjoy the beauty of all Venetian buildings, carefully preserved since the 15th century: luxurious mansions, palaces, municipal buildings are neatly located right at the water's edge.

The waters of the canal are cut by a cozy water tram, a ride on which will become a real adventure, intoxicating with the fabulous atmosphere of the famous city. If you wish, you can use an ancient means of transportation on the water surface – a gondola instead of a tram, giving your trip a touch of exquisite antiquity.

Frassisi Caves

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.5

The caves hidden among the Apennine mountains are represented by real karst labyrinths, surprising and delightful depressions, deep grottoes, beautiful streams and winding rivulets, confidently making their way among the silent boulders.

The cave network was discovered not so long ago – in 1948. Studying the beautiful natural complex, speleologists discovered the largest cave in Europe, later called the 'Ancona Abyss'.

Tourists are especially attracted by the so-called Cave of the Winds, which can be reached by a small path. Many stalactites and stalagmites are considered to be a real adornment of the caves, often exceeding human growth in size, and mottled with traces of antiquity. In the Cave of Candles there is an underground lake, pleasing the eye with the overflow of its azure waters, from which flickering stalagmites in small shells slightly rise.

Antique Pompeii

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.4

A.D. 79 became the last for the inhabitants of all settlements located in the immediate vicinity of Vesuvius, a formidable volcano, the most dangerous in Europe. Indeed, it was in this year that Vesuvius became the cause of the tragedy that claimed the lives of 16,000 people: after its eruption, the inhabitants of the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and others were literally buried under a layer of hot ash, lava and stones.

Many years later, during excavations at the site of ancient settlements, the fossilized remains of 13 people who became victims of this terrible tragedy were discovered. Transformed into humanoid statues, the bodies seemed to remind of the horror experienced. All the found remains were placed in the so-called Garden of the Captives, which was a beautiful garden during the time of the ancient city.

Trulli, Alberobello

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.3

A small picturesque town in the small province of Bari became known throughout the world for its unusual houses, which are compactly located in the western part of the city. Structures of bizarre cylindrical shape and conical roofs, called Trulli, attract the attention of tourists from all over the world.

But these houses surprise not only with their shape, but also with the method of construction: they were erected by the method of dry masonry (without a bonding solution). Their only adornment was a funny top, which determined the owner of the house to belong to a particular class. To this day, strange signs have been preserved on the houses that have not been deciphered.

The reason for the construction of such dwellings goes back to the distant 16th century: in the then Neapolitan state there was an exorbitant tax for the urban population. In order to save money, they were forbidden to use cement in construction. The peasants came up with an original way out: they built houses that could be destroyed at any time. If a tax collector visited the city, it was enough to pull one stone out of the building, and it collapsed.

Valley of Aosta, Valle d'Aosta

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.2

The autonomous Italian region of Valle d'Aosta boasts a real highlight: the alpine valley of Aosta is considered the tourist center of the region. The valley can be called both a natural and a cultural attraction: the grandiose architecture, the beauty of mountain landscapes, crystal clear alpine air and the proximity of ski resorts – all this invariably attracts thousands of tourists to the Aosta Valley.

One of the main features of the autonomy is considered to be the many castles (almost every commune has at least one). Near Aosta are the famous Pré-Saint-Didier baths, mineral springs, the Barsky fort, which houses the Alps Museum. There are also several ski resorts in the valley, the Rosa plateau, from where a stunning view of the highest point of the Alps – the severe Mont Blanc mountain (4810 m) opens up.

San Gimignano, Tuscany

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.1

The Tuscan San Gimignano is rightfully considered a medieval pearl not only of the region, but of the whole country. The city of the 'hundred towers' has practically not changed its appearance over the past several centuries and still 'breathes' with the era of antiquity. The city is guarded by stone towers, referred to as 'medieval skyscrapers'. The historic center of San Gimignano has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the Middle Ages, the city was on the way of the pilgrims traveling from Britain to Rome, and was also a staging post between Pisa and Siena, which was the main reason for the flourishing of San Gimignano. The first mention of the city dates back to 929. Almost all of its medieval buildings have survived to this day.

It is not for nothing that San Gimignamo is called the city of the 'hundred towers'. During the period of its golden heyday, there were more than 70 tower-houses, by 1580 their number had decreased to 25, and today there are only 14 of them.

St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican), Rome

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.0

The heart of the Vatican and the entire Catholic world, the cathedral is considered the main attraction of Rome and one of the most impressive religious architectural structures in the world. St. Peter's Basilica is history embodied in stone. Truly magnificent architecture, the grandeur of the 15th century walls, this is a must-see for any traveler passing through Rome. The cultural and religious building is considered to be truly grandiose.

St. Peter's Basilica was built on the Vatican Hill. It is believed that it was here that during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero there was a circus, where, according to legend, one of Christ's disciples, the Apostle Peter, was crucified. After 150 years, the first basilica was erected on this site, which became the center of pilgrimage for the first Christians. And only in 1506, a grandiose construction began, which turned the dilapidated basilica into a cult building for the entire Christian world.

Valley of the Temples of Sicily

Attraction rating (Italy): 4.0

A unique valley of its kind, located on the 'tops' of the mountains near Agrigento, is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. And this is not surprising, because there are many temples (more precisely, their remains), erected in the 5th century BC. Magnificent structures with huge columns and statues of no less impressive size will bring real aesthetic pleasure to connoisseurs and connoisseurs of antiquities.

Against the background of several temples almost completely destroyed by wars and time, the temple of Condordia stands out, erected at the peak of the heyday of Greek civilization and partially rebuilt into an Orthodox church in the Byzantine era.

The Doric temples of Sicilian Agrigento together represent one of the most colossal monuments of ancient Greek culture – a legacy of thousand years of history. The excavation zone covers an impressive area – more than 1,300 hectares, where archaeological and natural heritage is kept.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.