4. MILAN
Italy’s fashion and design capital, it has an international cosmopolitan outlook, a vibrant food and drink scene and scores of hotels to suit all budgets. Historical edifices sit cheek-by-jowl with modern skyscrapers, while a number of the city’s buildings have spectacular interior courtyards that remain largely undiscovered.
But what largely draws visitors is the city’s excellent shopping – designer stores line the Quadrilatero D’Oro district, while outlets, high street shops and boutiques are found in all corners of the city. Then there are the cultural attractions, notably the Duomo, the Scala opera house and the Pinacoteca di Brera art gallery and, at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous mural of the Last Supper.
5. TUSCANY
In so many other parts of the world, culture is an optional extra, something you do in your spare time. In Tuscany, it’s at the root of everything – though not in an elitist way. A Piero della Francesca fresco exudes the spirit of a region that has long spent its money on beauty and quality. But so does a bowl of ribollita soup, made with seasonal cavolo nero and served with a spiral of just-pressed olive oil. Tuscany also combines fierce pride and care for detail with unpretentious, down-to-earth manners.
It has a collection of handsome art-filled, historic towns with more than enough to see, do, eat and drink to fill a long weekend. In the past, each Tuscan comune would conspire to outdo the rest, and the result is an embarrassment of riches. In addition to Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca and Arezzo are all worth at least a day, with smaller hilltowns like San Gimignano, Cortona and Volterra also vying for attention. But don’t let art distract you from landscape: the vineyards of Chianti and Montalcino, the Carrara marble quarries north of Lucca, or the wild Maremma coastal strip are all must-see places in italy.
On The Road 