Northern Italy
Ravenna by Train: Eight UNESCO Sites and the Finest Byzantine Mosaics in the World
Ravenna was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, then the seat of Byzantine power in Italy for two centuries more. Eight monuments survive from that era - the finest collection of early Christian mosaics anywhere in the world. An hour from Bologna by direct train.
Northern Italy
Ferrara by Train: A Renaissance City the Crowds Have Missed
Ferrara has a moated Renaissance castle in the centre of the city, nine kilometres of walls to cycle around, frescoes that rival those in Florence, and almost no tourist crowds. Thirty minutes from Bologna by train.
Northern Italy
Bologna by Train: The Complete Guide to Italy's Greatest Food City
Bologna has three nicknames - La Rossa for the terracotta rooftops, La Dotta for Europe's oldest university, La Grassa for the food. Thirty-eight minutes from Florence by train and almost entirely absent from the standard Italy itinerary. The best food city in Italy, and one of the least visited.
Southern Italy
Alberobello by Train & Bus from Bari: A Day Trip to Puglia's Trulli Town
Alberobello is one of the most distinctive townscapes in Europe - over 1,500 conical-roofed trulli crowding a Puglian hillside, UNESCO-listed since 1996. The bus from Bari gets you there in an hour and fifteen minutes. No hire car needed.
Southern Italy
Matera Without a Car: How to Get There by Train and Bus
Matera is one of the most extraordinary places in Italy - cave dwellings carved from limestone, an underground cistern the size of a cathedral, and a suspension bridge across a ravine. And entirely reachable without a hire car.
Central Italy
Pistoia by Train from Florence: Tuscany's Most Overlooked City
Striped Romanesque churches, a cathedral square among the finest in Tuscany, and a medieval hospital decorated with Della Robbia masterpieces — only 30 minutes from Florence by train, and almost entirely overlooked.
Southern Italy
Naples by Train: The Complete City Guide
Naples has one of the finest collections of Roman antiquities in the world, a street plan that has barely changed in 2,500 years, and pizza that needs no introduction. The most misunderstood city in Italy - and one of the most rewarding.
Southern Italy
Day Trips from Naples by Train: The Complete Guide
Buried Roman cities, an active volcano, islands and Greek temples - no other Italian city offers this density of extraordinary places within reach of public transport. Every major day trip from Naples, covered in one guide.
Southern Italy
Sorrento by Train from Naples: The Complete Day Trip Guide
Sorrento is just over an hour from Naples on the Circumvesuviana - clifftop gardens above the Bay of Naples, lemon groves, and a port that serves as the gateway to Capri and the Amalfi Coast. All without a hire car.
Southern Italy
Ischia by Ferry from Naples: The Complete Guide to Getting There and Getting Around
Ischia is larger, greener and more varied than Capri — a volcanic island with thermal pools, vineyards, a medieval castle on a rock and beaches only reachable by boat. A ferry from Naples gets you there in around an hour, and a bus network connects everything without a hire car.
Central Italy
Lucca by Train from Florence: A Day Trip to Tuscany's Most Charming Walled City
Lucca is one of the most quietly rewarding cities in Tuscany — intact Renaissance walls you can walk or cycle around, a Roman amphitheatre whose shape still defines the piazza above it, and almost none of the crowds that overwhelm Florence.
Central Italy
Siena by Bus and Train: A Complete Guide to One of Italy's Greatest Medieval Cities
Siena is less than 90 minutes from Florence by direct bus — a UNESCO medieval city with one of the great public squares in Europe, a cathedral that rivals Florence's, underground cellar restaurants and the Palio horse race twice a year. Far less visited than it deserves to be.