Choosing five cities in a country that has hundreds worth a trip is unfair by definition. But if someone has only one chance to see Italy, there are five names that together tell almost its whole story: the empire, the maritime republic, the Renaissance, the kingdom of the South and the Arab and Norman Mediterranean. For each one we say what not to miss and give a tip for experiencing it the way its residents do, not only the way visitors photograph it.
The five cities
1. Rome
Founded according to legend in 753 BC, Rome layers an ancient temple, a Baroque church and a twentieth-century palazzo without the slightest embarrassment. Its historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1980, and within the city's boundaries lies the smallest state in the world, the Vatican. The Colosseum, inaugurated in AD 80, and the Pantheon, whose concrete dome is still, after almost two millennia, the largest ever built without reinforcement, are the two visits to start with; the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel must be booked in advance. The tip: go out at dawn, when the lanes of the centre belong to the Romans and the cats, and get lost without a map.
2. Venice
Tradition sets its birth on 25 March 421, when refugees drove wooden piles into the mud of the lagoon. The result was a city of 118 islands stitched together by bridges and a republic, the Serenissima, that lasted more than a thousand years. Venice and its lagoon have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. The Doge's Palace, seat of the doge and of the republic's government, tells the story of its power; the Rialto Bridge, in stone since 1591, the story of its trade. The tip: stay the night. Venice at seven in the evening, when the day-trippers leave, and at seven in the morning, with the delivery boats on the water, is worth the price of the hotel on its own.
3. Florence
In 1817 Stendhal walked out of the basilica of Santa Croce dizzy from too much beauty, and the syndrome that bears his name still makes sense. This is where the Renaissance was invented: the dome of the Cathedral, which Brunelleschi closed in 1436, Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, the rooms of the Uffizi Gallery. The historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1982, and Florence was capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1865 to 1871; the Italian language grew out of its literary vernacular. The tip: cross the Arno. The Oltrarno of San Frediano and Santo Spirito is where the city breathes while the tour groups crowd between the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio.
4. Naples
It was born as Parthenope and refounded as Neapolis, the new city, a name that has stuck for three thousand years. It was the capital of a kingdom until Italian unification, and its historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995, still lives on top of the grid of Greek streets. The National Archaeological Museum holds the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum; in the Sansevero Chapel the Veiled Christ carved by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753 looks as if it were covered by a real veil. The Federico II University, founded in 1224, is here, and pizza was born here: the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo has been UNESCO intangible heritage since 2017. The tip: a hot sfogliatella for breakfast, Spaccanapoli on foot from end to end, and accepting that the chaos is part of the monument.
5. Palermo
Founded by the Phoenicians, capital of an emirate and then of a kingdom, Palermo is the only place where a Norman cathedral, Arab domes and Byzantine mosaics fit into the same frame. The Arab-Norman itinerary has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015. The Norman Palace holds the Palatine Chapel, entirely covered in golden mosaics; the Martorana is the Byzantine church that gave its name to marzipan fruit. The markets of Ballarò and the Capo are half larder and half theatre, and the street food is among the best in the world, starting with the arancina. The tip: keep half a day for Monreale and its golden cathedral, twenty minutes away, and a sunset for the sea at Mondello.
When to go
Spring and autumn are the best seasons for all five: mild temperatures, long days and shorter queues than in summer. In August Rome, Florence and Naples become scorching, while Palermo stays bearable by the sea. Venice has its charm in winter too, with fog over the lagoon and palaces empty of crowds. For each city, the BigItalia page lists the places to see, the dishes to try, the year's festivals and places to stay.
