20 Things Everyone Should Do in Italy

I'm not someone who says "you can't visit Italy without seeing [fill in the blank]." Everyone's must-see list is different, and mine won't fit you perfectly. Even my perfect 2-week itinerary for first-timers comes with alternatives at every stop.

So two disclaimers before the list. First, this isn't an itinerary. Don't try to cram all 20 into one trip (though if you do, in bocca al lupo, good luck). Second, if something here doesn't appeal to you, skip it. That goes for any must-do list you'll ever read. Take what you like and leave the rest.

One thing has changed since I first wrote this list: many of Italy's big sights now sell timed, and sometimes named, tickets. Where that applies, I've said how to book, because turning up and hoping no longer works at the Last Supper, the Colosseum or the Uffizi.

>> First time in Italy? Read my Italy first-time visitor's guide too.

1. Take a night ride on the #1 vaporetto in Venice. Plenty of lists include a gondola ride. I think gondolas are overpriced and less romantic than advertised. Instead, after dinner, board the slow line 1 vaporetto at one end of the Grand Canal and ride it to the other, with a gelato in hand and someone to lean on. Grab a seat at the front or the back, where you can see the lit-up palazzi of Venice slide past. A single ticket is about 9.50 euros in 2026 and lasts 75 minutes, so if you're riding more than twice in a day, buy a 24-hour pass instead.
2. Spend 15 minutes with The Last Supper in Milan. Plenty of travelers skip Milan, but this is the only place to see Leonardo's Last Supper. Visits are capped at 15 minutes and about 40 people at a time, and every ticket must be booked, children included. Tickets (about 15 euros in 2026) are released three months at a time on the official site and sell out fast, so put the release date in your calendar. It's closed on Mondays.
3. Overdose on Renaissance art at the Uffizi in Florence. The Uffizi Gallery is on every Italy list for good reason: nowhere else holds this much Italian Renaissance painting in one place, in the building the Medici commissioned. Book a timed ticket on the official site (about 29 euros booked ahead in 2026), go first thing or late in the day, and remember it's closed on Mondays.
4. Take a guided tour of the Vatican Museums. You can walk yourself through the Vatican Museums, but unless you're an art historian, a good guide will point out what matters and keep you from burning two hours in the map gallery. Many tours continue into St. Peter's Basilica. Context Travel is the outfit I'd book. Guide or no guide, entry is by timed ticket (about 20 euros plus a 5-euro booking fee in 2026), and the only official online seller is tickets.museivaticani.va.



5. Climb Florence's Duomo. Not for anyone who hates heights or tight spaces, but the 463 steps up Brunelleschi's dome take you between the inner and outer shells, which is as good an engineering lesson as the view is a reward. The dome is part of the Brunelleschi Pass (about 30 euros in 2026), and you have to book a time slot for the climb. If you'd rather have the dome in your photo, climb Giotto's bell tower next door instead. The cathedral itself is still free to enter.
6. Eat pizza in Naples. Pizza was born in Naples, and UNESCO has listed the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo as intangible heritage since 2017. The classic stop is L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, which has made little besides margherita and marinara for generations. Expect a queue. Honestly, though, almost any busy neighborhood pizzeria in Naples will ruin pizza at home for you.
7. Visit the Greek temples in Sicily. When you think of Italian ruins you probably picture Roman ones. Sicily has Greek temples older than anything in the Forum. The Valley of the Temples at Agrigento is the big one, a ridge of Doric temples best seen in the late afternoon. Segesta and Selinunte, in the island's west, are emptier and just as striking.
8. Ride the Amalfi Coast road (and let someone else drive). The road that clings to this coastline is narrow, twisting and packed with tour buses in summer, and the views are the best in Italy. Don't spend the drive staring at the bumper in front of you. Take the local SITA bus and grab a seat on the sea side, or skip the road entirely and hop between towns by ferry. Our guide to getting around the Amalfi Coast covers both. More on the region in our Amalfi Coast guide.



9. Swim in Sardinia. The south of Italy has plenty of sun, but Sardinia's water is something else: clear, turquoise, and backed by beaches that look retouched. The Costa Smeralda gets the attention (and the yachts). It's hugely popular with Italians on holiday but sees far fewer foreign visitors than the mainland coasts. Go in June or September to avoid the August crush, and see how to get to Sardinia by ferry or plane.
10. See an opera in Verona's Roman arena. Opera fan or not, there's nothing like sitting on 2,000-year-old stone as the sun goes down and a full orchestra starts up. The Arena di Verona Opera Festival runs every summer; the 2027 season runs 11 June to 11 September. The cheapest tickets are unnumbered seats on the stone steps, so bring a cushion and arrive early. The rest of Verona is worth a day of its own.
11. Find all the Davids in Florence. Don't be one of the people who think the David in Piazza della Signoria is the original. It's a copy. And don't stop at the real one in the Galleria dell'Accademia (about 20 euros in 2026, timed booking, closed Mondays). He turns up all over Florence, including in bronze overlooking the whole city from Piazzale Michelangelo, and spotting him is a fun game as you wander.
12. Wander Trastevere in Rome. When Rome's big sights wear you out, cross the river to Trastevere. Twisting cobbled lanes, ivy-covered walls, cheaper food than around the Pantheon, and, after dark, a loud and happy crowd of young Romans spilling out of the bars. Go in the morning for the quiet version, in the evening for the lively one.



13. Go back in time at Pompeii. The people of Pompeii were none too pleased when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, but what the ash preserved is a Roman city frozen mid-sentence. Pompeii tickets now carry your name and entry is capped at 20,000 visitors a day, so book ahead on the official site (about 20 euros in 2026 for the ancient city alone) and bring ID. Smaller Herculaneum (about 16 euros) is better preserved and far less crowded; I'd do it first if you only have energy for one. And much of what archaeologists found at both sites is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
14. See an Italian soccer game. It doesn't matter whether you care about soccer. A game of calcio in Italy is theater, and Italian soccer comes a close second to religion here. The Serie A season runs from August to May. Tickets carry the holder's name, so buy them on the home club's official site and bring the ID you booked with. And whatever you do, don't cheer for the visitors.
15. Hike the Cinque Terre trail. I've long thought the Cinque Terre path was overcrowded and argued for limiting numbers, and the park has since moved that way. You need a paid Cinque Terre Card to walk the coastal path (about 10 euros a day in 2026, 15 on peak days). The famous Via dell'Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola reopened in 2024, one-way only, with booked 30-minute slots. The Manarola to Corniglia section is still closed in 2026, and other sections close after bad weather, so check the park site the morning you set out. Our Cinque Terre hiking guide has the rest.



16. Eat two scoops of gelato a day. You can do this anywhere in Italy, so I don't want to hear excuses. Italian gelato uses more milk and less cream than ice cream, and it's churned with less air, so it's denser and more intensely flavored. Skip the shops with neon mountains of gelato piled high in the window; the good stuff is usually kept flat in covered metal tubs. And you're walking everywhere anyway.
17. Get lost in Venice. Some places need a map. Venice needs you to put it away. It's an island, so you can't go far wrong, and every wrong turn ends at a canal you haven't seen yet. Get yourself good and lost, ideally early in the morning or after the day-trippers leave. If you're only visiting for the day on a peak spring or summer date, check whether the Venice access fee applies (5 euros booked ahead in 2026). Overnight guests don't pay it.
18. Stand under the Pantheon's dome in Rome. There's always a reason to duck into the Pantheon. It's cool in summer, and in a rainstorm you can watch the rain fall straight through the open oculus and drain away through the holes in the 2,000-year-old floor. It's no longer free: tickets started at 5 euros in 2023 and are about 7 euros in 2026, with free entry on the first Sunday of the month and for under-18s. Still worth every cent.
19. Go for a drive in Tuscany. The roads between Tuscany's hill towns get less praise than the towns themselves, but the Val d'Orcia out of a car window, cypress-lined drives and all, will make you understand why people buy crumbling farmhouses here. Park outside the old town walls: historic centers are camera-enforced ZTL zones, and driving in without a permit brings a fine by mail months later. If you're over the Tuscany thing, you'll get the same views with smaller crowds in Umbria next door.



20. Walk in Caesar's footsteps in Rome. History buff or not, you'll marvel at the Colosseum and stand in the Roman Forum thinking about who walked those stones before you. One ticket covers the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill (about 18 euros in 2026). It's timed and carries your name, it goes on sale 30 days ahead on the official site, and you need ID at the gate. Metro Line C now stops at Colosseo too. An afternoon among the ruins of the center of the Roman empire is an afternoon very well spent.

Twenty was harder than I expected, and I didn't even include the Leaning Tower of Pisa. If it's on your list, book a timed climb (about 20 euros in 2026) on the official site. If not, you won't miss much by seeing it from the lawn for 20 minutes on your way somewhere else.

photos, top to bottom, by: lightmatter, krossbow, xiquinhosilva, robad0b, James Trosh, j_bary, xiquinhosilva