With a varied landscape Abruzzo is known for its seaside resorts, its mountain scenery and its ski resorts - with the great advantage that the sea and the mountains are never far apart so it is easily possible to combine both during your visit.
Umbria may not be home to lots of 'famous' places, except perhaps Assisi, but has its own special charm, with picturesque scenery and lots of interesting highlights for those that do come here
It is the coastline that attracts most visitors to Sardinia. It is often very beautiful, and ranges from sophisticated yacht resorts to unspoiled miles of quiet beaches and dramatically beautiful cliff sections. For an excess of expense and sophistication start at Costa Smerelda, to the north-east of the island.
While the city of Rome and the vatican attracts the vst majority of visitors to the lazio region - and rightly so because it is one of the great cities of the world - if time permits be sure to explore the surrounding region!
The Piedmont region of north-west Italy is best known for Turin, but don't overlook the pretty scenery of Lake Orta and the numerous attractive villages when you are exploring
Sicily is a large island off the southern tip of Italy, with a coastline offering fantastic beaches, dramatic inland mountain scenery including Mount Etna, many attractive towns and villages, and numerous ancient historical monuments.
The Venice-Veneto region is famous for Venice, of course, and many visitors go no further - but the intrepid will find that the region has pretty villages, mountain scenery, and other interesting historical towns
From Lake Garda to the south and then into the dolomites to the north, the range of scenery in Trentino-Alto Adige and the opportunities for exploring the countryside are the main attraction for visitors
In southern Italy, the Campania region contains some of the greatest and most famous sites in the country, with the area along the coast and the nearby islands being especially renowned (and popular with visitors).
The Friuli-Venezia Giulia region occupies the north-east corner of Italy, just to the east of Venice-Veneto and bordering Slovenia and Austria with the Adriatic Sea along the southern coast.
Much of the centre of Calabria is a region of mountains, particularly towards the north around the Pollino mountains and the Aspromonte mountains to the south, separated by the extensive forested La Sila range that occupies much of central Calabria.
The Emilia-Romagna region includes famous cities such as Parma and Bologna, popular seaside resorts such as Rimini, and lots of picturesque hill villages...
The Lombardy region of northern Italy reaches high into the mountains in its northern regions. Although best known for the impressive scenery of the Lombardy Lakes, the region also has a good number of fascinating historical towns and villages to explore.
The Liguria region of north-west Italy is one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in Europe, with numerous picturesque villages including the stunning villages of the Cinque Terre
Tuscany is almost the 'ideal' region of Italy to visit, with the great city of Florence, the famous leaning tower of Pisa, exceptionally beautiful scenery, lovely villages and much else to discover
The Le Marche region is on the Adriatic coast of central-eastern Italy, backed by the Apennine mountains, and has fine beaches, ancient hillside villages and beautiful scenery.
Historically a region of small scale agriculture, this mountainous region later gave way to metalworking, and then more recently almost entirely to tourism. The Aosta Valley is best known by visitors because of its stunning mountain scenery and related activities.
As a result of its position in the 'instep' at the south of Italy, Basilicata actually includes two separate areas of coastline, with the Ionian Sea to the south and also a short section of the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, and an interior covered largely with forests and hills.
The many resorts and the scenery of the Gargano region to the north of Apulia make it a very popular attraction with visitors, along with many other seaside resorts along the Adriatic coast
This map of Italy shows the most interesting and attractive places and highlights, as reviewed on Italy This Way
Note: further down you can see a map showing all the Italian regions