The 20 regions of Italy, ranked from worst to best

Let’s be clear: ranking Italy’s 20 regions is a subjective and unwinnable exercise. Elsewhere I have written extensively praising a country I have loved and visited for 40 years, one that’s a perennial favourite of Telegraph readers, highlighting the best, whereas here I have had to emphasise the negative. It’s not a good look.

That said, I am reasonably happy with my top and bottom fives, though I bring my prejudices to bear. I’m one for art, landscape and tradition. Good food I take for granted; Italians as good people, too. The other regions, however, could be ranked any number of ways. 

All the hotels and restaurants I’ve recommended I know first-hand. There are bigger and better ones, smaller and cheaper ones. If you are happy to share secrets, please leave some of your favourites in the comments below. And similarly, join the debate if the rankings rankle.

20. Calabria

Apart from a golden era 2,500 years ago, when Greek colonies prospered on the coast, history has dealt Calabria a cruel hand. Decline across centuries drove people inland to lonely villages still hamstrung by poverty, emigration and a searing summer sun.

Today, the coast and remote landscapes are key to the region’s appeal. But it’s slim pickings: lovely resorts with medieval hearts such as Tropea are the exception, while the national parks of the Sila and Aspromonte are high on wilderness but low on facilities or ease of access.

Much of Calabria is off the beaten track – a good thing – but even those who relish the overlooked may find the region a challenge too far.

Unmissable sights: Tropea; Capo Vaticano; the Poro promontory; Rossano’s sixth-century illuminated Gospels, or Codex Purpureus.

My favourite hotel: Villa Paola (doubles from £258) in Tropea, just 12 airy rooms with terraces and sea views.

A dish to eat: Cipolle rosse (red onions) and fijela pasta at Tropea’s Cipolla Rossa: booking required.

19. Molise

A lowly ranking for Molise, but that’s because it’s tiny – only Valle d’Aosta is smaller – and so little known. Some places are little known for good reason: there’s little to see or do. Not Molise, which packs a varied sightseeing punch.

Visit Roman ruins that would not be out of place in Rome, and then press on to explore remnants of earlier Samnite culture. Relish the Romanesque churches and lofty castles left by Swabian, Norman and Bourbon incursions. Wind into the hills to see villages such as Venafro, Bagnoli di Trigno and Frosolone .

Or spend time by the sea at Termoli, with its pretty historic core, and then kick back on the pine-backed beaches at Campomarino, Ventotto and Montenero di Bisaccia.

Unmissable sights: The Roman ruins at Sepino and the sixth-century BC Samnite remains near Pietrabbondante. 

My favourite hotel: Request the Camera con Camino at the characterful three-star Dimora del Prete (doubles from £84) in Venafro.

A dish to eat: Fusilli originated in Molise; eat them alla Molisana (with a lamb ragù) alongside other regional specialities at Nonna Maria in Termoli.   

18. Friuli-Venezia Giulia

A funny region this, long a conduit to central Europe and the Austro-Hungarian Empire – to which much of it once belonged – but a place where history has bequeathed an odd, rootless mixture of Italian, Slovenian, Friulian and Germanic language and culture.

True, it has fine wines and spectacular scenic moments, not least the fringes of the Dolomites and the Carnic and Julian Alps, but elsewhere much is bland plain or marshy coast. 

And it has culture, but only one place of undisputed note: Aquileia, once among Rome’s most important colonies. And it has a capital, Trieste, that is a city apart, still more Habsburg than Italian. But worth a special journey? I’m not sure.

Unmissable sights: Cividale’s Lombard Temple and the Basilica in Aquileia.

My favourite hotel: Castello di Buttrio (doubles from £177), a rural base 35 minutes from Aquileia and 90 minutes from Trieste.

A dish to eat: Locals consider Friuli’s San Daniele ham better than Parma’s version: eat it in a panino at Da Pepi, in business in Trieste since 1897.

17. Basilicata

Thank goodness for Matera. Without it, Basilicata – the instep of the Italian boot – would be a hard sell.

The town was once a byword for harsh peasant poverty. Now, many of its sassi – some 3,000 rock-cut dwellings, the Mediterranean’s largest troglodyte city – have been restored, turning the town into one of southern Italy’s most remarkable attractions.

Not that it’s the region’s only saving grace. The Pollino is a magnificent area of wilderness, but one still with few facilities and trails – all to the good if you value solitude – and in Maratea the region boasts a mountain-backed coastal enclave that can hold its own with any in Italy. Wine-lovers, moreover, will relish the reds from Monte Vulture’s volcanic hinterland.

Unmissable sights: Matera’s sassi, labyrinthine streets, rock-cut churches and otherworldly landscapes.

My favourite hotel: Matera now has several hotels infiltrated into the sassi, but one of the first, Le Grotte delle Civite (doubles from £158), is still the best. 

A dish to eat: Try Stano in Matera for grano arso (“burnt wheat”), once gleaned by the poorest peasants after harvest when fallen grains had been scorched by the sun. It gives pasta a distinctive flavour. 

16. Liguria

It’s easy to overlook mild-weathered Liguria, the “Italian Riviera”, partly because it’s small – only Molise and Valle d’Aosta are smaller – and partly because its long, narrow shape is but a sliver on maps.

Until recently, few people could have named anywhere here beyond the gritty capital, Genoa. Now, the Cinque Terre, five coastal villages, are all too familiar, and among the most visited places in Italy.

Portofino, too, is known, and remarkably picturesque, but has become a caricature. Head to captivating Camogli instead and plump for one of the region’s many smaller centres over the Cinque Terre – Sestri Levante, perhaps. a family resort with a perfect medieval heart.

Unmissable sights: A boat trip between Camogli and San Fruttuoso, or (out of season only) Portovenere and Monterosso al Mare for views of the Cinque Terre.

My favourite hotel: Cenobio dei Dogi (doubles from £146) in Camogli, a perfect base for the coast, mountains, Genoa and beyond.

A dish to eat: Pesto, born in Genoa for sailors on long voyages, the basil – and thus vitamin C – being preserved longer under oil. Eat trofie al pesto, the key regional pasta, with a sauce that also contains green beans and red potatoes. Indulge at Mattana in Sestri Levante.

15. Sardinia

Sardinia, like Sicily, is not Italy but its own country, or so the locals will tell you. There’s truth in the claim – the language, lore, custom and history are unique – so how to judge it?

Italians know. Witness the summer rush to the island’s coast, for while much of Italy’s shore is compromised, Sardinia has some of the finest beaches and cleanest waters in the Mediterranean.

Beyond summer sand and sea, though, the appeal is limited. The interior is starkly beautiful, but also harsh and inhospitable. Traditional ways of life survive, notably in the Barbagia and Gennargentu mountains, but so too poverty. Alghero has its medieval corners, but also crowds. Stick to the beaches.

Unmissable sights: The beaches of the Costa Smeralda and elsewhere; the Barbagia and Gennargentu mountains; and prehistoric sites at Su Nuraxi and Anghelu Rulu.

My favourite hotels: Plenty of choice on the coast, but inland, Antica Locanda Lunetta (doubles from £141) is a well-restored 17th-century townhouse of charm and calm.

A dish to eat: Spit-roasted suckling pig, or porcetto allo spiedo – su porcheddu in dialect – at Agriturismo La Colti near Cannigione. Be sure to book.

14. Abruzzo

Judged on scenery alone – at least outside the Alps – Abruzzo would rank highly, but this traditionally poor and remote region is short on art and tempting towns.

But what mountains – the finest and highest in central Italy, the haunt of bears and wolves, and at their best in the Maiella, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga national parks.

Some towns appeal – Sulmona is a personal favourite – and Scanno, Castel del Monte and Loreto Aprutino are captivating villages; coastal spots such as Calata, Punta Ferruccio and San Vito Chietino also have their moments. But, for the best of Abruzzo, head for the hills.

Unmissable sight: The high grasslands of the Campo Imperatore, Italy’s “Little Tibet”, under a carpet of spring flowers.

My favourite hotel: Santo Stefano di Sassanio (doubles from £145): a glorious mountain setting and wonderfully atmospheric rooms.

A dish to eat: Across the mountains, remote shepherd’s shacks will sell you a hunk of bread, several rough-cut chunks of pecorino (sheep’s cheese) and a fistful of arosticini – skewers loaded with tiny pieces of lamb – that you (or they) grill on open fires. Eat with your fingers and want for nothing more.

13. Lazio

Lazio has Rome – no small thing – but then what? Truth be told, not much.

In the north, lakes (Bomarzo, Caprarola, Bolsena) redeem its melancholy hills and Etruscan sites its featureless coastal margins. Villas and gardens at Bagnaia, Bomarzo and Caprarola add appeal to the interior.

To the south, the landscapes can be equally drab, but there’s more to tempt – a gem of a garden at Ninfa; tiny Circeo national park; the Erici and Simbruini mountains; abbeys at Subiaco and Casamari; and coastal resorts such as Sperlonga and Sabaudia.

Two enclaves offer further options – the Pontine Islands (busier than they were) and the Sabine Hills, a pocket of sleepy villages and pastoral countryside.

Unmissable sight: Rome.

My favourite hotel: Rooms in Rome’s Grand Hotel de la Minerve (doubles from £184) vary, but the location behind the Pantheon and the views from the terrace are hard to beat.

A dish to eat: Try Rome’s Cantina e Cucina for saltimbocca alla Romana – veal, ham and sage – a Roman classic.

12. Le Marche

Most of us like little-known places, and most of us, I suspect, would like the Marche. Nothing big or showy, hence its middling rank, and nothing really to make it “the next Tuscany” as it is sometimes billed.

But that billing suggests the region’s charms – pastoral scenery, like Tuscany, and ruins to restore, villages to visit, art to relish, food to enjoy, culture to indulge. A little bit of everything, in short, that draws us to Italy.

It also has sights that are in the country’s first rank. The Sibillini are some of my favourite mountains. Urbino is glorious, the equal of anything in Tuscany. And in Ascoli Piceno the Piazza del Popolo is among Italy’s loveliest squares.

Unmissable sight: Urbino’s Palazzo Ducale-Galleria Nazionale.

My favourite hotel: Casale del Duca (doubles from £118); three rooms in a delightful rural property three miles (5km) from Urbino.

A dish to eat: Sample olive ascolane, Ascoli’s celebrated stuffed olives, in Ascoli, at Nonna Nina or Il Vinatterie – or both.

11. Trentino-Alto Adige

Take away the Dolomites, Europe’s most spectacular mountains, and Trentino-Alto Adige is left with little more than good wine and its hybrid personality, split by a complicated history into German-speaking north and Italian-speaking south.

But with mountains like these, who cares? You might make a case for the Pyrénées or the Swiss Alps, but hike, ski, cycle or simply ride summer cable-cars almost anywhere in this region and the Dolomites’ peerless views and spectacular skylines will convince you otherwise.

Towns? Yes, Bolzano, Merano, Cortina d’Ampezzo – all decent enough. Villages? Innumerable, most of them charming. Ortisei is a favourite. Mountains? All 15 massifs are majestic, but the Sciliar-Catinaccio, Brenta (stay in Molveno) and Odle (ride the Seceda cable-car) are my top three.

Unmissable sights: Views from Seceda, Marmolada and the top of the Fedare-Monte Averau chairlift.

My favourite hotel: Hotel La Perla in Corvara: fine lodging, fun bar, exceptional food but – sadly – very expensive.

A dish to eat: Canederli, or dumplings, at Rauchhütte, near Siusi, a restaurant with fine food and one of the Dolomites’ best views.

10. Emilia-Romagna

No one’s coming to Emilia-Romagna for the scenery, despite some decent hill country; they’re coming for food and, if they look harder, for some fine unsung cities.

Food first. The region is urban, to say the least, but thanks to the Pianura Padana, the Po Valley, it is also agricultural. Great produce, long traditions, great food.

Bologna is the gastronomic capital, though prosperous Parma runs it close, being home, after all, to Parma ham and Parmesan. 

Parma is also a superb city in its own right, with a historic heart – like those of Piacenza, Modena and Reggio Emilia – filled with artistic and cultural treasures. So, too, smaller Ferrara and, best of all, Ravenna, home to some of Europe’s best Byzantine art and architecture.

Unmissable sights: The cathedrals of Parma and Modena; San Petronio and San Domenico in Bologna; and the mosaics in San Vitale, Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, Sant’Apollinare in Classe and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.

My favourite hotel: San Leo Albergo Diffuso (doubles from £84) is modest, and has changed over the years, but is a place of good memories, and at the heart of San Leo, a lovely and barely known hill-village. 

A dish to eat: Tagliatelle, paired with ragù, in Bologna, either at Osteria Bottega or the more central Trattoria Collegio di Spagna (0039 051 644 8825).

9. Valle d’Aosta

Molise lost marks for its size. Valle d’Aosta is even smaller: at 1,259 sq miles (3,261 sq km), or twice the size of Greater London, it is Italy’s smallest region.

But unlike Molise, Valle d’Aosta has some of Italy’s biggest landscapes, cradling a vast sweep of the Alps, including all or part of four of Europe’s greatest mountains: Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn and Gran Paradiso.

The valley (Valle) bit of the Valle d’Aosta is dotted with castles – plus urban clutter and light industry – but it’s the mountains that earn the region its ranking, and are the reason to visit, whether to hike, ski or simply admire the scenery from Cogne or other villages in the area’s smaller side valleys.

Unmissable sight: Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso.

My favourite hotel: Cogne’s Bellevue (doubles from £237): big but cosy, or Lou Ressignon for something more intimate (doubles from £100).

A dish to eat: Fontina cheese, often melted (fonduta) in a sauce or fondue. Lou Ressignon in Cogne has a perfect pairing with grenailles, baby new potatoes.

8. Puglia

Puglia has a higher profile than most regions, but I’ve never been convinced. The landscapes are monotonous – low hills and plains – save for some lovely coastal pockets and the Gargano promontory.

Lecce is appealing enough, but never the “Florence of the South” it’s often billed as; the summer climate is brutal, and the villages with trulli, dwellings unique to the area, are invariably overrun.

So why the fuss? Well, the region is certainly distinctive – often more Greek than Italian in look and feel. Food and wine are good (but where in Italy are they not?). Converted trulli and masserie, or fortified farmhouses, have made good second homes and first-rate hotels. That helps. 

Treat Puglia as a place to relax – a villa, a spa hotel – rather than one for a deep dive into art, culture and landscape.

Unmissable sights: Romanesque Trani, Molfetta, Bari and Barletta; Castel del Monte; Ostuni, Oria, Gravina and Maglie (inland); and coastal Mola di Bari, Castro and busier Monopoli, Gallipoli and Polignano.

My favourite hotel: Corte Altavilla (doubles from £68) is not as fancy as some Puglian hotels, but has charm to spare. Its village, Conversano, is delightful.

A dish to eat: Orecchiette (“little ears”) pasta. In Conversano, eat them as “fast food” from Michelin-starred Maria Cicorella’s “trattoria veloce”, Evviva Maria.

7. Campania

Another region with a city – Naples – that overshadows much else, and another region, like Lazio and Veneto, where, beyond several world-class attractions, additional temptations are few.

But when your attractions are Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, you don’t care. Naples comes with the qualification that its Latin edge is not to all tastes, and Capri and the Amalfi Coast are often busy beyond belief.

Less well-known, but in the first rank, are the Greek temples at Paestum, and Herculaneum (Ercolano), buried, like Pompeii, in AD 79, but today a more manageable site. 

Brave Naples’s suburbs to visit Reggia di Caserta and for an under-the-radar enclave, explore the coast and interior of the Cilento.

Unmissable sights: Naples’s Museo Archeologico; Pompeii; Herculaneum; Paestum; the coast between Positano and Vietri.

My favourite hotel: Ravello’s Villa Cimbrone (doubles from £490), Greta Garbo’s Campanian hotel of choice.

A dish to eat: Pizza, born in Naples. Da Michele and Brandi are classic, albeit touristy pizzerias, or try Trianon da Ciro and Borgo Orefici. 

6. Sicily

What riches. Greek theatres at Taormina and Siracusa, along with the temples of Segesta, Agrigento and Selinunte; from the Romans, spectacular mosaics near Piazza Armerina; from the Arabs, art and cuisine; and from the Normans, the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale.

And the landscapes: the stark beauty of the Aeolian islands, the wilderness of the Madonie mountains, the grandeur of Etna, the pastoral hills of the Monti Iblei. 

Towns and cities, too: Palermo, big, battered and compelling; Noto, Ragusa and Modica, baroque pearls; Erice, lofty, panoramic; Taormina, sybaritic, perhaps over-rated.

But Sicily is tricky. Some of the most beautiful things in Europe, never mind Italy, but also – blighted coastline, abandoned factories – some of the ugliest. Choose, enjoy… but be ready to avert your gaze.

Unmissable sights: Segesta; Villa Romana del Casale; Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo; Selinunte; Valle dei Templi; Monreale; Etna; Siracusa; Cefalù.

My favourite hotel: The relatively modest Palazzo Planeta (doubles from £95), owned by one of Sicily’s best wine producers, is a perfect, well-priced base from which to explore Palermo and beyond.

A dish to eat: Pasta con le sarde (with sardines) outside on the main square at Osteria del Duomo, so you can admire Cefalù’s sublime cathedral.

5. Veneto

Italy’s big northern regions, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto, have the same drawbacks: lots of beautiful things, but – more than most places – lots of drab scenery and urban ugliness. 

Veneto has Venice, of course, not a bad start – overrun, but not in winter and if you head to the fringes – and two other cities, Verona and Vicenza, in my Italian Top 10. Padua, Asolo and Treviso are also compelling.

Landscapes? Lake Garda’s eastern shore falls within Veneto; the Alps add beauty in the north; and the villa-dotted hills around Padua and Vicenza are islands of pastoral charm.

Beyond that, not much. Take comfort instead in the region’s wines. Among other things, this is prosecco country.

Unmissable sights: Venice, Verona and Vicenza.

My favourite hotel: Queen Elizabeth II reputedly liked the Gritti when in Venice. For most of us a once-in-a-decade treat, but what a treat.

A dish to eat: Bigoli, a big, chewy pasta. Al Pestello in Vicenza, in business since 1910, has a delicious version with duck.

4. Umbria

Umbria was my first Italian home, so I am biased towards the “green heart of Italy”, so-called because of its verdant countryside. It’s busier than in my day – everywhere is – but still represents a perfect microcosm of all that’s wonderful about Italy.

Pastoral, yes, with landscapes to match those of Tuscany, but with mountains, too, in the east, and scenic one-offs like placid Lago Trasimeno, central Italy’s largest lake.

Great food, too, notably in Norcia (truffles, ham, lentils, cheese); great art, such as Giotto and Cimabue in Assisi; but above all, a collection of unmatched hill-towns – Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Todi, Orvieto, Montefalco, Trevi, Gubbio, Città della Pieve, and more.

Unmissable sights: Basilica di San Francesco, Assisi; Orvieto cathedral; and the Piano Grande.

My favourite hotel: San Pietro in Valle (doubles from £126), part of an eighth-century abbey in the hills beyond Spoleto.

A dish to eat: Black truffles (tartufi neri) in Norcia’s Granaro del Monte.

3. Lombardy

There is lots in Lombardy you don’t want to see, but beyond the built-up ugliness, lots you do. Milan dominates – Italy’s best fashion, design and shopping centre, but with art and culture aplenty, not least Leonardo’s Last Supper.

Travel 30 minutes to Pavia for its Certosa; a little farther for medieval, hill-top Bergamo; and farthest of all for wonderful and all-but unvisited Mantua.

Not a lot of towns, then, but a lot of lakes. Lombardy’s Alpine half shelters Garda, Maggiore and Como, some of Italy’s most celebrated landscapes, but don’t overlook smaller lakes such as Iseo. And don’t skip, as most do, the majestic alpine scenery of the Alpi Orobie and Stelvio national park.

Unmissable sights: Lake Como; Milan’s Duomo; Palazzo Ducale and Palazzo Te, Mantua. 

My favourite hotel: The Torre suite in Mantua’s Palazzo Castiglioni (doubles from £235).

A dish to eat: Risotto at Sorsasso, a delightful family-run winery with a small kitchen and handful of tables above Lake Como. 

2. Piedmont

A hard call on Piedmont over Lombardy. Both have big cities, Milan and Turin, the latter hugely underrated. Visit, it’s worth it.

Fewer second-rank towns in Piedmont – no Mantua or Bergamo here – though places such as Roddi, Monforte, La Morra and others are hardly shabby.

Food we’ll give to Piedmont. Wine, too. White truffles from Alba, among much else, and great reds such as Barolo, make the region one of Italy’s gastronomic heartlands.

Both regions divide between (dull) plain and (majestic) mountains. Both share sublime lakes, with Orta in Piedmont my Italian favourite. 

Both regions embrace the Alps, with Piedmont again my preference, if only because of memorable trips to the magnificent Alpine valleys of the Gesso, Varalta and, above all, the Maira. 

Unmissable sights: Turin; Valle Maira; Parco Nazionale delle Alpi Marittime.

My favourite hotel: Locanda del Silenzio (doubles from £168), a perfect medley of peace, position, food and charm.

A dish to eat: Tajarin, silky threads of pasta, often with a buttery, sage-infused sauce, at Turin’s Consorzio.

1. Tuscany

It was always going to be Tuscany. Why? Mostly because it has something of everything and little that marks down its rivals. 

It starts with world-class Florence, a city-sized shrine to the Renaissance, and Siena, Europe’s finest medieval town, with Lucca, Cortona and Arezzo close behind. Idyllic villages proliferate: Barga, San Gimignano, Sovana, Pitigliano, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Cetona, Montalcino, and many more.

Some ugly towns, of course, some light industry, but this is the 21st century.

We’ll take the food and especially the wine – Brunello, Vino Nobile – as read; drop some names (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo); and emphasise that beyond Chianti, Tuscany has even more beautiful, if less well-known, landscapes – the Alpi Apuane, Crete Senesi, Val d’Orcia, Casentino, Pratomagno and Lunigiana.

Unmissable sights: Lucca and Siena.

My favourite hotel: Gargonza (doubles from £185), a unique medieval hamlet between Siena and Arezzo.

A dish to eat: Pici pasta, al fresco in Pienza, at La Terrazza del Chiostro or Terrazza della Val d’Orcia, not so much for the food, but for the glorious views.