Italy packs an astonishing range of scenery into one long peninsula and its islands: pale Alpine towers, glacier-carved lakes, Tuscan hills, hot springs, sea gorges and some of the most active volcanoes in Europe. These ten natural wonders run from the Dolomites in the north to Etna in Sicily, with the facts you need to plan a visit.

Pastel houses climbing a steep coastal hillside above boats on a blue sea
Houses climb a steep hillside above the sea on Italy’s southern coast.

Alpine Italy: the Dolomites, Gran Paradiso and Lake Garda

1. The Dolomites

The Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009, spread across Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. They take their name from the mineral dolomite, itself named after the 18th-century French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu. Their older name, Monti Pallidi, the “pale mountains”, recalls the way the rock glows pink and purple at sunset. The highest summit is the Marmolada at 3,343 m, and the three-pinnacled Tre Cime di Lavaredo (2,999 m) is the range’s most famous silhouette. Summer brings hiking and via ferrata routes; winter turns the valleys into one of Europe’s great ski regions.

Jagged Dolomite peaks lit at sunrise above a steep grassy ridge – photograph by Lukas Furlan
Photo: Lukas Furlan
Massive pale Dolomite rock towers above green alpine pastures
Rocky Dolomite ridges and distant snowy peaks above a high meadow
Village church in a green valley below the jagged Dolomite skyline – photograph by Hans Kruse
Photo: Hans Kruse

2. Gran Paradiso National Park

Created in 1922, Gran Paradiso was Italy’s first national park. It covers 703 km² of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley around Gran Paradiso (4,061 m), the only mountain over 4,000 m that lies entirely inside Italy. The park exists because of the Alpine ibex: hunting had cut the population to about 60 animals in the early 1800s, and in 1856 the future King Victor Emmanuel II made the area a royal hunting reserve, which protected the last herd. By 2005 numbers had recovered to about 4,000, and the park authority runs visitor centres and marked trails through its larch forests, glacial valleys and high lakes.

Alpine lakes and green valley below snowy peaks in Gran Paradiso – photograph by Giuseppe Rizza
Photo: Giuseppe Rizza
Flower-filled meadow under a starry sky in Gran Paradiso – photograph by Stefano Unterthiner
Photo: Stefano Unterthiner
Sunburst over snowfields with a lone hiker in Gran Paradiso – photograph by Francesco Sisti
Photo: Francesco Sisti
High mountain lakes reflecting rocky peaks in Gran Paradiso National Park

3. Lake Garda

Italy’s largest lake covers about 370 km², stretches 51.6 km from north to south and plunges to 346 m. It was shaped by an Ice Age glacier and is shared by Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino. The narrow northern end, framed by mountains, draws windsurfers and sailors to Riva del Garda and Torbole; the broad southern basin is gentler, with Sirmione’s castle and Roman-era sulphur springs. A mild microclimate lets olives and even lemons grow at 46° north. Ferries link the lakeside towns, and Verona, Brescia and Trento are all close by.

Turquoise water of Lake Garda between steep mountain slopes – photograph by Mattia Bonavida
Photo: Mattia Bonavida
Old rooftops of a lakeside town on Lake Garda – photograph by nick
Photo: nick
Lights of a Lake Garda waterfront reflected at dusk – photograph by Photos By Pierre
Photo: Photos By Pierre
Castle and harbour on a peninsula in Lake Garda, wide-angle view – photograph by Rodrigo De Lucca
Photo: Rodrigo De Lucca

Tuscany: Val d’Orcia and the hot springs of Saturnia

4. Val d’Orcia

The rolling hills, cypress avenues and hilltop towns of the Val d’Orcia, between the provinces of Siena and Grosseto, were listed by UNESCO in 2004 as a landscape shaped by people. Pienza was rebuilt in the 15th century by Pope Pius II as an “ideal” Renaissance town, and Montalcino produces Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy’s most prestigious red wines. The official Val d’Orcia site covers walking and cycling routes between the villages.

Misty Tuscan hills with a farmhouse and cypress trees at dawn – photograph by Adnan Bubalo
Photo: Adnan Bubalo
Wheat field and a distant line of cypresses under a stormy Tuscan sky – photograph by Daniel Rericha
Photo: Daniel Rericha
Golden Tuscan valley with vineyards and a hilltop farmhouse – photograph by Adnan Bubalo
Photo: Adnan Bubalo
Cypress-lined drive winding to a Tuscan villa among ploughed fields – photograph by Giuseppe Peppoloni
Photo: Giuseppe Peppoloni

5. Saturnia

In the Maremma, in the municipality of Manciano, sulphurous water emerges at about 37.5°C and tumbles over natural limestone terraces at the Cascate del Mulino, named after an old mill beside the falls. The outdoor pools are free and open all year, which makes them especially inviting on a cold winter morning; the Terme di Saturnia spa nearby offers paid facilities. Legend says Saturn, tired of human wars, hurled a thunderbolt that created the warm spring to calm humanity. The town itself was Etruscan before becoming a Roman colony in 183 BC.

Bathers in turquoise thermal pools among green trees at Saturnia
Thermal cascades flowing past the old stone mill at Saturnia
Steam rising over the Saturnia cascades beside the old mill – photograph by Thanh Ha Bui
Photo: Thanh Ha Bui

Coast and islands: Furore, Capri and Sardinia

6. Fiordo di Furore

On the Amalfi Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, the Schiato torrent has cut a deep cleft into the cliffs on its way down from Agerola. The Fiordo di Furore is really a ria, a flooded river gorge, crossed by a single arched road bridge high above a tiny pebble beach. Professional divers leap from almost 30 m during the Fjord Diving event, usually held in early July. Parking is scarce: Italy’s official tourism site suggests parking in Praiano and walking about 2 km, or taking the Amalfi–Agerola bus, which stops on the bridge. Pair it with a wider Amalfi Coast plan.

Narrow water inlet between steep walls at Furore
Narrow water inlet between steep walls at Furore.
Bridge spanning the rocky gorge above the water at Furore
The road bridge spanning the Furore gorge.
Rocky Amalfi coastline with a beach and boats – photograph by Jean-Pierre Ossorio
Photo: Jean-Pierre Ossorio

7. Capri

Capri covers barely 10.4 km² in the Bay of Naples, yet it rises to 589 m at Monte Solaro. Its first recorded settlers were Greeks of Magna Graecia, who called it Kapreai. The emperor Tiberius ruled Rome from the island between AD 27 and 37, and the ruins of his Villa Jovis are among the best-preserved Roman villas in Italy. Ferries and hydrofoils from Naples, Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi land at Marina Grande; from there, explore the Faraglioni sea stacks off the south-east coast and the Blue Grotto sea cave on the north-west shore.

Sunbathers on a pebble beach below villas on Capri
Colourful harbour buildings and boats below Capri’s mountains
Swimmers in clear water with Capri’s Faraglioni sea stacks behind

8. Sardinia

At about 24,100 km², Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and ahead of Cyprus, with some 1,849 km of coastline. Ancient Greeks knew it as Ichnusa. Its interior is just as remarkable as its beaches: around 7,000 nuraghe, the Bronze Age stone towers of the Nuragic civilisation, survive across the island, and Su Nuraxi at Barumini is a UNESCO site. The island has three national parks, including the La Maddalena archipelago, and its highest point is Punta La Marmora (1,834 m) in the Gennargentu.

Turquoise bay with moored boats below a green Sardinian headland
Shallow turquoise sea along a rocky Sardinian shore
Sailing boats in clear water off a steep Sardinian island
White sand and granite rocks beside turquoise water in Sardinia

Volcanic Sicily: the Aeolian Islands and Mount Etna

9. The Aeolian Islands

North of Sicily lie seven inhabited volcanic islands: Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea. They are named after Aeolus, the keeper of the winds in Greek myth, and in 580 BC Greek settlers from Rhodes and Knidos landed on Lipari and made it a Greek island. Stromboli and Vulcano are still active. UNESCO listed the archipelago in 2000 for its textbook volcanic landforms. Choose one island as a base and explore the others by boat.

White cliffs and blue sea along an Aeolian island coastline
Whitewashed village along the shore of a green Aeolian island
White houses and fishing boats on a rocky Aeolian waterfront
Swimmers and boats in a clear volcanic bay in the Aeolian Islands

10. Mount Etna

Etna rises above Catania to about 3,403 m, a height that changes with its summit eruptions. It is Europe’s most active volcano and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013. Greek myth placed the forge of Hephaestus beneath it, and said Zeus imprisoned the monster Typhon under the mountain. On the south side, Rifugio Sapienza (1,910 m) is the starting point for a cableway up to about 2,500 m; access to the summit craters depends on current volcanic activity and local rules, so check before you go.

Snow-covered Etna behind a Sicilian hill town – photograph by Mario Fagone
Photo: Mario Fagone
Rider on a donkey with Etna glowing at sunset behind – photograph by Vincenzo Grasso
Photo: Vincenzo Grasso
Eruption cloud rising over Etna above a calm sea at dusk

Planning a trip to Italy’s natural wonders

  • Group by region. Combine the Dolomites and Lake Garda in the north, the Val d’Orcia and Saturnia in southern Tuscany, Capri and Furore around the Bay of Naples, and Etna with the Aeolian Islands in Sicily.
  • Pick the season. June to September suits Alpine hiking and the islands; winter brings skiing in the Dolomites and the best hot-spring weather at Saturnia.
  • Use public transport where you can. Ferries serve Capri, the Aeolian Islands and Lake Garda, and buses reach Furore, where parking is very limited.