Rome is more than ancient architecture: it offers hidden gems, fashion, street art, Vespa rides to the Appian Way, and coins tossed into fountains. Visit the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and private quarters by appointment, plus the Colosseum, Caravaggio churches, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. Make pasta, hunt truffles, enjoy gelato and coffee, or unwind in a 3,000-year-old pool. In Rome, old and new blend so you can indulge in it all.

Discover Florence, Tuscany's capital of culture and home of Michelangelo. Explore Renaissance masterpieces at the Uffizi, visit the terracotta-tiled Duomo, and wander the serene Boboli Gardens. At sunset, cross the Ponte Vecchio and savor a refined Tuscan red while reflecting on the Medici legacy.

Historic Genoa offers sponge cakes, nutty pesto and creamy gelato, plus the legacy of young Christopher Columbus. Wander UNESCO-listed cobbled streets past Baroque palazzi, through coffee-scented alleyways near Piazza De Ferrari, and explore galleries and museums in grand residences built by the merchants and bankers who made Genoa a mighty Mediterranean port. End the day with a sunset stroll along Corso Italia and aperitivo under a fiery orange sky.

Tucked on the Italian coast, Portofino is a jet-set haven of noble summer homes, luxury boutiques, pastel harbor buildings, and olive-covered slopes. Nearby, Museo del Parco leads to Chiesa di San Giorgio, with views toward Etruscan villas and Ligurian lighthouses. An hour away, Cinque Terre's five pastel hamlets cling to rocky Mediterranean promontories.

Cannes pairs yacht-studded Riviera glamour with palm trees, a swish marina, casinos, boutiques, cinematic heritage, and supermodels. Wander Le Suquet's narrow medieval streets, shop La Croisette, dine in Michelin-starred restaurants, and relax in beach clubs with glittering sea views. For quiet, ferry to Saint-Honorat's leafy island and 500-year-old monastery. Nearby, Monaco and St Tropez beckon. Cannes is seaside glamour at its most French.

Step into the sultry sophistication of the French Riviera, where Bardot glamour, Mediterranean sun, movie stars, superyachts, and chic cocktail bars define the scene. Then slip beyond the jet set to breathtaking landscapes, verdant hillsides, and the finest fresh local produce. After all the decadence and glamour of the Côte d'Azur, the journey continues to somewhere a little calmer.

Porto Cervo, the sleek capital of Costa Smeralda, blends ruggedly beautiful coastline, emerald coves, yachts, villas, and powder-white beaches. Enjoy beach clubs, take a boat to Maddalena Island's blue-green waters, see and be seen in Piazzetta, visit Stella Maris cathedral, stop by Poltu Quatu, and explore the Stone Age "Giants' Graves."

Cagliari fans out from Il Castello, the steep hilltop citadel built by Pisan rulers in the 13th century, home to the Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Elephant Tower, where trophy heads once hung. Seven-kilometre Poetto Beach stretches from the Devil's Saddle on the St. Elia promontory past beachfront eateries serving Sardinian seafood with chilled Vermentino. Offshore, Capo Carbonara Marine Reserve teems with coral fans and colourful sea life.

Rome is more than ancient architecture: it offers hidden gems, fashion, street art, Vespa rides to the Appian Way, and coins tossed into fountains. Visit the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and private quarters by appointment, plus the Colosseum, Caravaggio churches, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. Make pasta, hunt truffles, enjoy gelato and coffee, or unwind in a 3,000-year-old pool. In Rome, old and new blend so you can indulge in it all.