Italy - The “il Bel paese”

The most popular tourist destination in Southern Europe - Italy or Repubblica Italiana or Italia is a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. The peninsula looks like boot thus Italy is nicknamed as “Boot”.

Italy shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are located within the Italian territory.

Italian is the official language, and the Eternal City-Rome is the capital and the largest city of Italy. Italy is one of the top tourist spots in the world with some of her extremely mesmerizing cities like Naples, Rome, Milan, and Venice.

Italy is often called “il Bel paese” (beautiful country) due to the beauty and variety of its landscapes. The country has exquisite scenic beauty - the majestic Alps in the north, the soft and undulating hills of Umbria and Tuscany, and the romantically rugged landscape of the S Apennines. The Bay of Naples, dominated by Mt. Vesuvius, is one of the world's most famous sights

The tourism also flourishes in Northern Italy on the Italian Riviera, in the Alps (including the Dolomites), on the shores of its beautiful lakes (Lago Maggiore, Lake Como, and Lake Garda), and in Venice. Gran Paradiso that rises in Valle d'Aosta, is the highest peak wholly situated within Italy.

Attractions: The major attractions of Italy include Rome (the capital, and the centre of the Roman Culture, and Roman Catholic Church), Milan (the fashion capital of the world), Florence (History, art, architecture, Uffizi gallery, David of Michelangelo Buonarroti), Venice (the most poetic and romantic city), Naples (famous gulf and Vesuvius volcano, including Herculaneum and Pompeii), Genoa (vibrant and historical port city, birth place of Columbus), Bologna (A major trade fair city), Palermo (capital of Sicily), Siena (a mediaeval town in southern Tuscany), Verona (a restored Roman coliseum is the stage for modern opera productions), Turin (Host of the 2006 Winter Olympics), Bari (the "Milan of the South," gate to the East), Padua (Home of Saint Anthony's cathedral and the second oldest University in the World), Pisa (location of the famous Leaning Tower), Ravenna (known as the "Capital of Mosaics."), and Rimini (the best place to join young style of life, discoteques and sea in summer).

The other attractions include Monument to king Vittorio Emanuele II, Rome, Villa Badoer by Andrea Palladio, Trulli houses in Alberobello, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Ponte Fabricio, Isola Tiberina, Rome, Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Rifugio Laghi Gemelli, Capri and Ischia (the famed islands in the Bay of Naples), Vatican City (the independent city-state and seat of the Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church), and Vinci (home of the great Leonardo Da Vinci where there is a museum dedicated in his honor).

Climate: Italy has a typical Mediterranean climate with mild winters and generally hot and dry summers. Italy and the large islands of Sicily and Sardinia have very volatile weather in autumn, winter, and spring in marked contrast to the settled sunny weather of summer. Cloudy rainy days alternate with spells of mild, sunny weather is common throughout winter. However, the least number of rainy days and the highest number of hours of sunshine occur in the extreme south of the mainland and in Sicily and Sardinia.

Generally, July is the hottest month, January is the coldest month, November is the wettest month, and July is the driest month in Italy.

Traveling To Italy: Milan {Malpensa (MXP) and Linate (LIN)}, Rome {Fiumicino (FCO) and Ciampino (CIA)}, Bologna, Naples, Venice are the air gateways to Italy. Italy has its own national airline, Alitalia that carries most of the international travelers.

Trains are the other option to get into Italy. There are several train services to Italy from several destinations of Europe. The following are some train routes to get into Italy.

• From France via Nice, Lyon, and Paris
• From Croatia via Zagreb
• From Austria via Vienna
• From Geneva and other Swiss cities
• From Germany via Munich
• From Czech Republic via Prague
• From Hungary via Budapest
• From Slovenia via Ljubljana
• From Spain via Barcelona

Italy also have several ferry services departing from Greece, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia, and most of them arrive to Venice, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi. There are regular ferry services from the island of Corsica in France to Genoa, Livorno, Civitavecchia, North of Sardinia, Sicily, and some North African harbors.