Italy

• 1 The snow show comes to Europe
  The heavy snow across Europe may have provided the kids with outdoor fun and a few unscheduled days off school but the severity of the polar cold snap is especially severe in Poland, Romania and the Ukraine,...

• 2 Ten top ski resorts around the world
  Baqueira Beret, Spain
 The finest ski station in Spain boasts state-of-the-art ski lifts, more kilometres of piste than any other, and its strategic orientation pretty much guarantees good snow. This...

• 3 A room with a view of Tuscany
  “Every city, let me teach you, has its own smell." So Miss Lavish, one of the eccentric guests at the Pensione Bartolini explains enthusiastically to the inexperienced Lucy on her first visit...

• 4 Stromboli: volcanic fire and passion
  Some say that without the scandal surrounding the extramarital affair between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman during the filming of Stromboli, the film would have sunk into insignificance. There...

• 5 Leonardo in London
  Under the title 'Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan', the exhibition draws together paintings from collections around the world in an unprecedented display of the rare surviving works of...

• 6 Autumn relaxation in the Italian Alps
  Bordered by Switzerland in the north and France to the west, the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta is surrounded by magnificent mountain scenery. With its 25 ski stations and 1,200 kilometres of pistes,...

• 7 Europe's spectacular natural heritage
  Dramatic mountains – the vast Durmitor massif in the eponymous national park in northwestern Montenegro, the volcanic mass of Mount Teide, and the dramatic Dolomites in the Italian Alps where green...

• 8 The natural wonders of the world
  The idea of listing the wonders of the world is hardly a new thing. The historian Herodotus compiled his own list way back in the fifth century BC, and from then on many have been unable to resist the...

• 9 Portofino, the height of Italian chic
  The earth tones of rusty browns, oranges and terracotta of the simple facades curving round the fishing port could almost be mistaken for a medieval painting were it not for the mega-yachts that bring...

• 10 Magical Mediterranean islands
  Brac (Croatia) 
 Zlatni Rat – the 'golden cape' – near Bol is probably Croatia's finest beach. The beautiful horn of pale sand juts into the sea, extending for nearly half a mile, and is...

• 11 The Amalfi Coast – leave your map behind
  Cliffs, vineyards and lemon groves, mansions that look out to the sparkling sea across the hilltops, and heart-stopping views at each twist in the road that weaves its way along the Amalfi Coast: La Strada...

• 12 Luxury on the high seas
  When you hear the word 'cruise' perhaps you picture a kind of floating package tour aboard a vast and impersonal ship where thousands of passengers occupy identikit cabins in a kind of multi-storey floating...

• 13 Which summer festival will you choose?
  Veranos de la Villa – Madrid's Summer in the city One of the year's top diary dates in the Spanish capital. Dance, theatre, zarzuela (Spanish operetta) and concerts are all performed on stages...

• 14 The world's best sunsets
  Serengeti, Tanzania People who have had the good fortune to visit the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania say that until you've seen the sun set over the great orange plains you haven't lived. The image...

• 15 Cinque Terre: inaccessible and unspoiled
  Around a hundred kilometres south along the coast from Genoa, the Riviera di Levante is home to five medieval villages known as the Cinque Terre. Their colourful houses perch high on the cliffs in a landscape...

• 16 The (very stylish) art of travel
  Starting in London with a private viewing at the National Gallery, Venice, Paris and Bath are the destinations for these unique journeys in classic trains, each in the company of an expert guide. With...

• 17 Capri: a luxury resort since Roman times
  Back in classical times, the Emperor Augustus described it as the island of dolce far niente – the expression that captures so well the Italian understanding of 'the sweetness of doing nothing';...

• 18 Sardinian chic on the Costa Smeralda
  The transformation of this wild, practically uninhabited, stretch of Sardinia's northeastern littoral began back in the Sixties, when it was 'discovered' by the Aga Khan. Together with a group of wealthy...

• 19 An invitation to the Palazzo Farnese
  In the exhibition The Palazzo Farnese: From the Renaissance collections to the French Embassy, a total of 150 works – including paintings, sculptures, drawings, coins and ceramics – tell the...

• 20 The masked magic of Venice Carnival
  The European city that we all associate with carnival has to be Venice, where the festival is brought to life with a spirit unique to this romantic city with its watery filigree of canals. And it's not...