Italy's regions

The regions of Italy and their major tourist attractions

Italy is politically divided into 20 regions—a bit like U.S. or Australian states, Canadian provinces, or British regions.

Some Italian regions have instantly familiar names—Tuscany, Sicily, Umbria, Apulia—others are not so well-known outside of Italy—say, Molise or Friuli Venezia-Giulia.

A few regions are far less famous than the places they contain—for every 100 people who have heard of Rome, maybe 10 will know it is in the region of Lazio.

To that end, here is a map of the regions followed by a list of the major tourist destinations (and major cities) within each.

Sicilia (Sicily) Calabria Basilicata Campania (Campagna) Apulia (Puglia) Abruzzo Lazio (Latium) Umbria Toscana (Tuscany) Le Marche Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Veneto Trentino-Alto Adige Lombardia (Lombardy) Sardegna Liguria Piemonte (Piedmont) Valle d'Aosta

The regions of Italy

Most resources list things like this in alphabetical order, which I find hilarious, since you never visit things in alphabetical order. I will instead roughly divide the regions into Northern, Central, and Southern Italy.

(The particulars of this division is a oft-argued subject, so don't fault me for sticking Abruzzo in central and not southern Italy—with which, yes, it perhaps has more cultural affinity.)

This list is by no means meant to be exhaustive of every place within a given region, just indicative. It also focuses on places tourists like to visit, so some regions might highlight tiny towns but leave out major cities (only the boring ones). Click on any region to learn more about it and its attractions.

Northern Italy
Central Italy
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