Visit Alberobello

The "Florence of the South" — honey-coloured Baroque churches carved from soft Lecce stone

Visit Zalipie, a village in southern Poland known as the 'Painted Village' for its tradition of decorating houses with colorful floral motifs. See the House of the Women Painters (Dom Malarek), a museum showcasing the art and history of the custom, admire the painted church of St. Joseph, and explore the annual Painted Cottage Competition held in June, where residents compete for the most beautiful decorations.

Puglia's lively port capital — a tangle of old-town alleys, orecchiette drying in doorways, and San Nicola's bones

Eat dinner inside a limestone sea cave in Puglia, the Adriatic glowing below your table

A city built on water with no cars — gondolas, Byzantine mosaics, and getting happily lost in the back canals

The Renaissance in one walkable city: Michelangelo's David, Brunelleschi's dome, and the Uffizi

A walled medieval upper town above modern Bergamo — Venetian ramparts, funiculars and Lombard charm

The world's smallest state holds its biggest art: St Peter's, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine ceiling