Visit Bologna

Eat the real "bolognese" — slow ragù on fresh egg tagliatelle, never on spaghetti

Spoon up tiny meat-filled pasta knots floating in clear capon broth — Emilia’s Christmas-table soul food

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

Loud, ancient and alive — the birthplace of pizza, gateway to Pompeii, Vesuvius and the Amalfi Coast

Fashion, finance and Leonardo's Last Supper — plus the most extravagant Gothic cathedral in Italy

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

Italy's elegant first capital — arcaded boulevards, the Egyptian Museum, and the home of vermouth and gianduja