We have selected the best locations and hotels to create a truly memorable holiday in Italy

Tourists have always been drawn to Italy in search of beauty, culture and romance. For centuries, Italy has inspired poets, painters, composers, writers, film-makers and designers. From Shakespeare’s star crossed lovers and Dante’s personal journey to Bernini’s emotive sculptures and Caravaggio’s sinister art, this country has evoked the light and dark from every creative soul that has crossed its path. Few countries can compete with its art and architecture, while its musical scene has informed the rest of Europe for hundreds of years.

The Italian landscape cannot be separated from the country’s culture, the cuisine directly informed by the sparkling shores of the Mediterranean or the sun-drenched hills of Tuscany. The best hotels in Italy take their inspiration from the land itself. Italy is an amazing diverse country with a rich cultural heritage. Italy’s location at the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, shielded from the rest of Europe by the vast sweep of the Alps allow it a majesty all its own and an identity that is unique within Europe. The mainland’s history of scattered principalities allows each area a strong and unique character that many hotels in Italy draw from while the islands of Sicily and Sardinia have been much contested, their beauty is undisputed.