Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any country on Earth: 59. From Pompeii to the Dolomites, from Venice's lagoon to Val d'Orcia's landscapes. Some are cities (Rome's Historic Centre). Some are ruins (Paestum). Some are natural wonders (Etna). Some are entire coastlines (Costiera Amalfitana). This guide ranks all 59 by how rewarding they are to visit, with transport and timing for each.
1. Historic Centre of Rome — the entire ancient city is a UNESCO site. Colosseum, Pantheon, Forum, Piazza Navona. 2. Historic Centre of Florence — Uffizi, Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Pitti. 3. Venice and its Lagoon — the entire floating city + Burano, Murano, Torcello. 4. Pompeii + Herculaneum — frozen in 79 AD. 5. Costiera Amalfitana — Positano, Amalfi, Ravello. 6. Cinque Terre — 5 cliff villages + vineyard terraces.
7. Val d'Orcia — the Tuscan landscape of cypress roads + hilltop villages. 8. The Dolomites — Alpine peaks of otherworldly beauty. 9. Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna — 6th-century mosaics that shimmer with gold. 10. The Last Supper + Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan — 15 minutes with Leonardo's masterpiece. 11. Trulli of Alberobello — 1,000 stone cone-roof houses. 12. Sassi di Matera — cave city, 9,000 years old. 13. Villa Adriana + Villa d'Este, Tivoli — emperor's dream + 500 fountains. 14. Historic Centre of Siena — Piazza del Campo + Gothic Duomo. 15. Palazzo Ducale, Urbino — Renaissance ideal city.
16. Padova's Botanical Garden + Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel. 17. Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily (3,500m² Roman mosaics, including the "bikini girls"). 18. Arab-Norman Palermo + Monreale + Cefalù. 19. Reggia di Caserta (Italian Versailles, 1,200 rooms). 20. Assisi's Basilica of San Francesco. 21. Archaeological Areas near Paestum. 22. Segesta + Selinunte (Greek temples, Sicily). 23. Su Nuraxi di Barumini, Sardinia (Nuragic fortress). 24. Modena Cathedral + Piazza. 25. Verona. 26-30: Ferrara + Po Delta, Mantova + Sabbioneta, Portovenere + Palmaria, Crespi d'Adda (industrial village), Sacri Monti of Piedmont.
Natural sites: Mount Etna, Aeolian Islands, Isole Tremiti (in Gargano marine reserve). Cultural landscapes: Langhe-Roero-Monferrato wine landscapes, Prosecco Hills, Pantelleria agricultural practices. Prehistoric: Rock drawings in Val Camonica (10,000+ rock carvings, the largest collection in Europe). Pile dwellings around the Alps. Religious/cultural: Sacra di San Michele (inspiration for Name of the Rose). Sardinian Cantu a Tenore (Intangible Heritage). Industrial: Ivrea (Olivetti's ideal industrial city, 1930s-60s, inscribed 2018). Renaissance ideal cities: Pienza (Val d'Orcia) and Sabbioneta (Mantova).