Work your way from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic and discover Italy's most iconic and picturesque waterside stays...

You've already done the full mainland Italian giro. Hop down to Sicily for an Italian adventure that feels a world away.

With its acclaimed vineyards, ubiquitious olive groves, miles of coastline and the secret to the world's best pasta, Italy is one of our favourite gourmet destinations.

Visit the masterpices in the Uffizi, crane your neck at the Sistene Chapel and sleep in palazzos and villas that are works of art in their own right.

Put on your glam film-star shades and live your own Roman holiday, take an Italian job or claim a room with a view.

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Experience a regal stay with four nights at Borgo Egnazia, a modern-day castle on Puglia's sunswept seashore. Here, you'll find a collection of sumptuous white-on-cream villas arranged like a traditional village, a knock-out spa, delectable Pugliese cuisine and a traditional cookery school. 

Worth getting out of bed for
– Explore nearby historic hilltop villages with Adriatic views 
– Shuttle down to one of the hotel's two affiliated beach clubs 
– Hit the links at the ocean-view San Domenico golf course

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Relax on the Mediterranean for three nights at Maison La Minervatta, a chic hotel that's precariously perched on the cliffs of Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast. Each of the 12 nattily nautical rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, and any of the three terraces make an ideal spot for sipping a Negroni and taking in the spectacular Bay of Naples vistas. 

Worth getting out of bed for
– Test your driving skills and cruise the coastal roads
– Set sail to to the islands of Capri or Ischia 
– Walk to the fishing village of Marina Grande

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Check in for three nights to Monaci delle Terre Nere, a romantic and rustic former monastery on this photogenic island, sandwiched between Mount Etna and the Mediterranean coast. Scramble over lava-sculpted landscapes worthy of science fiction, amble through the 40-acre farm tasting vine-fresh fruits or settle into a Phillippe Starck chair and tuck into authentic Sicilian home cooking. 

Worth getting out of bed for
– Climb one of the world's most active volcanoes, Mount Etna
– Sip Sicilian reds at the Benanti vineyard
– Visit Forza D'Agro, a village of The Godfather fame

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Spend three nights in the former hilltop home of a prince at the Seven Rooms Villadorata hotel, in the town of Noto. This Baroque residence feels more private home than hotel, retaining relics of royalty (intricate tiled floors and frescoed ceilings) and offering a handful of rooms with balconies and views over the honey-hued rooftops.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Climb up to the bell tower of Chiesa di San Carlo al Corso 
– Explore ruins of an ancient Syracusan colony
– Venture up to the coastal Vendicari Nature Reserve

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Unwind for four nights at Azienda Agricola Mandranova, spectacularly poised along on Sicily’s rugged southern coast. More than just a charming guesthouse with welcoming proprietors, the hotel offers cooking classes that feature produce plucked from the olive trees and vegetable patches that fill the gardens and sets you on a grand tour of the geniality and gourmet cuisine at the heart of Sicilian life.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Spice up your culinary skills with the hotel's cookery class 
– Hop on a 38-foot boat for a coastline and island cruise 
– Bicycle through the rugged mountainous landscape

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For your first course, spend two nights in Verona, the historic city known as the home of Shakespeare's fictional star-crossed lovers. But there's nothing fictional about Palazzo Victoria, a luxurious, modern-meets-mediaeval boutique hotel hidden away among the city's cobbled streets. Be sure to sample the work of the Michelin-starred chef in the restaurant.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Dine at the hotel's Corso Porta Borsari restaurant
– Go wine-tasting at the Allegrini vineyards outside of town
– Day-trip to Venice for seafood risotto

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Could a main course come from anywhere better than Tuscany? Make Castiglion del Bosco – an 800-year-old hillside estate with its own winery that produces a top-notch version of the region's signature Brunello di Montalcino – your villa for four nights, and settle in for several days of decadent wining and dining.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Take Tuscan cooking classes at the hotel's cookery school
– Go Truffle hunting, if the season permits
– Picnic in the vineyards with focaccia, pecorino and a bottle of Brunello

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Perhaps pizza's not a traditional dessert, but who are we to pass up a third course of Neopolitan pizza? Wrap up your gastronomic tour with two nights at the starkly modern, art-packed Romeo Hotel, overlooking the water and Naples' docks. Experience the southern Italian good life over dinner at the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant and in its stylish cigar room.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Dine at Di Matteo or Sorbillo, two of the city's best pizzerias
– Learn to make traditional Neopolitan pizza from an expert pizzaiolo
– Tour the neighbouring petrified city of Pompeii

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Start your artsy adventure with three nights in Florence, the city at the heart of the Italian Renaissance, home to the likes of Da Vinci and Brunelleschi and their contemporaries. Make the fresco-filled Villa Cora your palazzo for your stay; a love letter written in art and architecture, the late-19th-century mansion just south of the river feels just as decadent and opulent as it did when a baron first built it for his baroness.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Wander the museum-filled halls of the Pitti Palace
– Take a private tour of the Uffizi Gallery
– Go on an architecture-themed walking tour of the city

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Leave Tuscany in favour of Umbria and make your way to the picturesque town of Montefalco, a quintessential Italian countryside town, surrounded by vineyards and with a museum set in a former church. Spend three nights at Palazzo Bontadosi Hotel & Spa, the fresco-packed former residence of a 15th-century clergyman, that has, naturally, its own art gallery.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Explore the Museum of Montefalco, set in a former church
– Wine-taste at acclaimed local wineries, such as Arnaldo Caprai and Paolo Bea
– Visit the famously pretty town of Bevagna 

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Wrao up your artistic jaunt with four nights in Rome, at the city's former school of architecture, now transformed by designer Michele Bönan's expert hand into the stylish JK Place Roma boutique hotel. That the city's most famous sights – including the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Villa Borghese – are all within throwing distance is just an added bonus.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Take a private tour of the Vatican and its art collection
– Zoom around town in a Fiat 500 on a guided tour
– Visit the Galleria Borghese, in the Villa Borghese gardens

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Start your camera-worthy jaunt with three nights at the classical Ca Maria Adele in Venice's serene art quarter. With its ornate frescoes, Murano chandeliers and rich drapery, it feels like you've stepped through time into a Doge's palazzo – the perfect home base for exploring the mysterious Floating City, naturally.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Test your luck with a Bond-like evening at the Venice casino
– Sip Bellinis at the floating Cip's Club
– Cruise the Grand Canal in a gondola

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Continue the adventure with three nights on Lake Como's sleepy shores, where neighbour George Clooney might zip by in his speedboat at any minute. But don't be jealous of George; you're staying at Relais Villa Vittoria, a pretty lakeside mansion with romantic gardens, a waterfront infinity pool, the requisite wine list and its own motorboat hire.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Drive or bicycle around the surrounding small mountain towns
– Spend a day on the lake in a classic mahogany Riva boat
– Dine on the waterfront at Crotto dei Platani

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Wrap up your cinema paradiso trip with your very own Roman holiday. Spend four nights in your own stylish, almost-self-catering apartment just around the corner from the Spanish Steps at Margutta 54 – an address just down the street from Gregory Peck's character's tiny flat in Roman Holiday – and live like a local in the Eternal City.

Worth getting out of bed for
– Cruise around town on a Vespa
– Visit Illuminati sights like St Peter's Basilica and the Fontana dei Quatro Fiumi
– Tour the iconic Cinecittà film studios