Latium
The regional capital of Latium is Rome. Everybody knows it: the pull of the Eternal City is great and irresistible, the capital of the Christian world, the seat of the Papacy, the incomparable home of architectural and artistic masterpieces of the ancient world. Is it possible to resist the fascination of Rome? It may be difficult, but why not try to spend a few days "exploring" Latium?

Calabria
Calabria is a charming fusion of mountains and wonderful coastline scattered with Greek ruins and beautiful hill-towns. With the Pollino chain in the North, the Sila forested plateau in the centre and the Serre and Aspromonte chains in the South, the region is a 250km-long peninsula at the southernmost point of Italy lying between the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas.

Campania
This is the region most travelers who venture south of Rome are going to visit, because it's where many of the most famous sights and cities in Southern Italy are located. Campania is where you'll find Naples, the Sorrento Peninsula, the Amalfi Coast, the Roman ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Greek ruins at Cumae and Paestum, and the famous little islands of Capri and Ischia.

Lombardy
The richest, most highly developed and most densely populated region of Italy. And it is precisely for this that it is one of most surprising and unexpected for the tourist who arrives there knowing little of its historic, architectural, artistic and natural heritage. Lombardy is more than Milan. At Monza, Varese, Como, Bergamo, Brescia, Lodi, Cremona, and Pavia, every era has made its cultural and artistic mark:

Toscany
From the Etruscans to the Romans to the Renaissance, Tuscany is possibly the greatest repository of art in the world, from extraordinary paintings and sculpture to frescoes and architectural masterpieces. Visitors to Tuscany come for many reasons. Many come in search of fine art, others to explore the extraordinary countryside. Gourmets and wine buffs descend on Tuscany to enjoy the simple yet wonderful cuisine and wine.

Geography

Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers with France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the north-east. The peninsula is surrounded by the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south and the Adriatic Sea in the east.

General Information

Area
116,303 square miles

Capital
Roma

Currency
The monetary currency is the Euro which is divided as follows: bills of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500; coins of 1, 2, 5, 10 Euros, 20 and 50 cents.

Language
Italian is the language of the majority of the population but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene and Ladino.