North
8 regions
Alps, lakes, big cities, and strong rail. Good for cooler air, design, food valleys, and first trips built around Milan, Venice, or Bologna.
OpenItaly regions
Choose your Italy
Do not start with every famous place. Start with the region that fits your season, pace, transport, energy, and the kind of trip you actually want.
Decision first
The best region is not always the most famous one. It is the one your real trip can carry.
Regions of Italy
Italy has 20 regions. Here is how to choose.
Italy is divided into 20 regions — each with its own landscape, food, pace, and transport logic. This page helps you understand the map, compare regions by trip style, and choose the one that fits your real travel.
Florence is in Tuscany, in central Italy.
The geographic map
How Italy's regions are grouped
Italians usually think in four zones — north, centre, south, and the islands. The grouping tracks food, pace, cost, and transport logic too.
Central Italy
5 regions
Hill towns, Renaissance art, food, and countryside. Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio anchor most first and second trips.
OpenSouth
5 regions
Coast, ancient sites, intense food, and a slower rhythm. Needs more planning but rewards it.
BasilicataCalabriaCampaniaMolisePuglia
Islands
2 regions
Sicily and Sardinia are big islands with their own logic — beaches, history, distances, and season.
SardiniaSicily
Start here
What kind of Italy trip are you building?
Pick a style first. The region becomes easier to choose once the pace, transport, and feel are clearer.
Best matches
Start with regions that give the trip a clear shape
These are starting points, not rules. Open a region when it feels like the right direction, or use the chooser below to compare.
Classic, romantic, slow if planned well
Tuscany
A strong place to start, but Tuscany feels best when you do not try to swallow it whole.
Open regionClassic, powerful, Rome-led
Lazio
Good for a first Italy trip if you protect recovery time and avoid museum overload.
Classic, romantic, sensory-heavy
Veneto
Strong for first trips if Venice is planned with care and not treated like a simple city stop.
Also worth a look
Campania
Emilia-Romagna
Lombardy
All 20 regions
Pick a region. See how it feels.
Every Italian region stays in the system, but the choice stays light. Select a region, then use the card to understand the pace, season, transport reality, and human feel.
Classic, romantic, slow if planned well
Open regionTuscany
Use Florence as the anchor, then slow down for Siena, Chianti, Val d’Orcia, and smaller hill towns.
Why it fits
A strong place to start, but Tuscany feels best when you do not try to swallow it whole.
ArtFoodCountryside
Best months
April–June, September–October
Energy
Balanced but easy to overpack
Travel reality
Florence works as an anchor; hill towns, wine roads, and countryside need slower pacing.
Car helpfulBook-ahead pressureLuggage difficulty
Use this as a starting point, then shape the route around real timing and energy.
Start with TuscanyClassic, romantic, slow if planned well
Open regionTuscany
Use Florence as the anchor, then slow down for Siena, Chianti, Val d’Orcia, and smaller hill towns.
Why it fits
A strong place to start, but Tuscany feels best when you do not try to swallow it whole.
ArtFoodCountryside
Best months
April–June, September–October
Energy
Balanced but easy to overpack
Travel reality
Florence works as an anchor; hill towns, wine roads, and countryside need slower pacing.
Car helpfulBook-ahead pressureLuggage difficulty
Use this as a starting point, then shape the route around real timing and energy.
Start with TuscanyChoose by trip style
Which region for which trip?
A quick comparison. Open any region to go deeper.
First-time visitors
Top matches
Also consider
Emilia-RomagnaCampania
Art & major cities
Top matches
LazioVenetoLombardy
Also consider
TuscanyEmilia-Romagna
Food & wine
Top matches
Also consider
SicilyPugliaCampania
Coast & beaches
Top matches
Also consider
SicilySardiniaCalabria
Mountains & nature
Top matches
Trentino-Alto AdigeAosta ValleyAbruzzo
Also consider
LombardyPiedmontFriuli Venezia Giulia
Slower & quieter
Top matches
UmbriaMarcheMolise
Also consider
BasilicataAbruzzoFriuli Venezia Giulia
Reality check
The region changes the whole trip
This is where Terra Routes is different: the question is not only what is beautiful. It is what the trip will ask from your body, schedule, luggage, patience, and group.
Car or no car
Some regions work well by train. Others become easier with a car and fewer base changes.
Luggage reality
Old towns, hills, ferries, islands, and check-in gaps can change how easy a route feels.
Breathing room
Some regions need slower pacing to feel good. That is not a flaw; it is the planning logic.
FAQ
Italy regions: quick answers
How many regions are there in Italy?
Italy has 20 regions. They range from alpine regions like Trentino-Alto Adige and Aosta Valley in the north to island regions like Sicily and Sardinia in the south.
What are the 20 regions of Italy?
The 20 regions are: Abruzzo, Aosta Valley, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige, Tuscany, Umbria, and Veneto.
How are Italy's regions grouped geographically?
Italians usually group the 20 regions into four zones: northern Italy (8 regions), central Italy (5 regions), southern Italy (5 regions), and the islands (2 regions — Sicily and Sardinia).
Which region is Florence in?
Florence is in Tuscany, in central Italy. Tuscany is one of the most visited regions and a strong starting point for first and second trips to Italy.
How should a traveller choose an Italian region?
Start with your season, pace, transport, and energy. For a car-free first trip, Lazio, Veneto, or Emilia-Romagna work well. For food, look at Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, or Tuscany. For coast, Puglia, Liguria, or Campania. For mountains, Trentino-Alto Adige or Aosta Valley.
Which regions are best for first-time visitors?
Tuscany, Lazio, and Veneto are strong first-trip regions — they have famous anchors (Florence, Rome, Venice), good transport, and a clear shape. Emilia-Romagna and Campania are also good if you want food or coast on a first trip.
Routes
Then turn the region into a route
Once the region makes sense, the next step is choosing bases, transport, pacing, luggage strategy, and the days that need more space.
Next step
Start with the Italy that fits your trip
Choose the region first. Then build the route around timing, transport, energy, luggage, and real-life friction.