From Rome's epic ruins to the cinematic beauty of Venice's canals and palazzos; from the mist-shrouded Tuscan hills to the atmospheric baroque towns of Puglia … with so much loveliness to choose from, it can be hard deciding where to holiday in Italy. And then there's the food, and the art, and the shopping. Not to mention the wealth of hidden beauty between the tourist hotspots; from the craggy mountains of Abruzzo to the less well known cities, like Mantua, the "Sleeping Beauty' near Lake Garda, there are some amazing places to explore off the beaten track too.
If you're planning a holiday to Italy and are looking for inspiration, or simply want to know where to find the best pizza in Rome, post your questions in the comments below and our panel of experts will do their best to answer them between 1-2pm on Tuesday 26 March.
The experts
Tom Kington is a journalist who has lived in Rome for 15 years, travelling widely in Italy while covering politics, culture, sport and travel. He knows central and southern Italy well and has built up a list of worthwhile, and not very well frequented places to visit in Lazio. He has also visited Sicily numerous times and loves Catania and Trapani. He uses Italy's very decent train network as often as possible, particularly night trains.
Lee Marshall has lived in Italy since 1984, currently in Città della Pieve, Umbria after many years in Rome. He writes in English and Italian for a variety of publications, specialising in travel stories on the length and breadth of Italy (for Condé Nast Traveller, Departures, The Guardian, The Telegraph and others) but also writing about interior design (for World of Interiors), film (for Screen International and Sight & Sound) and Italian culture, society and politics (for the Italian world news magazine Internazionale, which hosts his blog on its website internazionale.it). In between assignments, he attempts to live the Umbrian dolce vita, with varying degrees of success. If he had to pick one Italian region out of many as closest to his cuore – apart from his home ground of Umbria, of course – it would be Sicily.
Peter Jinks is an award-winning journalist and author who is perhaps best known for his novel, Hallam Foe, which was turned into a movie starring Jamie Bell. Having met his future wife in Edinburgh, he moved to her homeland of Sicily in the year 2000 where they raised a son. He has written about Sicily for the Observer newspaper and Guardian website. He lives in Siracusa where he is currently teaching creative writing at the Arcadia University centre.
Katie Parla is the author of the blog Parla Food, the dining app Rome For Foodies, and the guidebook National Geographic's Walking Rome. In 2013 she co-founded The Rome Digest. She lives in Rome. She has written books for National Geographic Society, Time Out, Rough Guides, Dorling Kindersley, Fodor's, and Insight Guides. Her food criticism and travel writing regularly appear in The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveller, and Travel+Leisure. Follow her on twitter @katieparla.
Michael Metcalfe lived in Italy for many years, lecturing at Universities in Siracusa and Catania, and travelling across the length and breadth of the country exploring archaeological sites and good restaurants. He edited the latest edition of the Blue Guide to Sicily, and is currently creating and leading cultural, archaeological and gastronomic tours of Italy for Peter Sommer Travels.
Donald Strachan is a travel journalist who writes regularly about Italy for the Guardian and others. His specialism is the central belt northwards, and he has covered everything from Tuscan craft beer to summer hiking in the Aosta Valley, where he lived for a while. He has written or co-written several guidebooks, including Frommer's Italy 2013, and has almost finished The Smart Phone Traveler's Guide to Italysmartphonetravel.com. For more, see donaldstrachan.com or follow him on Twitter, @_DonaldS.
Sammy Dunham is a freelance travel writer and photographer, splitting the last decade between the UK and her Abruzzo mountain village retreat, shared with her partner and little boy. Her blog LifeinAbruzzo is a food, wine and travel guide exploring Abruzzo's stunning mountains and coastline. She is co-founder of the social enterprise Let's Blog Abruzzo, the international food wine and travel bloggers weekend set in the Medici Hill top town of SS di Sessanio 1-2 June 2013.
Karen Phillips has been writing about wine and food in Campania for her blog Andiamotrips for four years. She is a photographer, translator, and certified sommelier. Her free time is often spent in vineyards, kitchens, and dining rooms exploring the region that she has called home for nearly 20 years.
