the country of amazing opportunities… Italy,

Italy also contains the most World Heritage Sites than any other country in the world. Tourism is one of Italy's fastest growing and most profitable industrial sectors, with an estimated revenue of $43.0 billion. People have visited Italy for centuries, yet the first to visit the peninsula for touristic reasons were aristocrats during the Grand Tour, beginning in the late 17th century, and flourishing in the 18th century. Tourism in Italy With more than 46.1 million tourists a year, Italy is the fifth highest tourist earner, and fifth most visited country in the world, behind France (79.5 million), United States (62.3 million), China (57.6) and Spain (56.7 million). People mainly come to Italy for its rich art, cuisine, history, culture, its beautiful coastline, its mountains, and ancient monuments.

Moving within Italy is easy: flights between both principal and smaller cities run daily, if not more frequently. Rail networks extend over 15,000 km (9,321mi) and evenly cover the entire country, as do the autostrade, freeways and state highways, allowing drivers and passengers to reach every angle of the Boot with speed and ease. Frequent and rapid ferry lines travel between the islands and all the principal coastal and port cities. Travelling Italy is well-connected to the rest of the world via air, as well as by land and sea, with cars, trains, buses and boats large and small making their way to the Peninsula.

Traveling in Italy

Italy has been, since antiquity, the centre of history, culture and art. Museums, collections and archaeological sites reveal countless tokens of the past and the many civilizations that have passed across this country, evidence of which is still inextricably woven into the present day landscape. Italy has more cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country. Rome, Florence, Assisi, Venice, Siena, Pisa, and Naples are its most renowned cities of art, but the whole country can boast towns of breathtaking beauty, as these numbers demonstrate: 95,000 monumental churches, 40,000 forts and castles, 30,000 historical residences with 4,000 gardens, 36,000 archives and libraries, 20,000 historical cities and towns, 5,600 museums and archaeological sites, and 1,500 convents.

Italy counts 47 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within its borders, the most of any country on the World Heritage List. The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on November 16, 1972, states that the organization is the official designator of these sites.

Artistic wonders can be found everywhere, and every corner of the country holds countless and wonderful surprises. Tourists can explore and discover the private residences of ancient and noble families; visit world famous museums such as the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Capitoline Museums in Rome; explore impressive archaeological sites, to immerse themselves in an exciting, grandiose past. Italys World Heritage Sites are well-known. The City of Verona; the Historic Centres of San Gimignano, Florence and Rome; Villa Adriana and the Villa DEste at Tivoli; the archaeological area of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata; the Sassi cave architecture and churches of Matera; the Amalfi Coast and the Aeolian Islands are just some among many others. All 47 sites have been, at one time or another, travel destinations for those seeking out history, art and culture in the Bel Paese. Renewed efforts by the Institutes to preserve these sites include the call to everyone to get to know them better.

Verona is the city of love, and to pay tribute to William Shakespeare, the author that made it famous around the world, you must visit the places of the ultimate romantic tragedy: Romeo and Juliet.

Undoubtedly the first destination is the house of Juliet, visited by thousands of tourists every year. This is the Stallo del Cappello, an old tower house dating back to c According to tradition this was the house of the Capulet Family, the family of Shakespeare's heroine.

View into a narrow street of Pompeii "Garden of the Fugitives". Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.

The Colosseum Rome's second and the world's 39th most popular tourist attraction, with 4 million tourists a year

Milan Cathedral is a busy tourist spot in Milan. It is the world's 4th biggest cathedral and took over five centuries to complete.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight.

Italy, Territory of Excellence Italy is the ideal destination for business tourism: many international airports, appropriate infrastructures and breathtaking landscapes. Italys industrial archaeology attracts many tourists who want to discover its economic, productive, technical and scientific history. This country is an extraordinary repository of fascinating resources that are of great interest for this type of tourism, and help in understanding the historic evolution of individual areas..Its big industrial centres, situated both in North and in South Italy, are concrete evidence of the economic history of Italy and the Mediterranean: the tourism sector devoted to industrial archaeology is growing rapidly. Italy, with its many types of industry, is an ideal destination to be explored and discovered.

Study tours Of all the destinations proposed for study tours, Italy certainly stands out for the immense variety of programmes and for the quality of its hospitality. Every year, numerous Italian Universities welcome thousands of students from all over the world, organizing courses at various levels and encouraging participants to learn the language or explore the vast, fascinating world of Italian art and culture. The typical Italian hospitality is of great help to foreigners who want to learn the language, including its common expressions and colloquial speech. Italy is the ideal place for a vacation dedicated to education and fun, because it gives visitors an experience full of cultural, but also personal, enrichment.

The University for Foreigners Perugia is a university located in Perugia, Italy. It is one of two Italian universities oriented towards foreign students (the other one is located in Siena).

Italy is a nation that hosts unique and fascinating events of international resonance throughout the year, providing innumerable opportunities for experiencing intense emotions. Art exhibitions are inspired by over a thousand years of heritage, and events such as the Venice Biennale with its design and contemporary art focus, are flanked and alternate with theatre and ballet performances. For music lovers, the festivals and operatic seasons offered by Milans La Scala and the Verona Arena are unique. Italy is a synonym for music and art in every form. But thats not all. It offers a wide range of traditional and modern cultural events, such as literary festivals or the many Carnivals held, most notably in Venice, but also in many other regions, and the various historical and religious representations that fill Italy with fantasy and vitality throughout the year.

The Biennale di Venezia comprises several expositions. It first began as a cultural society with the organization of the first (in the world!) Biennale Art Exposition, in Created to stimulate and inspire artistic creativity and provide an art market for Venice and for Italy, the Biennales objective to this day is the promotion of new artistic movements and trends.

From north to south, Italy boasts festivals all over the Peninsula, beginning with the Sudtirol Jazz Festival in the northernmost region of Alto Adige.

Umbria Jazz Winter, which sees Orvietos streets filled with visitors and music lovers from December to January each season.

Lazio, like Umbria, offers a wide range of choice, which includes the Tuscia Operafestival in Viterbo, boasting the fantastic scenery of Piazza San Lorenzo and the Papal Palace.

The south has the Ravello Festival to claim; Ravello, a gem of a city on the Amalfi Coast, enriches the Campanian regions cultural scene with its annual Wagnerian Concert and its Concert at dawn.

The season of the literary festival in Italy lasts for 12 months of the year. Literary and book festivals often represent a distinct merging between the realities of culture and of the event. The festival is a unique opportunity for an author, whether just coming into fame or already well-known, can engage in direct contact with the public. Festival Filosofia, Modena

Starting with the Veneto Region, the Carnival of Venice is the Carnival of all Italian Carnivals. In Italy, February is the month of Carnival. The cities celebrating the occasion fill up with masks and confetti, lights and colors that create a unique and festive atmosphere.

Moving South toward Tuscany, the Carnival of Viareggio is one of the most important and internationally-appreciated events (for example, during the 2011 edition, 325,000 people took part in the parade).

If you are in the Marches Region you cannot miss Fano during the period of Carnival. In fact, the Carnival of Fano has extremely old origins and it features at least three original elements: the throwing of candies from the floats to the crowd; the characteristic "vulon" mask, parody of the most prominent characters in the city; and the "Arabic" music provided by a band whose instruments consist of tins, coffee pots and jugs.

Ecoturismo Italia has its roots in the many different activities involved in ecotourism from all over Italy. It addresses to anyone who wants to be part of the Ecotourism World: operators, tourists, students, local administrators, or anyone simply curious about this issue. Ecoturismo Italia wants to develop more ecotourism initiatives and a higher quality of Ecotourism itself: The way of tourism that supports and maintains sensitive environments and cultures, in Italy and abroad. Within the last few years, the Ecotourism helped to protect natural areas and cultures at risk of extinction in many different parts of Italy and all over the world.

Wildlife parks boasting untainted beauty offer an ideal setting for those who decide to spend their vacations in contact with nature, discovering Italys flora and fauna, visiting its sunny islands and surrounded by the typical Mediterranean landscape. Tourists can enjoy an unforgettable experience exploring Italy's rough and wild environment. There are many national parks well worth exploring: the Gran Paradiso, Circeo, Stelvio, Dolomiti Bellunesi, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga, Cilento and Vallo di Diano, and Gargano National Parks, the parks of Calabria and Aspromonte, not to mention the Maddalena and Tuscan Archipelagos, the Vesuvius, the Cinque Terre National Parks, and many other protected areas, nature reserves, and marine parks. Italy's lush and diversified environment provides many ideal settings for vacations in close contact with nature, for a natural rush of energy. There are many welcoming country tourist locations offering a relaxing and intimate atmosphere, the chance to taste genuine food, and discover local history and traditions. A perfect vacation in any moment of the year, revealing a different, and in many ways, secret Italy.

Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise Alta Murgia Appennino Lucano-Val d'Agri Appennino Tosco-Emiliano Maddalena Archipelago Tuscan Archipelago Asinara Aspromonte Cilento and Vallo di Diano Cinque Terre Circeo Dei Monti Sibillini Dolomiti Bellunesi Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona and Campigna Gargano Gennargentu and the Gulf of Orosei Gran Paradiso Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga Majella Pollino Sila Stelvio Val Grande Vesuvio Italy's National Parks

Protected Marine Areas Capo Caccia - Piana Island Capo Carbonara Capo Gallo - Isola delle Femmine Capo Rizzuto Cinque Terre Asinara Island Bergeggi Island Ustica Island Ciclopi Islands Egadi Islands Infreschi and Masseta Coast Pelagian Islands Tremiti Islands Ventotene and Santo Stefano Islands Miramare Sinis Peninsula - Mal di Ventre Island Plemmirio Porto Cesareo Portofino Punta Campanella Regno di Nettuno Santa Maria di Castellabate Shallows of Meloria Shallows of Tor Paterno Tavolara - Punta Coda Cavallo Torre Cerrano Torre Guaceto Sunken Park of Baia Sunken Park of Gaiola Reserve for Marine Mammals

Aside from having one of the most famous cuisines, it also proposes an immense variety of different regional dishes and recipes. Visitors cannot miss the food and wine itineraries - journeys through Italy's gastronomic culture, in search of ancient recipes, genuine products, and simple food inspired by classic Italian cooking and innovative creations. World renowned products such as Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese, Parma and San Daniele ham, Modena balsamic vinegar, Genoa's pesto, buffalo mozzarella from Campania, Alba truffles, and cured meats are just some of the symbols that make Italy the land of good food. And how could anyone forget pasta and pizza, universal synonyms for Italy? Italy has always been a synonym for «good food», offering an unmistakable explosion of flavours, scents, and aromas.

One of the symbols of Made in Italy gastronomy, Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the most famous cheeses in the world.

Internationally-acclaimed, San Daniele ham - which is a PDO product (Protected Denomination of Origin) - stands out from other Italian ham for its unique processing.

All Chianti wine is classified as DOCG (Guarantee of the Origin and Quality of Selected Wines); however, each Chianti is different and its characteristics vary according to its territory of origin and winemaking tradition.

Italia, a Destination of Fun! Travelers looking for some excitement and fun during their vacation can definitely find it in Italy. A number of parks made for pure amusement and entertainment are on offer throughout the country, where adutls can get a shot of adrenaline and kids can learn via fun games and activities! The only problem? Fifty parks, to be exact, both large and small, could make deciding on one a little difficult.

There are a great number of travel agencies in our country, that offer tours to Italy. Thats why it is not a problem for our people to find a suitable option. You can find a vast database of reputed Travel Agencies and Tour Operators who aid travelers in organizing a comfortable tour. First of all you can use the information from Internet for this purpose. There are some websites that give the list of the most popular travel agencies in Belarus that are ready to help you with travel arrangements. For example: and many others…

One of Italy – and Europes – most beautiful cities, Venice is an understandably popular tourist destination. Elegant, inimitable, exciting and romantic, precious: this is Venice, the gem on any tour of Italy where churches, palazzi, ancient bridges, monuments and piazzas confirm its artistic and cultural vitality. All has testified to and continues to testify to the long history of the city.

Information about all types of accommodation and catering in Venice.

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Svetlana Murashko Information from the Official Website