La dolce vita, la Serenissima, il Belpaese… these phrases merely scratch the surface of a country that has beguiled visitors since the days of the Grand Tour and beyond. From design-conscious Milan, Renaissance-rich Florence, cosmopoliten Rome to the more-traditional south, ltaly is a seductive, mix of history, culture, fashion and cuisine. lt’s impossible not to fall in love with a country which is connected so strikingly to the ancient glories of yesteryear and the sophisticated pleasures of today.

April to June, when it’s not too crowded or hot

Hiring a car and driving through the beautiful Tuscan countryside Feeling history surround you in the ruins of Herculaneum or Pompeii Queuing for hours to enter the Uffizi Gallery in Florence Venturing offshoure to the less-touristy islands of Sicily and Sardinia Wandering along the canals of Venice and shelling out the euro for a gondola ride Window shopping in Milan’s Golden Quad or Rome’s Via del Corso

Read Umberto Eco’s masterful The Name of the Rose, a medieval whodunit with a difference. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard charts the demise of Sicilian royalty and rise of ltalian nationhood

Listen to Pavarotti, one of the world’s most beloved tenors; Andrea Bocelli, wildly popular for his renditions of popular classics; and Jovanotti, known for his wacky rap stylings

Watch Roman Holiday for a romantic fix or try Fellini’s classic, La Dolce Vita; for a modern view, L’Ultimo Bacio explores issues affecting ltaly’s 30-somethings

Eat polenta (cornmeal), baccala (salted cod), risotto nero (flavoured with squid ink), sfogliatella (pastry filled with ricotta), panettone (fruit bread eaten at Christmas)

Drink espresso (strong coffee), Chinti (Tuscan wine), marsala (sweet wine), grappa (grape-based liqueur)

Ciao Bella! (hi beautiful!)

Beeping Fiats and screeching Vespas; pizza by the slice; Roman ruins; Michelangelo and Leonardo; La Cosa Nostra, Prada, Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana

Cappucinos are considered ‘Americana’ coffee; not every ltalina has Mafia connections; pesto originally hailed from Genoa, in Liguria

The ltalian character is to a degree conditioned by campanilismo (literally, an attachment to the local bell tower). An ltalian is first and foremost a Sicilian or Tuscan, a Roman or Neapolitan, before being ltalian. Confronted with a foreigner, however, ltalians reveal a national pride difficult in the cagey relationships they have each other.