Italians take pride in their sense of romance, their history and their expertise in the culinary and the cultural. Now it’s our turn.

It is with the greatest delight that we unveil our guide to la bella Italia – named 'Best Travel Guide' at 2012's Italian Tourist Board Travel Writing Awards – for Signore and Signora Smiths everywhere. We’ve searched the big boot from top to toe, South Tyrol to Sicily, to bring you a hand-picked selection of 32 of the country’s most stylish boutique hotels: from contemporary city slickers and baroque palazzi to rustic farmhouses and coastal villa retreats.

Taste olive oil in Puglia, hunt truffles in Umbria, admire art in Venice: we give the insider lowdown on what to get up to in each destination featured, and include up-to-date restaurant recommendations, advice on the best times to visit, where to go and what to pack, as well as insider tips on everything from gourmet delis to little-known festivals and vineyards.

Destinations include:

Aeolian Islands • Abruzzo • Amalfi Coast • Basilicata • Capri • Florence • Lake Garda • Milan • Puglia • Riviera di Levante • Rome • Sardinia • Sicily • South Tyrol • Treviso • Tuscany • Umbria • Venice

• Original content and photography Perfectly partnered with evocative images by Smith photographer Adrian Houston, our insider hotel overviews and entertaining reviews bring you the kind of detail you’d expect from a well-travelled friend.
   
• Anonymous reviews We dispatched style-savvy experts from the worlds of fashion, food, design, entertainment and more to live la dolce and report back with the story of their stay. Join Immodesty Blaize in a bubble bath in Florence; sup cocktails in Capri with Erdem; ski the Dolomites with Rufus Hound, and much more.