Your Guide to Italy: Italy's best and finest

Planning a trip to Italy ?
Researching information about Italian Cuisine ?

Whether you are moving to Italy or just want to know how Italians prepare and drink their espresso, you'll find all the necessary info here.

Since Antiquity, Italy has always been a center of knowlegde and culture, as attested by the many historic monuments and galleries, as well as the fact that 9 out of the 20 world's oldest universities are Italian (Bologna, Modena, Padua, Naples, Sienna, Rome, Perugia, Camerino, Pisa). Bologna is also the oldest university in the Western world.

Another fascinating aspect about Italy are the many contrasts you encounter in this country. While being the cradle of modern western civilization, it is also politically one of the youngest nations in Europe, as it did not exist as a unified country until 1861. Read more about the history of Italy.

Italy was a charter member of NATO and as a founding member of the European Economic Community (EEC) has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification. Italy is also part of the G8 (the Group of Eight), a forum for world's major industrialized (and most powerful) democracies.

Italy is divided into 20 different regions (of which 5 enjoy a special status of autonomy), each with their own history, cultural and culinary traditions. Read more about the regions of Italy.

Each region often has its own independent language, arts and crafts and culinary specialities. Read more about the regional languages of Italy and regional arts and crafts.

Emblem of the Italian Republic: a white star (symbol of Italy since the Risorgimento), a wheel (symbol of labor and progress), an oak branch (strength and dignity of the Italian people) and an olive brach (pursuit of peace by the Italian Nation).

and drop by on a regular basis to know what's new

and what's on in Italy, and which are the top places to visit in Italy.

Italy has also produced some of the internationally most renowned names in fashion (Prada, Gucci, Versace), design

and technology (Pirelli, Ferrari and Fiat, just to name a few), yet at its heart it remains highly traditional and attached to its customs and agricultural heritage. B&B in the cities of art and farm stays or Agritourism are a good way to get a glimpse of that other side of Italy.

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Photos of the YourGuidetoItaly.com banner (from left to right): (on campus) Sean Locke, (red deckchair) Valentina Jori, (chianti botlle) Donald Gruener, (zucchine) Barbara Bar, (Fiat 500) Luca di Filippo, (coloseum) Alek von Felkerzam. Photo of 'Rialto bridge' by S. Greg Panosian.
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Many of the popular Italian foods and drinks are regional specialities, which have often gained international fame.

Some also see a strong contrast in the seemingly very conformist way Italians dress and follow the diktats of fashion, as opposed to what seems a desorganized and choatic italian public life.

Living, Studying, and Working in Italy:
Everything You Need to Know to Live La Dolce Vita
by Monica Larner

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the information source for tourists to Italy, Italian Americans or expatriates moving to or living in Italy, italian language students, and Italophiles from all over the world.

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