Musée de l’Armée at the Invalides: 8 stops, ending at Napoleon’s tomb

The most recent guides, in order of publication. If you are not sure where to start, the blocks below are sorted by kind of content, and every article appears only once.

the salon of the hotel de serres reassembled at the musee des arts decoratifs, with pale wood panelling, arched mirrors, a crystal chandelier, a harp and gilded chairs

Musée des Arts décoratifs: 7 rooms to see in the Louvre wing almost nobody opens

the nave of the musee d orsay seen from above, with the glass and iron vault of the old station, sculptures along the central aisle and the great gilded clock at the far end

Villa Medici in Rome: 6 things to see, in the cardinal’s villa that Napoleon gave to artists

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Experiences to book

Discover the best things to do nearby: tours, museums and experiences you can book online, skip the queues, at the best price.

Twisted columns with cosmatesque mosaic inlay from a ciborium by Arnolfo di Cambio

Lithograph with impossible geometries by M.C. Escher

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the florence baptistery seen from above with its octagonal plan and white pyramidal roof

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Bernini’s veiled Nile in the Fountain of the Four Rivers

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bal du moulin de la Galette, a Sunday dance in Montmartre

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6 articles

Travel guides

Guides answer one question: what do I see in this city. They put the stops in order, taking into account distances and closing days, which are the variables that ruin a plan.

the keep of the monforte castle in campobasso with its battlements, the flag and the external staircase

Campobasso: the Monforte Castle reopened in 2026 and the museum where the Samnites end up

a roman gate at saepinum with the grassy droving road running under it

What to see in Molise: a whole Roman town, a Samnite theatre and the day of the week that decides everything

13 min read

the bastione di saint remy in cagliari seen from piazza costituzione with its monumental staircase and arch

What to see in Cagliari in two days: the complete guide

12 min read

the pink and white chequered facade of the basilica of santa maria di collemaggio with three rose windows and three portals

What to see in L’Aquila in two days: the city that came back, monument by monument

14 min read

the porta praetoria in aosta, a double roman gate with three arches and the inner courtyard, seen from the street

What to see in Aosta in one day: the Roman city that the day of the week opens only halfway

13 min read

painting of a session of the council of trent with the council fathers seated in the nave of a church

Travel guides · Europe

The Council of Trent and the art of the Counter-Reformation: what actually changed in the pictures

12 min read

6 articles

Monuments & landmarks

One monument at a time, with its history and what you need in order to get inside: when to go, what you actually see, and what the most common ticket leaves out.

the marble enclosure of the ara pacis of augustus with the procession reliefs, inside the glass museum building in rome

Ara Pacis: 6 reliefs to read, and a monument rebuilt twice

13 min read

the facade of santa felicita in florence with its three-arched portico and the arch of the vasari corridor on the left

Pontormo’s Deposition at Santa Felicita: Mannerism inside a chapel

the facade of san miniato al monte with bands of white and green marble and the mosaic in the gable

San Miniato al Monte: the finest church in Florence is free and closes at midday

the bare stone facade of the basilica of san lorenzo with the dome of the medici chapels behind it

San Lorenzo: the façade nobody ever finished and the sacristy that changed everything

the baroque spire of san domenico maggiore with its bronze statue on top, and behind it the gothic apse of the basilica with its buttresses and battlements

Spaccanapoli: Gesù Nuovo, San Domenico Maggiore and the Donatello almost nobody looks for

12 min read

Florence Baptistery: the doors you photograph are copies, and the originals are two hundred metres away

6 articles

Museums & masterpieces

Museums told through what they hold, not through their floor plan. Which works to look for, how much time to allow, and which rooms you can skip without regret.

the casina delle civette seen from the forecourt, with the pink bay-window turret under a roof of green majolica, the pointed gable with a round window, a crenellated brick tower on the left and a conical slate roof on the right

Casina delle Civette: 6 stained-glass windows to see, in the Art Nouveau house of Villa Torlonia

the villino boncompagni ludovisi on via boncompagni, with the carved portal and the flags at the entrance, the three rows of windows and trees in front

Museo Boncompagni Ludovisi: 6 things to see, in a villa left to the state by a Swedish princess

porta san sebastiano seen from outside, with the two round crenellated brick towers, the base faced in white marble and the open archway at the centre

Museo delle Mura: 6 things to see at Porta San Sebastiano, where you go in free

the renaissance facade of the piccola farnesina ai baullari, with the rusticated ground floor and arched windows, the aedicule windows of the piano nobile, the columned loggia on the right, the friezes of lilies between the floors and the red museum sign above the entrance

Museo Barracco: 6 works to see, in a palace called Farnesina by mistake

the fortezzuola seen from its formal garden, with the pink facade and the arcades on the ground floor, the clipped box hedges and a lamp post in the foreground

Museo Pietro Canonica: 6 works to see, in the house-studio inside Villa Borghese

stefano lecchi calotype of 1849 with the aranciera of villa borghese reduced to a ruin, the roof collapsed, rubble in front of the central doorway and the row of round windows in the low wall, with the photographer signature written at the bottom

Museo Carlo Bilotti: 6 works to see in the Aranciera of Villa Borghese

6 articles

Artists

The lives and the style of the names that keep coming back in museum rooms. They help you recognise a hand in front of a painting, which is the difference between looking and seeing.

Artists · Artisti

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