🇮🇹Italy

Patrick Pistolesi's globally lauded, 1980s-Japan-inspired cocktail bar in Monti, now with a slick nightclub upstairs. Inventive drinks and a design-led crowd.

A 300-seat Trastevere cinema saved by youthful activists, with a sharp Italian and international programme. A grassroots cultural triumph with an outdoor sibling nearby.

A 1916 temple of Roman pastry, beloved for its cream-filled maritozzo. Arrive early — the best treats sell out before lunch.

A Roman institution since 1870 for serious loungewear and beachwear — pyjamas, shirts, socks, knitwear — combining craft and pared-back elegance.

A buzzy Prati all-day spot for charcuterie, trapizzini and bio wine, with the real party out on the street. 'Life is too short to drink cheap wine,' as the staff T-shirts say.

A treasure-filled private gallery hidden in a vast Via del Corso palazzo, still in the same family since the 17th century. Don't miss Velázquez's portrait of Innocent X.

An 1860 institution on a quiet Ghetto piazza, serving Jewish-Roman classics. The carciofi alla giudia — deep-fried artichoke — is the thing to order.

Bulgari's gem-studded Rome flagship in a restored 1930s building facing the Mausoleum of Augustus, designed by Citterio and Viel. Spartan Roman glamour at its most polished.

Zaha Hadid's swooping National Museum of 21st-century arts in Flaminio, a 'campus' for art and architecture with a stellar archive. As much about the building as the shows.

One of Rome's finest tailors since 1946, in a club-like Via Condotti courtyard studio. Exquisite shirts, suits and silk ties from a true sartorial institution.

A beloved Trastevere bookshop crammed with English titles, strong on Rome-set fiction. A welcoming corner for cultural immersion.

Six vibrantly reimagined rooms inside the Renaissance Villa Medici, dressed by India Mahdavi for the Académie de France. A rare chance to sleep in one of Rome's finest palazzos.

Sarah Cicolini's trailblazing trattoria, redefining offal, pasta and Jewish-Roman classics, now bigger after a sharp redesign. Tradition with a modern edge.

Italy's grand department store, with two Rome sites including a Franco Albini postwar landmark sensitively revamped, complete with a panoramic rooftop. A reliable luxury one-stop.

A warmly run 'cucina laboratory' in Trastevere, where the women in charge ply you with crisps and wine while you wait. Reimagined Roman street food from the open kitchen.

The maison's largest flagship worldwide, a Chipperfield-designed Roman palazzo of marble and terrazzo by Piazza di Spagna. A Rome-exclusive made-to-measure denim service too.

Rome's queen of flea markets, a 1.5km Sunday sprawl of secondhand clothes, vinyl, antiques and bric-a-brac. Come early to dig for treasure.

Daria Reina and Andrea Ferolla's intimate shop of covetable leather totes, Ferolla's illustrations and an eclectic edit of fine goods. As stylish as its founders.

The Perfetti brothers' anchor shop near Via del Governo Vecchio, flagship for their own label of minimalist tailoring and denim in Japanese cloth, finished in Italy.

A 1925 art deco charmer near Piazza del Popolo, full of original character, with a fireside bar, palm-shaded garden and roof terrace. Don't miss the cocktails.

The Roscioli brothers' beloved deli-restaurant, with hundreds of cured meats and some of Rome's best pasta. Order the carbonara and mop up with bread from the family bakery.

A museum of masterpieces in Cardinal Scipione Borghese's villa, with Caravaggios, Berninis and Canova's reclining Paolina. Only 360 visitors at a time — book ahead.

A white-tablecloth Tuscan ristorante off Piazza di Spagna since the 1930s, all dark mahogany and etched glass. Past diners include Loren and Hepburn; dress the part.

The original of a now-global seafood name, still serving impeccably fresh fish in a buzzy Navigli room. Service is sharp and the raw bar is the move.

A menswear group built on doing single garments exceptionally well, gathered in one slick flagship. Come for perfect chinos, knitwear and shirting — and a drink at the bar.

The house at its most Milanese, in a jewel of a Galleria store dressed in marble and mahogany. Worth a look even if you're only window-shopping.

A Liberty-era jewel beneath the Galleria, pouring what may be the city's finest Campari spritz amid mosaics and white-jacketed waiters. An essential Milanese ritual.

A sumptuously restored former seminary turned hotel, with generous suites and a courtyard that draws the city's well-heeled. Good for a long lunch even if you're not checking in.

A jewel-box pasticceria of impeccable pedigree, perfect for a morning coffee and a pastry. The historic Santa Maria alla Porta room is the prettiest.

The original concept store that defined the genre, still mixing fashion, design, art and food under one roof. As much a cultural stop as a shopping one.

A 19th-century holdout where regulars keep their usual table and the kitchen sticks to Lombard classics. Order the breaded veal or ossobuco and settle in.

A gloriously old-school institution, birthplace of the negroni sbagliato and a design-week magnet. Order one and join the crowd spilling onto the pavement.

A beautifully appointed two-floor flagship in the Galleria, all Italian walnut and marble. The clothes are the draw but the interiors are half the pleasure.

A serene retreat inside a former convent at the heart of the fashion district, built around a peaceful cloistered courtyard. A polished base for a Monte Napoleone spree.

A lively cultural hub in Parco Sempione, home to the Museum of Italian Design and a busy run of exhibitions and talks. There's always something on.

A grand old dame near Milano Centrale, all marble, chandeliers and unhurried service. Choose a terrace room and let the city's bustle stay firmly outside.

A sprawling three-storey design gallery from one of the city's legendary dealers, mixing Italian mid-century with contemporary names. A must for collectors and the curious alike.

A 1930s Milanese institution, recently restored, that shuttles between Italian classics and American comfort from morning to night. Elegant and easygoing in equal measure.

Rem Koolhaas's transformation of an old distillery into an arts complex of galleries, a cinema and a Wes Anderson-designed café. The architecture is as much the draw as the shows.