Top Natural Wonders In Italy

Italy is all about pizza, pasta and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, right? It goes without saying that Italian ice-cream is the best in the world and the wine, well, say no more. Considering all of those, it’s easy enough to see why Italy is such a popular place to visit. You don’t even need to be a connoisseur of fine food to appreciate its gastronomic offerings. Yes, Italian food tastes amazing, there’s really no arguing with that, and the tower is one of the country’s most famous landmarks, but what sets Italy apart as a country to visit are its incredible natural wonders.

From where its rugged alpine border connects with neighboring Switzerland to the tip of its boot-shaped coastline, Italy is one hundred and sixteen thousand square miles of awesome things to marvel at. Stunning rock formations, which could have been carved by the hands of the mythical Roman gods of old, rub shoulders with pristine mountain lakes and fiery volcanoes. Italy really is a natural wonder in itself which you just can’t miss out on exploring. If you haven’t already got a ticket to go, what are you waiting for?

Check out these ten natural wonders in Italy and before you can learn to say ciao, you’ll have purchased your flight and be standing in the check-in queue at the airport.

10. Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee), South Tyrol, Italy
Nestled among the mountains of Italy’s South Tyrol is Lago di Braies. This is a lake which is much more than just picture-perfect. Though admittedly, post a photo of Lago di Braies to Instagram and not only will you be the envy of all your followers, it’ll probably get thousands of extra likes as well.


9. Scala dei Turchi (Staircase of the Turks), Sicily
Italy really does have more than its fair share of beautiful coastlines, but even they struggle to compete with the stunning Scala dei Turchi on the Italian island of Sicily. Reminiscent of icing on a cake, these cliffs rise above the sea in layer upon layer of sparkling white rock. Carved by the erosion of wind and sea, the marl rock formation is also referred to as the Staircase of the Turks.

Almost a natural amphitheater, it’s the ideal place to have a chilled out picnic while waiting to watch the sunset over the stunning blue of the Mediterranean Sea. That’s a sight which is so captivating; you’ll probably want to see it every evening for a week. You won’t have to carry your picnic basket too far if you stay at the Hotel Belvedere Scala dei Turchi. The rooms there are decorated in the same, restful on the eye, blue and white as the cliffs and the sea.

8. Gran Paradiso National Park, Graian Alps, Italy
The Gran Paradiso National Park is the place to go to explore Italy’s natural beauty at its rugged best. The wild landscape of the park, which covers just under three hundred square miles, incorporates majestic mountains, lakes and some incredible fauna and flora endemic to the region. You’ll have seen their pictures on the internet, yes, those cute, four-legged creatures which can scale practically vertical cliffs. The long-horned Alpine ibex, a very agile mountain goat which was once almost extinct, is now thriving in the park environment and here, you can go and see them for yourself rather than on the screen of your laptop or phone.

7. Grotta Azzurra (Blue Grotto), Capri, Italy
The Grotta Azzurra on the island of Capri is a sea cave in which, due to the unusual refraction of sunlight entering it, the water appears an incredible blue. To see it, you’ll need to sail away from the coastline of Capri on a boat ride, then transfer to a small rowing boat. It’s the only way to get inside as the entrance arch is pretty low, so low, in fact, you’ll need to lay down to prevent banging your head.

Going into the Grotta Azzurra might just be what dying and going to heaven is like. Be prepared because one second you’re in pitch darkness and the next you’re in a world of celestial blue. The cave is about two hundred feet long, so while visits to this ethereal world are visually sensational, they are relatively short.

6. Lago di Garda, Northern Italy
Lago di Garda or Lake Garda, measuring thirty-two miles from shore to shore at its longest point and covering a surface area of one hundred and forty-three square miles, is the biggest freshwater lake in Italy. Its super clear waters are surrounded by stunning mountains, its hundred miles of shoreline decorated with picturesque towns, villages and pristine beaches, plus it’s dotted with islands whose fascinating histories can be traced back to pirate times.

5. Cascate del Mulino, Saturnia, Italy
Vacations are meant to be therapeutic, and in Italy, that becomes literally true if you visit the Cascate del Mulino in the Italian town of Saturnia. There, an underground water source, which is heated geothermally, breaks through to the surface and the steaming, sulfur-impregnated water trickles gently down in graduating cascades to fill depressions in the rocks forming the pools of a natural spa.