ROME


Colosseum viewed from Palatine Hill	Panorama: Inside the Colosseum	Colosseum at night, surrounded by traffic	Trevi Fountain, filled with thousands of euros each day by tourists

Panorama: The interior of the Pantheon, the most well-preserved Roman building	The Forum contains the ruins of the Roman Empire's central business district	Temple of Antoninus and Faustia, built in the 2nd century	Trajan's Forum at night, dominated by Trajan's column

St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the head of Catholicism	A statue of Pope Pius IX looks over St Peter's Square	Castel Sant'Angelo, a mediaeval citadel and papal refuge	Piazza Navona is bustling with market stalls and tourists

Column of Marcus Aurelius in the heart of the shopping district	Spanish Steps, an ideal place for people-watching	Circus Maximus, with the Palatine Hill in the background	Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

FLORENCE


View of Florence from across the River Arno	Ponte Vecchio is the most well known of the bridges across the River Arno	The dome of the Duomo was designed by Michelangelo	Michelangelo's David in the Galleria dell'Accademia

VENICE


The Grand Canal cuts through the centre of Venice	Bridge of Sighs, which offered the final glimpse of the outside world for condemned men	Ponte Rialto, the famous bridge crossing the Grand Canal	Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

PISA


The Tower of Pisa began to lean soon after the start of construction in 1173	The Duomo in the Field of Miracles also has a slight tilt	The Baptistery was built in the 12th century	Buildings along the River Arno

MILAN AND LAKE COMO


The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan	Lake Como viewed from Varenna	Varenna on the shore of Lake Como	Lenno on the shore of Lake Como

ostia and pompeii


The Amphitheatre in Ostia Antica, still used to stage performances in the warmer months	Ostia Antica was already in decay by the 4th century AD	Ostia Antica was finally abandoned in the 9th century	Mt Vesuvius forms the backdrop behind the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter in Pompeii