Italy

Italy holds more addresses in this atlas than any country except the United States and China, and the reason is not size but variety of kind. It supplies the largest share of Iconic Villages and Heritage Gems, most of the Grand Tour, four of the Great Opera Houses and the entire Renaissance-court strand of the Imperial Capitals — while also contributing wine capitals, thermal towns, fortress cities and a coastline that invented the modern resort. No other country appears as the leading example in so many different types.