This small island, Italy’s southernmost point and geographically closer to Tunisia in North Africa, is one of my favourite places in all of the Bel Paese. Here, you’ll find the country’s top beaches and clearest waters, simple but mouthwatering food, and some of the most welcoming and friendly people I’ve ever met while travelling. Lampedusa is a microcosm of Sicily in general, but also Italy at its most authentic, untouched by mass tourism and its effects.