Tucked away in the north-west, Gran Paradiso National Park offers a tangible sense of wilderness. Incorporating the valleys around the eponymous 4,061m peak, it has spectacular hiking trails but not the hordes that plague Italy’s prolific Alpine destinations.

This is the country’s oldest national park, created in 1922 after Vittorio Emanuele II gave his hunting reserve to the state, ostensibly to protect the endangered ibex. The main stepping stone into the park is the tranquil town of Cogne, known for its traditional lacework.