Alex begins the third leg of her journey in Naples, a busy and chaotic city with a population of around 960,000, and learns what it is like to live in the shadow of Vesuvius, the volcano that famously erupted in 79AD and destroyed the town of Pompeii. Alex then heads to the spectacular Amalfi coast, the destination for part of her honeymoon, and samples the cuisine at the Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, where chef Mamma Agata has catered for stars including Humphrey Bogart, Richard Burton, Liz Taylor and Fred Astaire.

For the final leg of her journey, the hotelier heads to the south, a region she knows little about. In Puglia, she marvels at the local beehive-shaped dry stone huts and samples a wine with a difference, before heading to the Monte Pollino national park. Alex concludes her adventure in the city of Matera, where she attends the annual Festa della Madonna Bruna, a week-long carnival culminating in a pagan-style rite of destruction and a firework display. Last in the series.

Alex Polizzi arrives in Sardinia to explore her family roots and discover the rich and diverse culture of this ever-popular destination. She’ll be sampling the Cagliari cuisine, venturing inland to experience the rugged beauty of the Supramonte region and meeting a woman who claims to be the last woman in the world to weave the precious sea silk. She’ll also be meeting a team of scientists who are studying the genes of the locals, as she learns that Sardinia has more centenarians than anywhere else in the world.

Alex Polizzi explores Italy’s smaller islands, from Capri and Ischia in the Bay of Naples, to the remote Aeolian Islands further south. She’ll be experiencing Capri’s glamourous fashion and scaling the rocky heights of the Aragonese Castle in Ischia, meeting a team of women who restore historic relics of international importance. From there, Alex will sample the island of Salina’s famous Malvasia wine, before making a rare sighting of dolphins in the waters off Filicudi.