Italy:
Best known for its amazing tomato-based cuisine and its hopelessly diehard sexual-harassing men, Italy will alternately drive you crazy and force you to love it. The north is mountainous and much like Austria and Switzerland, and the peninsular part of the country is flatter and more agricultural. The richest part of the country is in the north, around Milano, while the poorest Italians live in the south, in Calabria. Tourism plays a big part in Italy, with most people flocking in droves to Venice, Florence and Rome. The countryside of Tuscany also attracts a lot of foreigners, who have been buying up real estate.
Venice is definitely worth a trip; it's like another world, with its old crumbing buildings and murky canals and sidewalk cafes where you can eat fabulous food and drink excellent wine. When people in Venice tell you to take the "bus" they mean the water bus; everything travels by water in this city. Florence is crowded in summer. Walking around is the best way to see it, as in Rome. Almost as famous in Rome as its Coliseum are the rip-off artists who swarm you before you know what's happening, and somehow find your wallet. Women beware: Italian men can really make pests of themselves, following you around in gangs, pinching you on trains, and always trying to flirt whether you encourage this or not. Since Italians are so style conscious, it might help to dress down and cultivate the "ugly" look.
Italy used to be cheap, but recently prices have sky rocketed. You should be able to find moderately priced pensiones still, however.