Articles having poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and silica nanoparticle multilayer coatings are provided. More specifically, the articles include a substrate and a multilayer coating attached to the substrate. The multilayer coating includes a silica layer that is the outermost layer, the silica layer containing acid-sintered interconnected silica nanoparticles arranged to form a continuous three-dimensional porous network. The multilayer coating also includes a PVA layer disposed between a surface of the substrate and the outermost silica layer. The PVA and silica nanoparticle coatings can be used on a large variety of substrates and tend to be resistant to impacts, scratches, wet abrasions, soil and fog.