Lazio, explored in full.

North of the city, the Etruscans left their dead in painted tombs at Tarquinia and Cerveteri, cities of the living carved into soft volcanic tufa. To the south and along the coast, the empire built its harbor at Ostia Antica and its emperors raised pleasure palaces, none grander than Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, where the fountains of the Renaissance Villa d'Este still play.

This is volcanic country, its old craters now filled by the blue lakes of Bracciano, Bolsena, and Nemi. In the Alban Hills above Rome, the wine towns of the Castelli Romani pour crisp Frascati and roast their famous porchetta, while the Roman table runs on cucina povera made noble: bucatini, rigatoni, and the sharp bite of Pecorino Romano.

Come in spring or early autumn, when the city's stone holds its warmth and the hill towns shake off the summer crowds.