Top Reasons to Go

Ostia Antica: Perhaps even more than Pompeii, the excavated port city of ancient Rome conveys a picture of everyday life in the days of the Empire.

Tivoli's Villa d'Este: Hundreds of fountains cascading and shooting skyward (one even plays music on organ pipes) will delight you at this spectacular garden.

Castelli Romani: Be a Roman for a day and enjoy the pleasures of the ancient hilltop wine towns on the city's doorstep.

Get "Middle-Aged" in Viterbo: This town may be modern, but it has a Gothic papal palace, a Romanesque cathedral, and the magical medieval quarter of San Pellegrino.

Gardens Bizarre and Beautiful: Just a few miles from each other, the 16th-century proto-Disneyland Parco dei Mostri (Monster Park) is famed for its fantastic sculptures, while the Villa Lante remains the stateliest Renaissance garden of them all.