Lazio

Rome takes up so much of Lazio's attention — and justifiably; it is, by any measure, one of the richest cities on earth in terms of density of significant things — that the region behind it goes largely unexplored. The Castelli Romani wine villages, the Etruscan cliff towns of Civita di Bagnoregio and Pitigliano (which crosses into Tuscany but belongs culturally to the same volcanic landscape), the thermal lakes of Bracciano and Vico, and the coast at Sperlonga where Tiberius built a grotto dining room into the cliff: these are all within two hours of the capital and almost entirely visitor-free.Our Lazio coverage treats Rome with the seriousness it deserves and devotes equal attention to the region that surrounds it.