I've spent the week thinking of those out of the way places I love in Italy. Take for example Tuscany's Maremma. It's probably the least known area of Tuscany. Last year we spent part of it on the wild coast of Monte Argentario, at the spectacularly isolated La Trappola. The area is full of the things you come to Italy for. There are spectacular hill towns like Pitigliano, great wine and a very tasty cuisine. Summer festivals are culture rich--or sometimes just rich. The Bugatti International Meeting is being held on the last weekend of May this year in Massa Maritimma in the Maremma.

I also think of Puglia, always on the list to take from Tuscany the prize of "best place to visit in Italy." I did a long archaeological survey there, and found the culture fascinating. Yet Puglia is just too far down the boot for most people who have short vacations. It's a shame.

Then there's Lazio. You land in Rome, see the Forum, Pantheon, and the Colosseum, then you take off for Florence or Venice. Well, what about the Etruscan tombs at Tarquinia? What about the spectacular summer food and wine in the Castelli Romani, just south of Rome? What about the porchetta for crying out loud? And there's Ostia Antica, a real port city, where you can see the well-preserved ruins of ancient apartments and small take-away food stands instead of one rich person's villa after another, like you do at the famous resort towns of Pompeii or Herculaneum.

This year we'll explore some of these out of the way places, which are best explored from a rental villa, where you'll have quiet nights. You'll need them with all the excitement of seeing places your friends didn't have a clue about.