Viterbo

Ah, Viterbo, you have so much to love. Those lazy, stone-clad streets, half steps, half flagstones, weaving up the hillsides of northern Lazio. Those ad hoc piazzas, topped by zebra-colored campanile and handsome Romanesque churches. Those crenulated walls surrounding the erstwhile Palace of the Popes. Those shady loggias beneath the town hall and shaded cafes hidden down your alleys. Away from the tourist traps of Rome and Tuscany, this historic town is a true off-beat gem. It's got a rich past, going all the way back to the Etruscans, passing medieval popes, and now made even richer by Italy's main gold reserves (which are still kept here; apparently, somewhere). There are museums to help unravel all this, while heritage oozes from each of the old buildings in the Centro Storico. Once you're done in the town, ask your Viterbo tour guide about explorations through the rural part of Lazio. Lake Bolsena hides to the north with its beaches, while bubbling hot springs beckon at Bullicame.