Lazio is a sleeper: everyone goes to Rome but skips the countryside. They’re missing something.

Rural Lazio brings history to life like no other place on earth. Landscapes of classic beauty brim with remains of an ancient empire. Medieval castles and monasteries abound. Lively villages welcome the visitor with traditional food and warm hospitality.

And then there are the lakes. Crystal-clear Lake Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Europe, yields tasty fish for her many shoreline restaurants. Celebrated in Byron’s poetry, tiny Lake Nemi is hidden and mysterious. Just a stone’s throw away, Lake Albano occupies a deep crater overlooking Rome. Paths wind through forests, vineyards and olive groves, with breathtaking views and an abundance of Roman roads and ruins.

Join me next May for a week of walking, sightseeing and great food. We’ll visit the Roman Ship Museum in Nemi, an extraordinary Roman cistern in Albano and Orvieto’s subterranean labyrinth. The walks can be as easy or as ambitious as you like. With just four to six guests, everyone has a voice.

Food and Lodging

Some of my best discoveries in Lazio are places to eat! Family restaurants offer delectable local cuisine and wine in a friendly setting — a wonderful way to relax and savor the day’s activities. For accommodations I’ve chosen comfy B&Bs with home-style hospitality in the towns of Nemi and Orvieto. A good night’s sleep and a delicious breakfast await you.

Please join me on a seven-day excursion, 13 - 20 May 2014:
(other dates can be arranged)

The Lakes of Lazio
Open booking through 10 January (6 guests maximum)

Price: Price: 2000 Euros per person (about US$2200) for a party of six with double occupancy. Includes daily guided walks, all lodging and meals, museum admissions and transportation to and from Rome. Excludes airfare to Rome. Single supplement 20%.

Write to me by January 10 to book. Six-guest limit.

Select any itinerary from the website or newsletters, with your choice of dates, pace and style. Visit www.romanroadwalks.com or write to me for ideas and assistance. I’ll make it easy.

Linda Lappin excels in disorientation. Her latest novel takes place in the 1930s, in an illustrious Renaissance sculpture garden created by an eccentric (twisted?) aristocrat. Located at the foot of the Cimini Mountains north of Rome, Bomarzo’s Sacred Wood, popularly known as the Park of the Monsters, is a real place open to visitors, who can ponder the arcane symbolism of its outsized works in stone enigmatically arranged in the hilly, wooded landscape. Lappin augments the confusion, first with a cast of inscrutable characters and again with a whiff of hashish, leaving the reader continually wondering what is real and what is imagined. The characterizations are strong and evocative: “A scent lingered when she passed, like sweet peonies rotting in a vase.” I recommend the book to anyone planning a visit to Bomarzo or just in the mood for a good mystery read.

For more about Bomarzo and the Sacred Wood see Newsletter Seventeen.

Be sure to note the new address of this very useful site, which highlights attractions and upcoming events off the main tourist circuits. The latest posting concerns culinary creativity in the historic Umbrian town of Foligno. Indispensable to those interested in lesser-known aspects of travel in Italy.

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