On the very tip of the Sirmione peninsula, among silver olives and the lake on three sides, lie the remains of northern Italy's largest Roman villa: two hectares of cryptoporticoes, terraces and first-century arches that the Renaissance christened "grottoes", finding them buried in green. Tradition ties them to Catullus, who dedicated aching love verses to Sirmione.
The museum gathers frescoes and the site's story; the olive grove still makes oil.
Our tip: come at day's end, when the ferries drain the village: sunset through the arches over Garda, mountains colouring, is the moment the poet becomes comprehensible. Pair with a swim at nearby Jamaica beach, on the rock slabs.