Its mountains, canyons, beaches and lagoons make it one of Italy's most beautiful and varied landscapes, but few people - and that includes Italians - know anything about it. Perhaps because it's tucked away on the country's northeastern border with Slovenia and Austria, perhaps because of a history of invasions, including the Austro-Hungarian empire, or perhaps because of the many languages spoken by locals, it barely seems like part of Italy.

But although Friuli Venezia Giulia stretches from the snow-capped Alpine reaches of the Dolomites to the sun-kissed waters of the northern Adriatic sea, it never experiences the crowds that leave some parts of Italy straining in the summer. And yet, say locals, it's every bit as worth visiting as the rest of Italy.