Of the EU-27, Italy claims six of the top 20 most visited regions in 2010. At 60 million nights spent in hotels and campgrounds, the Veneto took the cake ahead of Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Lombardia and Alto Adige/South Tyrol. In last year's Lux Report, a broad survey of luxury travel advisors, Italy topped the charts as the most popular international travel destination.

Why all the attention?

Let's try for it. Landscape, language and lakes — Marta, for example, is an especially beautiful lakeside town in Lazio. But then we can't forget food, family or the flower that is Florence. In between, there are ruins of fallen empire and bastions of modern creativity. While the bulk of tourists marvel at Venice, Florence, Naples, Rome and Milan, the lesser travelled fabric of the nation is nonetheless spectacular to the voyaging eye. Pick any point on the map. Say, Gallipoli, an ancient city purportedly founded by the grandson of Minos, King of Crete, who himself was the son of Zeus himself (in Greek Mythology of course).

Or drop into Sardinia. You could go hiking in the rugged hinterland under Monte Albo or dine beachside at Villasimius, sipping chilled mirto, a local berry-derived liqueur that is usually red, but sometimes white.

Italy harbors diversity — in climate from the Dolomites to Sicily, in local culture and dialect, in music and arts ancient and modern. Is a watermelon a cocomero or an anguria? Are you dancing the Monferrina or the Pizzica? Are you skiing or sunbathing? Your call. Italy offers this profound diversity multiplied across its 20 regions. That's what keeps the world coming back year in and year out.

What are your favorite places in the bel paese?