On the banks of Lake Turano

Even people as proud as those from the capital (the same ones who can hardly hear of Milan without thinking of the train to Rome) must surrender to the complications of the Lazio coast. Beach umbrellas thrown like javelins to occupy two suddenly free square metres, deckchairs rented out for sixty thousand euros a day and jellyfish? No, don't worry, they're plastic bags.

There is however a hidden Lazio consisting of bucolic landscapes, traffic-free roads and pristine shores. That of lakes, for example. From the belvedere that flanks the provincial road, after a light climb by car to the Apennines, the view of Lake Turano takes your breath away. Miles of free beaches along the creeks, a few canoes passing slowly beneath the large bridge of Castel di Tora. Just the town that with its century-old tower watches over the lake's blue waters, which I thought only existed on Instagram.

The dogs chase each other freely under the shady branches of the trees, while the fishermen frown at the few bathers who terrorise their fish. The algae are harmless and the water is transparent. What about that plastic bag? No, don't worry, it's a frightened bleak fleeing. Rome attracts its inhabitants like fridge magnets. They will be the monuments or the historical laziness of the Romans, but the beauties of rural Lazio can be the relief valve the Eternal City's inhabitants seem to seek.

And how many unmissable places there are, even only between the Navegna and Cervia Mountains! A walk in the village of Castel di Tora, with its Triton Fountain; the wonderful Romanesque bridge of Posticciola which seems to have come from Tolkien's pen; the dizziness on the huge dam of the lake and the din of falling water; the ruined hermitage of San Salvatore, on the small hill of Antuni.

Not far from here, Lake Salto is at least as beautiful as that of Turano and Cesarini Castle stands out over the village of Rocca Sinibalda like the baronial one on Collalto Sabino. Further south is the spectacular abandoned abbey of Santa Maria del Piano, with the facade and tower that have stood up to the wear and tear of time. To cut a long story short: bring your sunshade to the Lazio Apennines this summer.