Accommodation with swimming pool north of Rome, Italy

80km from Rome, the house is between San Martin al Cimino and the old city of Viterbo, both 1.5km away. Villa dei Papi has been owned by the same family for three hundred years and is designated as a national monument. Set in splendid countryside just one hour north of Rome, the villa is ideally located for exploring Lazio's Etruscan sites and Renaissance palaces, for golfing at one of several 18-hole courses - or for a day in the city. Its large rooms are full of light and decorated with fine antiques and a sprinkling of ancestral portraits. The bedrooms, especially the master suite, are immensely comfortable with modern bathrooms. Outside, terraces and pergolas are filled with flowers provide additional sitting and dining areas. A lawn with clipped hedges leads down through the garden to a stunning, infinity-edged swimming pool overlooking the estate's private olive groves and the hills leading towards Viterbo.

There is a great deal to see within half an hour's drive: the unique gardens of the Villa Lante and Bomarzo, the over-the-top splendour of the Villa Farnese and beautiful old towns such as Vitorchiana and Montefiascone. As the centre of the Etruscan civilization some 4000 years ago, the area is liberally sprinkled with their igloo-shaped tombs, notably at Cerveteri, where the local museum houses an impressive collection of their extraordinary pottery. Vineyards and wineries abound and, for a change of pace, Rome is quickly reached by a direct rail line.