Aosta

Aosta needs 2 days: touring the Arch of Augustus and the Roman Theatre, two of the best-preserved Roman monuments in northern Italy, on one, and taking the cable car up to Courmayeur and the Italian side of Mont Blanc, Western Europe's tallest mountain, on the other. June-September brings the best high-mountain weather. It's expensive, among Italy's priciest regions given its luxury Alpine profile. Founded by Augustus in 25 BC as a Roman military camp, it preserves an almost intact Roman street layout -hence its nickname 'Rome of the Alps'-, and its valley lends its name to Italy's smallest region, with its own Franco-Provençal identity and French as a co-official language.