You can't help but yearn for a trip to Italy after you see films such Under the Tuscan Sun, Roman Holiday, Life Is Beautiful, and Only You. When you do get to sunny Italy, be sure to visit some of the gorgeous gardens.

• The Vatican Gardens (Giardini Vaticani): People often think that the Vatican is made up of only the basilica and the neighboring buildings, but the grounds behind the main structures are actually quite large. Although you can't visit most of the Vatican (you need a special permit to enter the Vatican grounds), guided tours take small numbers of visitors to admire the beautiful Vatican Gardens. If you enjoy touring gardens, you can sign up for a tour at the ticket office of the Vatican Museums.
• Villa d'Este: Built in 1550 by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este of Ferrara — the son of notorious Lucrezia Borgia and Alfonso I d'Este — this villa in Tivoli (northeast of Rome) is relatively banal. The real attractions are the magnificent gardens surrounding it, where architect Pirro Ligorio, using an underground spring and the natural slope of the land, designed a masterpiece of linked fountains and hidden rivulets. The work is really magnificent and isn't diminished by the other masterpieces in the garden: the Fountain of the Organ (Fontana dell'Organo) by Claude Veanard, the Ovato Fountain (Fontana del'Ovato) by Ligorio, and the Fountain of the Big Glass (Fontana del Bicchierone) by Bernini. The gardens are incredibly refreshing in summer and a perfect spot to be at midday on your visit to Tivoli.
• The Boboli Gardens (Giardino di Boboli): Behind the Pitti palace (in Florence) is one of the more grandiose examples of an Italian garden, the Boboli Gardens. This expanse of 45,000 square meters (11.1 acres) of gardens was designed in the sixteenth century and added to in the eighteenth and ninteenth centuries. Among the highlights are several fountains and sculptures, such as the seventeenth-century Artichoke Fountain (Fontana del Carciofo) and the Piazzale dell'Isolotto off the Viottolone (large lane) lined with laurels, cypresses, and pines and punctuated by statues. On the piazzale (a small piazza) is the beautiful Ocean Fountain (Fontana dell'Oceano).