In the busy, scruffy town of Torre Annunziata, on the coast south of Naples, a high wall hides one of the most extraordinary Roman villas ever found. Villa A at Oplontis, often called the Villa of Poppaea because it is thought to have belonged to the family of Nero's second wife, was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 and rediscovered in the eighteenth century, with large-scale excavations in the twentieth. It is part of the UNESCO site that includes Pompeii and Herculaneum, but sees a fraction of their visitors, which is one of its great pleasures.
The villa is huge, with dozens of rooms, gardens, a swimming pool and porticoes, and its walls are covered in some of the finest Roman frescoes anywhere: painted architectural perspectives, gardens full of birds, masks, still lifes and peacocks, in vivid reds, yellows and blues. Walking through the rooms, almost alone, you can imagine the luxurious life of the Roman elite on the Bay of Naples. Above it all looms Vesuvius, still very much active and closely monitored, a reminder of the forces that preserved this place.
Torre Annunziata has a long history of pasta making, with mills and drying racks once lining its streets, and the whole area is packed with towns, roads and people. Riding here is chaotic and demanding, with dense traffic, scooters weaving in all directions, potholes and creative interpretations of the rules. Keep calm, stay alert and keep your bike secure when parked. The rewards come with a ride up Vesuvius, on a road that climbs through vineyards and lava fields to a car park near the crater, or along the Sorrento peninsula and the Amalfi coast, among the most spectacular coastal roads in Europe, though traffic in summer can be intense.
Fuel stations are plentiful, and the town has bars and pizzerias. Neapolitan pizza, born just up the coast, is the obvious order, along with fresh pasta dishes with tomatoes from the volcanic soil, seafood and sfogliatella, a crisp pastry filled with ricotta. Visit in spring or autumn to avoid the summer heat and crowds.