With its ancient history, architectural treasures, amazing art galleries and gorgeous countryside, it's no wonder Italy draws visitors to its alpine mountains, Mediterranean beaches and sophisticated cities, continually ranking among the most popular travel destinations in the world.

But for every important landmark, museum or archaeological site, there is another incredibly worthwhile reason why so many travelers make overseas journeys to Italy: its wonderfully savory cuisine.

In general, Italian cooking is simple, balanced and based on seasonally fresh ingredients--pasta sauces made from tomatoes picked ripe from the garden, or the use of fresh sage and rosemary in homemade foccacia.

While you can often find staples like pizza and pasta in ristoranti and trattoria throughout the country, it is highly recommended that you sample local dishes in each area of Italy you visit, since the cuisine is regionally diverse.

For example, in Tuscany 'a mountainous region that includes Florence, Siena and Pisa' olive oil is a staple in every Tuscan's pantry, since the region's climate and soil is ideal for growing olives. Traditional dishes include bistecca alla fiorentina, grilled Florentine T-bone steak simply flavored with olive oil, salt and pepper, and ribollitta, a hearty, slowly cooked soup made primarily with cabbage and Tuscan white beans.

In Italy's north-central Emilia-Romagna region, you'll want to try all of the varieties of homemade pasta, including lasagne, tortellini and canelloni. The region is known the world over for its prosciutto, and of course Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

The list of regional specialties goes on: risotto (rice) and polenta (cornmeal) in Lombardy, which borders Switzerland; hearty pasta dishes like gnocchi and spaghetti alla carbonara in Lazio on the Tyrrenhian Sea; and caponata, eggplant with tomatoes and onion, in Sicily, to the extreme south. Naturally, seafood plays an important role in the cuisine of all the coastal cities and villages.

And blessed Naples, in the region of Campania to the south, is known as the birthplace of pizza. Do not leave the area without tasting pizza margherita, named after Queen Margherita who was served the meal during a visit to the city in 1889. True Neapolitan pizza is made in a wood-burning oven, and the margherita version is topped simply with tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese. Those same ingredients are found on many menus in the Campania region in the form of a salad: insalate caprese.

Don't be afraid to ask restaurant wait staff or your hotel concierge for recommendations on local dishes. After all, when you're in Italy, why not eat like the Italians do! And that may mean eating your largest meal of the day at noon.

While many industrial cities and tourist areas certainly cater to palates that appreciate light lunches, residents in the country typically take their time over a mid-day meal. That might feature antipasti, an appetizer like cured meats and cheeses or brushcette (grilled garlic bread with chopped tomato), followed by primo piatta, a plate of pasta or bowl of soup, and finally, secondo piatto, a main dish of meat or fish.

And Italians do love their sweets. After all, legend has it ice cream was developed in Italy. Here, it's called gelato, and it tastes closer to a rich frozen sherbet than the ice cream Americans are familiar with, since it is made with milk. Traditional flavors range from hazelnut and chocolate to vanilla, coconut and lemon. Half the fun of strolling to a local gelatari after a meal is contemplating which tempting flavor you'll try that day!