India, Oct. 8 -- "Life offers you a thousand chances... all you have to do is take one." This famous line from Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) has stayed with me. The film tells the story of intrepid writer Frances Mayes, who impulsively buys a crumbling villa in Cortona while on a trip to Italy. Played by the charming Diane Lane, Frances's journey of heartbreak and renewal unfolds against Tuscany's rolling hills-so beautifully filmed it could have doubled as an advert for Italy's tourism board.

In 2010, standing on the edge of my own faltering marriage, I took off on a trip to Tuscany. That journey was unbridled, and it gave me far more than Cortona. Veering away from Florence, I discovered six remarkable places-all different, all unforgett...