Assuming you've never played the game in real life, then just do Classic Map with all of the standard settings. Do not do Fog Of War and don't do Freestyle yet, as those usually take a bit of experience.
I would try getting a good doubles partner to help you explain the ins and outs of the game, which will help you later in the game.
I see rds pretty much covered the answer, but If you have experience playing the board game already and want to play on some other interesting novice maps try these:
Australia
France
MIdgard
Netherlands
Those maps are all very straight forward, with clear bonus areas and structure.
But like rds said, get yourself a partner, and definitly stay away from fog of war and freestyle.
And stop by the Society of the Cooks for basic strategy. We do expect you to work a little bit, but you can pick up some good pointers for basic escalating games.