The pre-alpine lakes have drawn travellers since the eighteenth century, and the formula has not changed: deep water under mountains, villa gardens that flower absurdly early, and ferries that make the whole shore reachable without a car. Como is the most dramatic, Garda the largest and most varied, Maggiore the one with the Borromean Islands. Iseo, Orta and Trentino's alpine lakes are the quieter alternatives.
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If you only do 5 things on this theme.
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Lake Como An inverted-Y lake of villa gardens under 2,000-metre mountains -
Lake Garda & Sirmione Italy's largest lake, with a moated castle on a two-kilometre peninsula -
Borromean Islands A baroque palace garden, a botanical island and a fishing village, all on Lake Maggiore -
Lake Orta & Orta San Giulio The smallest and quietest of the great lakes, with a monastery island -
Lago di Braies Emerald water under the Croda del Becco, with wooden rowing boats
Everywhere else on this theme
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Como Silk, a lakefront cathedral and the ferry pier for the whole lake -
Riva del Garda Lake Garda's mountain-walled northern tip — wind, water and rock -
Stresa Belle-époque hotels on Lake Maggiore, facing the Borromean Islands -
Lake Bracciano A volcanic crater lake with a castle, an hour from Rome -
Lago di Tovel A glacial lake in the Brenta group that once turned red each summer -
Lake Maggiore & Stresa Belle-époque hotels facing the Borromean Islands -
Lake Trasimeno Italy's fourth-largest lake, with three islands and Hannibal's battlefield -
Lake Scanno A heart-shaped mountain lake below one of Abruzzo's finest villages
The regions that deliver on it
- Piedmont Barolo, white truffles, royal Turin and the Alps at the foot of the plain
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Lombardy Milan, the great lakes and the Alps of Valtellina -
South Tyrol German-speaking Italy under the Dolomites - Trentino Dolomite valleys, Lake Garda's northern tip and Italy's alpine lakes
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Umbria The green heart of Italy — Assisi, hill towns and no coastline -
Lazio Rome and the Vatican — and Etruscan tombs, volcanic lakes and a coast -
Abruzzo The wildest Apennines — bears, national parks and a trabocchi coast
Other ways to travel Italy
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Art & culture More UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country on earth -
Food & wine Regional to the point of parochial — and all the better for it -
Coast & islands 7,900 km of coastline and around eighty inhabited islands -
Mountains & the Dolomites The Dolomites, the western Alps and the wild Apennines -
UNESCO Italy Sixty World Heritage sites — the largest tally of any country -
Borghi & villages The hill towns that carry I Borghi più belli d'Italia and the Orange Flag -
Nature & national parks 25 national parks, from alpine glaciers to volcanic islands -
Spirituality & pilgrimage Rome, Assisi, and the pilgrim roads that connect them -
Thermal baths & wellness Volcanic Italy's other output — hot water, since the Romans -
Sport & the outdoors Dolomiti Superski, the Giro's climbs and Garda's windsurfing -
Shopping & markets Milan's Quadrilatero, Florence's leather and the weekly market habit -
Events & festivals The Palio, Carnevale, the Biennale and an opera season in a Roman arena -
Luxury Italy Portofino, the Costa Smeralda, Capri and the great lake villas