Italy's economic engine and its most under-visited great region. Milan gives you the Duomo, Leonardo's Last Supper, La Scala and the best shopping in Europe; an hour north, Como, Garda and Maggiore give you the lakes that have drawn travellers since the Grand Tour. Between them sit Bergamo's walled Città Alta, Brescia's Roman forum, Mantua's Gonzaga palaces and Pavia's Certosa — four cities that would be headline destinations in any other country.
- Milan — Duomo, Last Supper, Brera, Navigli
- Lake Como and Bellagio
- Bergamo Città Alta
- Lake Garda's western shore and Sirmione
- Mantua and Sabbioneta
- Valtellina and Bormio
- Best time to go
- April–June and September–October. The lakes largely shut down between November and March; Milan works year-round and is at its liveliest in Salone (April) and fashion weeks.
- Getting there
- Malpensa, Linate and Bergamo Orio al Serio. Milano Centrale is the hinge of the Italian high-speed network — Rome in under 3h, Venice in 2h25.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Headline places
What italia.it leads with in Lombardy.
-
Leonardo's Last Supper A wall in a refectory, seen 35 people at a time by advance booking only -
Duomo di Milano Six centuries of Gothic, with a walkable marble roof -
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II The world's oldest shopping arcade still in use, opened in 1877 -
Quadrilatero della Moda Four streets around Via Montenapoleone that hold most of Italian fashion -
Lake Como An inverted-Y lake of villa gardens under 2,000-metre mountains -
Bergamo Città Alta A walled upper town reached by funicular — Venetian walls, UNESCO-listed -
Lake Garda & Sirmione Italy's largest lake, with a moated castle on a two-kilometre peninsula -
Franciacorta Italy's answer to Champagne, made by the same method south of Lake Iseo -
Certosa di Pavia A Carthusian monastery with the most ornate façade in Lombardy -
Bormio & the Valtellina Roman thermal baths, a World Cup downhill and the road to the Stelvio
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
-
Milan Design, finance, the Duomo and the Last Supper -
Bergamo A Venetian-walled upper town above the Lombard plain -
Brescia A Roman forum, a Lombard monastery and Franciacorta on the doorstep -
Como Silk, a lakefront cathedral and the ferry pier for the whole lake -
Mantua A Gonzaga capital on three lakes, with Mantegna in the palace
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
Lombardy by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
-
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 -
Italian lakes Como, Garda, Maggiore — the Grand Tour's original destination -
Mountains & the Dolomites The Dolomites, the western Alps and the wild Apennines -
UNESCO Italy Sixty World Heritage sites — the largest tally of any country -
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 - Luxury Italy Portofino, the Costa Smeralda, Capri and the great lake villas
More of The North
-
Aosta Valley Italy's smallest region, under the four highest mountains in the Alps -
Piedmont Barolo, white truffles, royal Turin and the Alps at the foot of the plain -
Liguria The Italian Riviera — Cinque Terre, Portofino and pesto's home port -
South Tyrol German-speaking Italy under the Dolomites -
Trentino Dolomite valleys, Lake Garda's northern tip and Italy's alpine lakes -
Veneto Venice, Verona, Palladio's villas and the Dolomites of Cortina -
Friuli Venezia Giulia Habsburg Trieste, Roman Aquileia and Italy's finest white wines -
Emilia-Romagna Parmigiano, prosciutto, Ferrari and Ravenna's mosaics