Must-see attractions in The Italian Lakes

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Sforza Castle, Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

    Castello Sforzesco

    Milan

    Originally a Visconti fortress, this iconic red-brick castle was later home to the mighty Sforza dynasty, who ruled Renaissance Milan. The castle's…

  • Palazzo Ducale

    Mantua

    For more than 300 years the enormous Palazzo Ducale was the seat of the Gonzaga – a family of wealthy horse breeders who rose to power in the 14th century…

  • Courtyard of Pinacoteca di Brera.

    Pinacoteca di Brera

    Milan

    Located upstairs from one of Italy’s most prestigious art schools, this gallery houses Milan’s collection of Old Masters, much of it ‘lifted’ from Venice…

  • Fondazione Prada building complex exterior.

    Fondazione Prada

    Milan

    Conceived by designer Miuccia Prada and architect Rem Koolhaas, this museum is as innovative and creative as the minds that gave it shape. Seven renovated…

  • Palazzo Te

    Mantua

    Palazzo Te was where Frederico II Gonzaga escaped for love trysts with his mistress Isabella Boschetti, and it's decorated in playboy style with stunning…

  • MILAN, ITALY - JUNE 22:  A general view of the atmosphere at GQ Celebrates Jim Nelson's 10th Anniversary as Editor-in-Chief Party on June 22, 2013 in Milan at Villa Necchi on June 22, 2013 in Milan, Italy.  (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for GQ)

    Villa Necchi Campiglio

    Milan

    Designed by homegrown talent Piero Portaluppi, this exquisitely restored 1930s villa was commissioned by Pavian heiresses Nedda and Gigina Necchi (of the…

  • Prada shop front in Quadrilateral del’Oro

    Quadrilatero d'Oro

    Milan

    A stroll around the Quadrilatero d'Oro, the world's most famous shopping district, is a must even for those not sartorially inclined. The quaintly cobbled…

  • Interior of Casa Museo Boschi-di Stefano

    Casa Museo Boschi-di Stefano

    Milan

    Milan’s most eccentric museum of 20th-century Italian painting is crowded in a 1930s apartment that still has the appearance of the haute-bourgeois home…

  • Santa Giulia

    Brescia

    You could spend a whole day in this monster of a museum housed in an ex-monastery and still have plenty left for another visit. Those with limited time…

  • Certosa di Pavia

    Pavia

    One of the Italian Renaissance's most notable buildings is the splendid Certosa di Pavia. Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan founded the monastery, 10km north…

  • Museo del Violino

    Cremona

    Cremona’s history echoes to sound of violins and violin-making, meaning a visit to this relatively new, state-of-the-art museum is practically obligatory…

  • Museo e Tesoro del Duomo

    The Italian Lakes

    Religious art museums are often dull, full of faded priestly vestments and tarnished silver that hasn’t been polished since the Risorgimento. But this…

  • Villa Reale

    The Italian Lakes

    In Monza's colossal park stands this equally colossal palace. Built between 1777 and 1780 as a viceregal residence for Archduke Ferdinand of Austria,…

  • Duomo

    Como

    Como’s awesome marble-clad cathedral is one of the most important buildings on the lake, incorporating a variety of styles – Romanesque, Renaissance and…

  • Accademia Carrara

    Bergamo

    Just east of the old city walls is one of Italy's great art repositories. Founded in 1780, it contains an exceptional range of Italian masters. Raphael's…

  • Palazzo del Podestà

    Bergamo

    On the northwest side of Piazza Vecchia, the fresco-dappled Palazzo del Podestà was traditionally home to Venice's representative in Bergamo. Today, the…

  • Grotte di Catullo

    Sirmione

    Occupying 2 hectares at Sirmione's northern tip, this ruined 1st-century-AD Roman villa is a picturesque complex of teetering stone arches and tumbledown…

  • Cascata del Varone

    Lake Garda

    An unusual 100m waterfall that thunders through a vertical limestone tunnel rather than off an open cliff. With the help of metal walkways, you can enter…

  • Torre del Campanone

    Bergamo

    Bergamo's colossal, square-based Torre del Campanone soars 52m above the city. It still tolls a bell at 10pm, the legacy of an old curfew. Taking the lift…

  • Chiesa di Sant'Agostino

    Cremona

    Once inside the 14th-century Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, head for the third chapel on the right, the Cappella Cavalcabò, which features a stunning late…

  • View of Piazza Vecchia in Bergamo.

    Piazza Vecchia

    Bergamo

    The Upper Town's beating heart is the cafe-clad Piazza Vecchia, lined by elegant architecture that is a testament in stone and brick to Bergamo's long and…

  • View of Parco Sempione

    Parco Sempione

    Milan

    Situated behind Castello Sforzesco, Parco Sempione was once the preserve of hunting Sforza dukes. Then Napoleon came to town and set about landscaping…

  • Basilica di Sant’Eustorgio exterior.

    Basilica di Sant'Eustorgio

    Milan

    Built in the 4th century to house the bones of the Three Kings, Sant'Eustorgio is one of Milan's oldest churches. Its harmonious exterior belies its…

  • Street view of Mudec museum of culture.

    Museo delle Culture

    Milan

    Aiming to be a place of dialogue between people and world cultures, Milan's Museum of Culture, housed in the ex-Ansaldo factory, has an ambitious remit…

  • Baroque garden on the Island of Bella in Lake Maggiore.

    Isole Borromeo

    Lake Maggiore

    The Borromean Gulf forms Lake Maggiore's most beautiful corner, sheltering the Borromean Islands and their spectacular, privately owned palaces. Closest…

  • Villa Della Porta Bozzolo

    Villa della Porta Bozzolo

    Lake Maggiore

    In the unassuming town of Casalzuigno, about 9km east of Laveno, generations of nobles have swanned about the magnificent gardens of Villa della Porta…

  • Cattedrale di Cremona

    Cremona

    Welcome to an ecclesial colossus. Cremona’s cathedral started out as a Romanesque basilica, but the simplicity of that style later gave way to an…

  • MILAN - APRIL 15: People at Triennale during Fuorisalone, international furnishing accessories exhibition April 15, 2010 in Milan, Italy.; Shutterstock ID 54193582; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    Triennale di Milano

    Milan

    Italy’s first Triennale took place in 1923 in Monza. It aimed to promote Italian design and applied arts, and its success led to the construction of…

  • The Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli entrance.

    Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli

    Milan

    A life story unfolds as you follow pebble paths past bumper cars and a carousel, onwards past games of football, kissing teens, a beer kiosk, babies in…

  • MUBA sign outside the Rotonda della Besana

    MUBA

    Milan

    Housed in the deconsecrated church in the centre of the extraordinary hectagonal structure of the Rotonda della Besana, MUBA is Milan's first centre for…

  • Santa Caterina del Sasso

    Lake Maggiore

    One of northern Italy's most spectacularly sited monasteries, Santa Caterina del Sasso clings to the high rocky face of Lago Maggiore's southeast shore…

  • View of Arco della Pace

    Arco della Pace

    Milan

    Situated at the northwestern edge of Parco Sempione is Napoleon's 25m-high triumphal arch. Designed by Luigi Cagnola in 1807, it echoes Paris' Arc de…

  • Inside Orto Botanico

    Orto Botanico

    Milan

    Maria Teresa had the towering gingko planted here in 1777, when she turned the former Jesuit orchard into an open-air lecture hall for budding botanists …

  • Inside Giardini della Guastalla

    Giardini della Guastalla

    Milan

    This pretty garden with its baroque fish pool and rare, well-tended flora, is the oldest park in the city. It was created in 1555 by the young widow…

  • Museo Bagatti Valsecchi entrance.

    Museo Bagatti Valsecchi

    Milan

    Though born a few centuries too late, the Bagatti Valsecchi brothers, Fausto and Giuseppe, were determined to be Renaissance men, and from 1878 to 1887…

  • Isola San Giulio

    Orta San Giulio

    Anchored barely 500m in front of Piazza Mario Motta is Isola San Giulio. The island is dominated by the 12th-century Basilica di San Giulio, full of…

  • Palazzo Morando Museum in Milan, houses the Milan Museum and the Costume Fashion Collection. milan italy April 30, 2018 (Photo by Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Human Interest, Milan, Palazzo Morando, Italy, Architecture, Lifestyle, Culture, House, Milan Fashoin, Milan Fashion Collection, Fashion House

    Palazzo Morando Costume Moda Immagine

    Milan

    Dominating Via Sant'Andrea is the baroque facade of the Palazzo Morando Attendolo Bolognini, home to the Bolognini family until 1945. The personal…

  • Interior of Museo Poldi Pezzoli.

    Museo Poldi Pezzoli

    Milan

    At the age of 24 Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli had inherited not only his family fortune, but also his mother’s love of art. After extensive travels in which…

  • Entrance of the Milan Planetarium

    Civico Planetario Ulrico Hoepli

    Milan

    Deep stargazing has found its place in Italy’s biggest planetarium. Not only will it open your eyes to the wonders of the universe, it does so in very…

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