Pavia
Looming over the old town is the red-brick Castello Visconteo, built in 1360 for Galeazzo II Visconti. Inside the forbidding ramparts is an enormous…
Must-see attractions in The Italian Lakes
Bergamo
Roman remains were discovered during renovations of Bergamo's baroque cathedral, with an interior dating to the 17th century. A rather squat building, it…
Cremona
The Palazzo Comunale has been home to the city's government for hundreds of years. Begun in the 13th century, its arcaded walkways and courtyards were…
Sirmione
Sirmione's oldest church and its crumbling bell tower date from the 14th century, though it was built on the site of a much older temple. The surprisingly…
Pavia
Wander around the historic botanical garden when the Università degli Studi di Pavia is open. It's situated on an area once covered by the convent of Sant…
The Italian Lakes
Classified as one of Italy’s most beautiful medieval villages, Fortunago has just 390 residents who continue to maintain their centuries old way of life…
Lake Como & Around
The prettiest town along the valley floor is Tirano, terminus for trains arriving from Milan via Lake Como and others arriving from Switzerland. At its…
Lake Como
About 9km northeast of Lecco, at Ballabio Superiore, a turnoff west sees you ascend about 8km of switchbacks through wooded country to Piani dei Resinelli…
Lake Iseo
A 9km detour southwest of Sarnico brings you to Grumello del Monte, dominated by a partly overgrown Castello del Grumello, now part of a winery where you…
Lake Garda
This area of pebble beaches, parkland, picnic spots, paddling toddlers and strolling Italian holidaymakers is also the launchpad for many a waterborne…
Bergamo
This impressive fortress is dominated by a round tower that dates from Bergamo's days as a Venetian outpost. La Rocca houses part of the city's history…
Cremona
This beautiful, pedestrian-only piazza is considered one of the best-preserved medieval squares in all Italy. To maintain divisions between Church and…
Lake Como
At Villa Monastero elegant balustrades and statues sit amid exotic shrubs; spiky yucca trees frame lake and mountain views. The villa itself is a former…
Santuario della Madonna del Ghisallo
Lake Como
This tiny 17th-century church is a major destination for cyclists, who long ago began leaving jerseys, bicycles, medals and other objects. The place's…
Lake Garda
No doubt avoiding the summer tourists, Archduke Albrecht preferred to build his winter palace 5km north of Riva in pretty Arco in 1872. Around it he…
Bergamo
Look for the Venetian-inspired countryside and colour palette that defines Lorenzo Lotto's Pala di Santo Spirito (1521), where the Madonna sits beneath a…
Eremo di Sant'Alberto di Butrio
The Italian Lakes
One of the must-see sights of the region is this 11th-century hermitage situated on wooded hillside in the Val di Nizza. Consisting of three inter…
Lake Iseo
A gallery concentrating on Venetian and Lombard art that's been around for nearly 200 years. Look out for works by Jacopo Bellini, Giambattista Tiepolo…
Brescia
The Duomo Nuovo was begun in 1604 but wasn't finished until 1825. Repeated alterations over the centuries make it a bit of a mishmash; the lower part of…
Parco della Grigna Settentrionale
Lake Como
Spread around Grigne massif, this 5000-hectare park encompasses a mix of forests, pastures and rolling mountain peaks. There are some fine trails through…
Bergamo
One for the kids, Bergamo's natural history museum contains a collection of creatures great and small, including a woolly mammoth, a life-size cast of an…
Mantua
The light, neoclassical Cattedrale pales before the magnificence of the Basilica di Sant’Andrea. The facade was erected in the mid-18th century, while the…
Brescia
The Torre dell'Orologio, with its exquisite astrological timepiece, is modelled on the one in Venice's Piazza San Marco.
Lake Garda
It's worth timing a visit to Garda to coincide with its exuberant Friday market, one of the biggest on the lake's eastern bank. Look out for Lake Garda…
Lake Garda
The Romanesque Church of Saint Nick, the patron of fishermen, sits squat by the lapping harbour as it has done since the 11th century. Inside lurk the…
Lake Garda
Paved in waves of marble and brick, Lazise's promenade is the best on this side of Lake Garda. Grab an ice cream, feed the swans and lap up those views.
Cremona
The 12th-century baptistry houses some architectural fragments, including a 12th-century figure of the Archangel Gabriel that once perched on the roof.
Lake Garda
The privately owned Parco Baia delle Sirene rents sun loungers beneath the trees on Punta San Vigilio's beach. Entry is free at sunset.
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…
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 …
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…
Milan
San Simpliciano is one St Ambrose's four Milanese churches, built on a paleo-Christian cemetery with a red-brick Romanesque wrapping. Martyrs Sisinio,…
Milan
The arena was Napoleon’s mini-colosseum, which he opened in flamboyant style with a chariot race in 1807. Built by Luigi Canonica, its design allowed it…
Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Ossa
Milan
This church dates from the 13th century, when its ossuary was used to bury plague victims from nearby San Barnaba hospital. It was rebuilt in rococo style…
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
Milan
This grand neo-Romanesque building houses Milan's natural history museum, complete with dinosaurs, fossils and the largest geology collection in Europe…
Milan
The freestanding row of 16 Corinthian columns from Milan’s Mediolanum heyday were salvaged from a crumbling Roman residence and lined up here to form the…
Brescia
Perhaps beautiful is not the word but this nonetheless fascinating piazza is a leftover of Il Duce's dreams of grandeur. Designed by Marcello Piacentini…
Stresa
An easy 1km walk southeast of central Stresa along the SS33 main road, the Pallavicino is a 19th-century neoclassical villa set in banked lakeside grounds…
Bergamo
The imposing arches and columns of the Palazzo della Ragione sit at the southern end of Piazza Vecchia. Built in the 12th century, it bears the lion of St…
Como
This picturesque villa with extensive gardens is generally open only for special events (conferences, weddings and the like). The grounds, however, open…
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