Milan, Lombardy and the Lakes

It's tempting to describe Lombardy as a region that offers something for everyone. Milan is the country's business capital and the center for everything that's up-to-the-minute. The great Renaissance cities of the Po Plain—Pavia, Cremona, and Mantua—are stately and serene, embracing their past with nostalgia while ever keeping an eye on the present. Topping any list of the region's attractions are the lakes—glacial waters stretching out below the Alps—which have been praised as the closest thing to paradise by writers throughout the ages, from Virgil to Hemingway.

Millions of travelers have concurred: for sheer beauty, the lakes of northern Italy—Como, Maggiore, Garda, and Orta—have few equals. Along their shores are 18th- and 19th-century villas, exotic formal gardens, sleepy villages, and dozens of resorts that were once Europe's most fashionable, and still retain a powerful allure.

Milan can be disappointingly modern—a little too much like the place you've come to Italy to escape—but its historic buildings and art collections in many ways rival those of Florence and Rome. And if you love to shop, Milan is a mecca. It truly offers a fashion experience for every taste, from Corso Buenos Aires, which has a higher ratio of stores per square foot than anywhere else in Europe, to upscale but affordable Corso Vercelli and elegant Via Montenapoleone, where there is no limit on what you can spend. Milan is home to global fashion giants such as Armani, Prada, and Trussardi; behind these famous names stands a host of smaller, less-renowned designers who help fill all those fabulous shops.

Less »