Italian Lakes overview

The Italian Lakes in the foothills of the Alps are outstandingly beautiful and have been the playground of the rich and famous for centuries.

Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta
Lake Maggiore boasts a snow-capped mountain backdrop to the enchanting Borromeo Islands, whilst the grand imposing slopes around tranquil Lake Orta are home to palatial houses, demure facades and quiet piazzas.

Specifically due to plethora of flowers and luxurious plants and because of its exceptionally mild climate, the land around Lake Maggiore is often termed The Garden of Europe. It is said that the translucent quality of Lake Maggiore is due to the teardrops of unrequited lovers and romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, and Ruskin.

Originally known as Lago di Giulio after Saint Julius the patron saint of the region, and occasionally by its poetic name, Cusio. Lake Orta, to the west of Lake Maggiore is at an altitude of 290m. It is much smaller than Lake Maggiore, exceedingly tranquil, and prettily surrounded by mountains and luxurious vegetation.

Lake Como
Lake Como is the deepest of the Italian lakes and boasts the longest shoreline. It is surely the most enchantingly romantic with a rugged beauty of soaring mountain peaks, gentle foothills and lakeside towns and small villages. It has attracted scores of composers, artists and poets from Verdi and Liszt, to Wordsworth, Shelley and Byron, plus the rich and famous including Pliny the Younger and George Clooney!

Lake Garda
The largest and most eastern of the Italian Lakes, Lake Garda, features fjord-like cliffs in the north, and gentle hills covered with vineyards, olive groves and lemon orchards in the south. It boasts a wonderful Mediterranean-type climate with mild summers and mellow winters, and due to its clear clean waters, is a particular favourite for swimming, windsurfing and sailing.

Lake Iseo
Lake Iseo, relatively unknown outside Italy, enjoys an alpine setting of incomparable beauty surrounded by wooded mountains. Iseo is 24km long and up to 5km wide, although the width is not obvious as the largest island in a lake, Monte Isola, in Europe perches in the centre of the lake. Easily reached by ferry, the island offers pleasant walks, bike rides and delightful restaurants serving fish straight out of the surrounding waters.