ITALIAN LAKES and Enchanting Rivers

Lake Maggiore is one of the most beautiful Italian lakes and has enchanted the great Italian and foreign artists who have stayed here. It is believed to be the largest of the pre-Alpine lakes, hence the name "Maggiore", it is of glacial origin and its banks are in Lombardy, Piedmont and Switzerland. Surrounded by mountains and hills that shelter it from the cold northern winds, the lake has the Ticino River among its tributaries, a historic water route connecting the Po Valley to Central Europe.

Lake Como, in Lombardy, is the luxury tourist area famous for the spectacular landscape at the end of the Prealps. The shape of the pelvis resembles an inverted "Y", with three thin branches that converge at Bellagio. At the bottom of the south-western branch there is Como, known for its examples of Renaissance architecture and for a funicular railway that goes up to the mountain resort of Brunate.

Poets and politicians, divas and dictators, they've all been drawn to captivating Lake Garda (Lago di Garda). In fact, 7% of all tourists to Italy head for the lake’s shores, taking to its wind-ruffled waters in the north and village- and vineyard-hopping in the south. Surrounded by three distinct regions – Lombardy, Trentino Alto-Adige and the Veneto – the lake’s cultural diversity attracts a cosmopolitan crowd. Mitteleuropeans colonise northern resorts such as Riva del Garda and Torbole, where restaurants serve air-dried ham and Austrian-style carne salada (salted beef), while in the south, French and Italian families bed down in Valtenesi farmhouses and family-friendly spa towns such as Sirmione and Bardolino.

Verona is a city in the Veneto region in northern Italy. Its historic center, built in a bend in the Adige river, back to the medieval times. Verona is known for being the city of Romeo and Juliet, the characters of the amazing Shakespeare's work, and it is no coincidence that it houses a 16th century building called "Juliet's house", with a delightful balcony overlooking a courtyard. The Verona Arena, the great Roman amphitheater of the first century, nowadays hosts concerts and operas.