Lake Garda

Photo by flickr user BestKevin

The largest of northern Italy's great lakes is a world of its own. With a southern microclimate - there are cypresses, vines, olive trees and citrus groves - it's like a little sea, with little ports and little vessels and little storms that blow up from nowhere. The southern end broadens into two bays sheltered by the Sirmione peninsula in between; the north narrows fjord-like into a rocky cleft between high cliffs on the west and Monte Baldo on the east. Try and avoid high season when the tourists in the pretty lakeside towns can be wearisome. The pick of places to stay on Garda's shores represents every genre of Italian hotel, from farm accommodation (agriturismo) and old-fashioned pensione to one of the most luxurious hotels in Europe. The order by which the hotels are listed bears no reflection on our preference.

Written by Fiona Duncan, Leonie Glass