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In 2000–2001, this bastion of fine Milanese cooking was completely overhauled and reopened under the guidance of Carlo Cracco, who once worked in Alain Ducasse’s fabled Montecarlo restaurant. You will find wonderful classics here, including risotto or cotoletta alla milanese and ossobuco (see Culinary Highlights of Lombardy). If the stratospheric prices make you cringe, know that just around the corner at Via Spadari 9 is plain old “Peck”, one of the finest food emporia in Italy, where raw ingredients and prepared dishes can make up a glorious picnic.

Though originally a fiercely loyal satellite of Milan, Crema’s formative period was under the Venetians (1454–1797). It’s a tidy town of white and pink marble façades, a delightful Duomo and a civic museum that includes scores by composer Francesco Cavalli.

This town has been home to some of the world’s finest ever makers of stringed instruments, a craft that reached its pinnacle in the 17th century at the workshop of Antonio Stradivari. It is hardly surprising, then, that Cremona’s top sights are fiddle-oriented: the Raccolta dei Violini is a roomful of exquisite 17th- and 18th-century instruments; while Museo Stradivariano pulls out all the big names in violin-making (Amati, Stradivarius, Guaneri).

Piazza del Comune, Cremona

The city of Mantova is flat, virtually surrounded by lakes and plains that stretch up and down the Mincio River, all of it begging to be explored on two wheels. It’s a welcome break from all the churches and museums that can numb even an avid art fan, and a chance to delve into the more physical side of Italian culture.

Elegant restaurant mixing French and Italian cuisine, famed for its homemade fois gras and polenta slow-cooked over the dining room’s open fireplace.