DK Travel : Milan and the Lakes

Milan is Italy’s economic powerhouse, a bustling city of finance and industry, media empires and fashion houses, backed up by an impressive cultural heritage of important art galleries and ancient churches. Yet a 40-minute train ride takes you to the azure pools of “the lakes”, lined with fishing villages, villas and laid-back resorts.

Grand Hotel Menaggio

This 19th-century villa retains a Belle Époque air, but rooms are modern.
Grand Hotel Tremezzo

The gardens of this 1910 hotel are worthy of neighbouring Villa Carlotta. The opulence extends to the highly impressive rooms.
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio

Bellagio’s most elegant summer villa was transformed into this fine hotel in 1873. Rooms vary widely, though all are luxurious. The mini-apartments stay open year-round, as do the gym, beauty centre and indoor pool.
Grand Hotel, Locarno

In 1925, European leaders met in this grand dame of a hotel to sign the Locarno Treaty (which failed to prevent World War II). Public spaces are Belle Époque genteel; rooms are modern.
Grand Prix, Monza

The biggest Formula One race of the year takes place in mid-September. At other times, you can still watch macho men driving cars at mind-boggling speeds from April through to October.
Grappa

Italy’s firewater is a digestivo (“digestive” liqueur) distilled from the leftovers of the grape-squeezing process.
Gravedona

The town has two excellent medieval churches: Santa Maria del Tiglio and, up on the hillside, Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Grifone, Sirmione

A delightful budget hotel that’s fairly quiet and right on the lake with its own private beach.
Gritti

Blandly modern but friendly three-star place on a quiet piazza. The elderly owner is always around to keep an eye on things, and the location and amenities (A/C, mini-bar, TV) make it a steal.
Grotte di Catullo, Sirmione

Though the ancient Roman poet Catullus did take his holidays at Sirmione, there’s no evidence to suggest that this vast, ancient house at the very tip of Sirmione’s peninsula was actually his villa – in fact, it was probably built after Catullus’s death, sometime in the 1st century BC. It is the best surviving example of a Roman private home in northern Italy, but this didn’t stop it being mis-named a “grotto”, the result of the romantically overgrown and cave-like state it had assumed by the Middle Ages.

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Hotel price categories

For a standard, double room per night (with breakfast if included), taxes and extra charges.
- under €110
- €110-€160
- €160-€210
- €210-€270
- over €270