DK Travel : Milan and the Lakes : Places of interest

Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Gardaland

Italy’s top theme park, by Lake Garda, is a far cry from Disneyland, but it does have roller coasters, a jungle safari and a thrilling water park. It’s a place where older children can be dropped off for a day of fun while the parents drive off to explore those “boring villas and gardens” the kids are probably complaining about right now.
Gardone Riviera

The fruits of Gardone’s long popularity as a resort developed into magnificent villas and gardens, including Hruska and the Vittoriale (see Il Vittoriale, Gardone Riviera, Giardino Botanico Hruska, Gardone Riviera).
Gelato Breaks

Italy’s gelato puts all other ice creams in the world to shame. There are dozens of classic parlours around Milan, including Rachelli (Via Hugo 4), Bastianello (Via Borgogna 5) and Grasso (Viale Doria 17). Elsewhere, be sure there’s the sign “produzione propria ”, indicating that it’s homemade. The true litmus test is to look for natural colours: you want banana that’s naturally (if unappetizingly) grey, not bright yellow.
Giardino Botanico Hruska, Gardone Riviera

This small but lovely set of botanical gardens features more than 2,000 species on a terraced hillside (see Giardino Botanico Hruska, Lake Garda).
Giardino Botanico Hruska, Lake Garda

Arturo Hruska, Swiss dentist to Europe’s royalty in the early and mid-20th century, laid out these sumptuous botanical gardens between 1940 and 1971 (see Giardino Botanico Hruska, Gardone Riviera).
Giardino Sigurtà

Carlo Sigurtà spent 40 years irrigating and planting this barren hillside in order to turn it into one of Italy’s great gardens, with manicured lawns and pathways amid vibrant flower beds and reflecting pools. Hidden along the far western edge are some large enclosures where deer and goats run free. The gardens are a 20-minute drive south of the lake-side.
Gravedona

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

A city as grand as Milan needed a port, so the long pool of the Darsena was dug in the 12th century, with the Naviglio Grande – a 50-km/30-mile canal stretching to the Mincio River (and thence the Po to the Adriatic) – leading into it. Today, the Navigli district is Milan’s most lively, bohemian neighbourhood. Its old warehouses now contain fashionable apartments and the towpaths are lined with restaurants, clubs, bars and shops. Its streets teem nightly with foodies out for a fine meal, young folks cruising the bars and street vendors spreading out sheets and rickety tables to form an impromptu bazaar. This is the only part of the city that stays open during the dog days of August.
Il Vittoriale, Gardone Riviera

This over-the-top villa was built by poet, solider and adventurer Gabriele d’Annunzio, one of Italy’s most flamboyant characters from the turn of the 20th century (see Il Vittoriale, Lake Garda).