Lombardy

Milan polarises people in a way that only cities with genuine character manage to do. The fashion weeks, the design fair, the financial district, the contemporary art scene: these are all real, and they coexist with a food culture of remarkable seriousness — the risotto alla milanese, the cotoletta, the ossobuco, the Navigli canal bars that function as the city's informal living room at six in the evening. Beyond Milan, Lombardy is the lakes region: Como, Maggiore, Iseo, and Garda, each with its own character, its own cuisine, its own relationship between water and Alpine backdrop.Our Lombardy coverage covers both: the sophisticated city at its operational best and the lake landscapes that have been attracting European travellers since the eighteenth century.