Duomo & San Babila
So much more than a shopping arcade, the neoclassical Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a soaring structure of iron and glass. Nicknamed 'il salotto di…
Must-see attractions in The Italian Lakes
Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio
This 16th-century royal chapel and one-time Benedictine convent is Milan's hidden crown jewel. Its somewhat sombre facade belies a gorgeous interior,…
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Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci](https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2023-08/3.GallerieLeonardodaVinciLorenzaDaverioMuseoNazion.jpg?auto=format&fit=crop&ar=1:1&q=75&w=1200)
Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio
Kids and would-be inventors will go goggle-eyed at Milan's science museum, the largest of its kind in Italy. It is a fitting tribute in a city where arch…
Milan
Italy’s first Triennale took place in 1923 in Monza. It aimed to promote Italian design and applied arts, and its success led to the construction of…
Parco Archeologico di Castelseprio
Lake Maggiore & Around
Spread out in peaceful woods about 1.5km outside the village of Castelseprio, around 20km south of Varese, is the ancient archaeological site of Sibrium,…
Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri
Central Lombardy
About halfway between Darfo and Edolo, the Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri is a 30-hectare open-air museum containing rock engravings that date…
Biblioteca e Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
Duomo & San Babila
One of Europe’s earliest public libraries (built 1609), the Biblioteca Ambrosiana was more a symbol of intellectual ferment than of quiet scholarship. It…
Lake Maggiore West Bank
Presiding over 10 tiers of spectacular terraced gardens roamed by peacocks, this baroque palace is arguably Lake Maggiore's finest building. Wandering the…
Duomo & San Babila
The blank façade of this 18th-century palace disguises the most extravagant interiors in Milan, including a golden hall frescoed by Tiepolo. It was owned…
Lake Maggiore
One of northern Italy's most spectacularly sited monasteries, Santa Caterina del Sasso clings to the high rocky face of Lago Maggiore's southeast shore…
Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio
Begun by Guiniforte Solari in 1463, with later additions by Bramante, this handsome Lombard church encapsulates the magnificence of the Milanese court of…
Central Lombardy
On the north bank of the Adda river, a short stroll from the centre, this ambitious art installation blends the natural world with the religious in…
Duomo & San Babila
Empress Maria Theresa’s favourite architect, Giuseppe Piermarini, gave this town hall and Visconti palace a neoclassical overhaul in the late 18th century…
Orta San Giulio
Anchored barely 500m in front of Piazza Mario Motta is Isola San Giulio. The island is dominated by the 12th-century Basilica di San Giulio, full of…
Milan
At the age of 24 Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli had inherited not only his family fortune, but also his mother’s love of art. After extensive travels in which…
Chiesa di Santa Maria Presso di San Satiro
Duomo & San Babila
Here’s an escape from the Zara/Benetton/H&M maelstrom on Via Torino. Ludovico Sforza saw potential in this little church built on top of the 9th-century…
Lake Maggiore
A highlight of Laveno is the Funivia, which whisks passengers up to a panoramic spot 949m above sea level, in the shadow of the Sasso del Ferro peak …
Lake Maggiore & Around
Up on Santa Maria del Monte, this beautiful villa and its surrounding gardens house a small but dazzling repository of artworks, with paintings,…
Milan
Giò Ponti's spindly 1933 steel tower (built in two months flat for a Triennale exhibition) provides a fantastic 108m-high viewing platform over Parco…
Lake Maggiore
The chunky medieval Rocca di Angera fortress lords it over the town of Angera in no uncertain terms. From a distance, it is the first thing one sees…
Lake Maggiore West Bank
The closest of the three islands to Verbania, Isola Madre is entirely taken up by the Palazzo Madre and the lovely gardens that surround it. The 16th- to…
Como
Como is flanked to the east and west by steep and thickly wooded hills (scarred in part by the spread of residential housing). Northeast along the…
Lake Garda
The long mountain ridge that towers above the northeast shores of Lake Garda is known as Monte Baldo. Ironically, the name doesn’t refer to its baldness …
Verbania
At Villa Taranto it's all about the gardens (the house itself is not open to the public). The grounds of this late-19th-century villa are one of Lake…
Brescia
Brescia’s impressive archaeological complex cleverly reconstructs the city’s Roman past from fragments first discovered in the 1820s. It consists of three…
Cremona
Cremona's 111m-tall torrazzo (bell tower, although 'torrazzo' translates literally as ‘great, fat tower’) is the third tallest brick bell tower in the…
Lake Maggiore & Around
On a rise north of Varese’s centre, where the high walls of private residences enclose narrow, winding lanes, Villa Panza enjoys beautiful views of the…
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Bergamo
Bergamo's most striking church, begun in 1137, is quite a mishmash of styles. To its whirl of Romanesque apses (on which some external frescoes remain…
Lake Maggiore & Around
The nondescript modern town of Castiglione Olona, 8km south of Varese off the SP42 road, contains a quite extraordinary gem. The old centre was largely…
Lake Orta
Overlooking the forest-lined banks of the shimmering Lake Orta, this shore-hugging village has abundant allure. It occupies a kidney-shaped peninsula with…
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Pavia
The University of Pavia was established in 1361 by Galeazzo II Visconti, although there had been a school of divinity here as early as 825. The oldest…
Bellagio
The grounds of neoclassical Villa Melzi d’Eril are a highlight among Lake Como's (many) delightful places. The villa was built in 1808 for one of Napoleon…
Milan
This stunning, multipurpose exhibition space inhabits a huge former locomotive factory on the outskirts of Milan. Temporary exhibits include smartly…
The Italian Lakes
This enormous park is the green lung of the city; it's also one of the largest enclosed parks in Europe, with some 295 hectares of bello bosco (charming…
The Italian Lakes
The Gothic Duomo, with its white-and-green-banded facade, contains a key early-medieval treasure, the Corona Ferrea (Iron Crown), fashioned according to…
Lake Iseo
Monte Isola towers from the south end of Lake Iseo, making it easily the lake's most intriguing feature. It's Europe's largest lake island, at 4.28 sq km,…
Brescia
The most compelling of all Brescia's religious monuments is the 11th-century Duomo Vecchio, a rare example of a circular-plan Romanesque basilica, built…
Museo per la Storia dell'Università di Pavia
Pavia
Pavia's venerable university is one of the oldest in Europe and is still a thriving seat of learning. Architects Piermarini (author of La Scala) and…
Lake Maggiore
One of the last remaining wooded wetlands in Lombardy, this 400-hectare site has several trails including a lakeside path with fine views across the reed…
The Italian Lakes
One of the most beautiful fortified hilltop towns in Lombardy, Montesegale dates from the 11th century and overlooks the almond and chestnut forests of…
