Page 46 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Malesco 0¸ # \
SS337
Melezzo \ #
0 ¸
SS631
Falmenta # \
Valle Cannobina
#
3
Parco Cannobio #
Nazionale
Val Grande
2 The Graceful Mergozzo # Ghiffa # \
8
À
SS34
Italian Lakes
Lago di
À
8
Verbania
SS34
# #
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2
Á
Formed at the end of the last ice age, and a popular Baveno 0 ¸ Pallanza \ \ # 9
# \
Laveno
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L
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holiday spot since Roman times, the Italian lakes H Monte l SP394dir Parco Regionale
#
# Stresa
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8
À
p46
Campo dei
have an enduring natural beauty. At Lago Maggiore Mottarone Lago SP1var Fiori
(1491m)
(Lake Maggiore) the palaces of the Borromean Lago Maggiore
d'Orta
Islands lie like a fleet of fine vessels in the gulf, their Orta San # \ Ranco Lago di Riserva
\
#
Monate
Naturale
grand ballrooms and shell-encrusted grottoes once Giulio 0 ¸ # Arona Brabbia
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host to Napoleon and Princess Diana, while the siren 0 ¸
E62
A26
call of Lago di Como (Lake Como) draws Arabian 0 ¸
A8/26
sheikhs and Hollywood movie stars to its discreet
forested slopes. 0 ¸
A26
PIEDMONT
River Sesia
Bella took the name of
TRIP HIGHLIGHT Carlo III’s wife, the
1 Stresa bella Isabella, in the 0 ¸
A4
More than Como and 17th century, when its
centrepiece, Palazzo
Garda, Lago Maggiore Borromeo (%0323 3 05 56;
has retained the belle www.isoleborromee.it; Isola
époque air of its early Bella; adult/child €15/8.50,
tourist heyday. Attracted incl Palazzo Madre adult/child palace, the Galleria dei
by the mild climate and €20.50/10; h9am-5.30pm Quadri (Picture Gallery)
the easy access the new mid-Mar–mid-Oct) was built. is hung with Old Mas-
1855 railway provided, Construction of the villa ters, including Rubens,
the European haute and gardens was thought Titian, Veronese and José
bourgeoisie flocked to out in such a way that Ribera (Spagnoletto).
buy and build grand lake- the island would have the By contrast, Isola
side villas. appearance of a vessel, Madre eschews ostenta-
The star attractions tion for a more romantic,
are the Borromean with the villa at the prow familial atmosphere.
and the gardens dripping
Islands (Isole Borromee) down 10 tiered terraces The 16th- to 18th-
and their palaces. Isola century Palazzo Madre
at the rear. Inside the
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