Italy’s Best Kept Secret: The Smaller Italian Lakes

The three lakes everyone loves to visit during their Italian Lakes Holidays are Lake Maggiore, Lake Garda, and Lake Como.  If you are planning a visit to Lake Maggiore, be sure to read our articles on Stresa hotels and Lake Maggiore hotels.  If you are going to lake Como, you may want to visit several cities, so check out our articles on Varenna hotels, Menaggio hotels, and Tremezzo hotels.  Articles to read if you are interested in an Italian vacation for skiing, we have information a Hotel Bormio guide, a Madesimo guide, and an Ortisei guide.  We have information on Tuscany vacations as well.

The Italian lakes mentioned above are certainly the most popular tourist attractions, but that certainly doesn’t make them the best to visit!  The following lakes are also attractive and worth checking out, but I would recommend going only after you have visited the first main three.  This isn’t because I believe the first three are better in any way, but mostly because if you are a first time visitor, it doesn’t make much sense to skip the most famous attractions of the area.  If you do go, you may want to look into staying at some luxury Italian villas on the lake as well.  That being said, here are some other great Italian Lakes to visit.

Lake Lugano is located between Switzerland and Italy and is named after the city Lugano.  More of the lake is actually in Switzerland than in Italy.  However, if you are in the area, why not make Switzerland another stop on your vacation tour?  Lake Lugano is very famous for the cherry trees that line the shore there.  There is also an abundance of fish in the lake, and fishing is allowed in almost all areas of the lake.  When you are fishing in a lake of this size, it can feel very much like sea fishing.  If you are planning on staying in a hotel while you are there, be sure to read about Hotel Lugano.

Another famous lake is Lake Iseo, which is located between Lake Como and Lake Garda.  It is a in a region of heavy industry, yet it retains that outsanding natural beauty that attracts tourists year after year.  It also has the largest island of any of the lakes of Southern Europe, the island Monte Isola.  If you decide you want to go on Lake Garda holidays, be sure to look into staying at some of the famous Lake Garda villas and Garda hotels.

Another famous lake of the smaller Italian Lakes is Lake Trasimeno.  This lake is very famous for the olives that grow on the hills surrounding the lake.  There are also many vineyards and fruit/vegetable fields in the surrounding regions.

Lake Idro is a lake surrounded by beautiful wooded mountains, and is another popular tourist spot.  Unfortunately, the lake is currently suffering of severe eutrophication problems, and is at the center of conflicts between environmental, agricultural, and electrical interest groups.  In spite of this, it remains a popular tourist destination and is undeniably beautiful.  Hopefully the environmental groups come out on top in this drawn out battle!

So while the first three lakes are extremely important to visit, once you have checked them off your list, go explore some of the other hidden gems Italy has to offer.  The great thing about Italian Holidays is that they never have to be the same trip twice!  There truly is a lot to explore, and you would be doing yourself a disservice to only visit the most popular Italian lakes.

Another area to consider when visiting the Italy is the coastal cities.  You can read information on our Hotel Cervia guide, out Hotel Pisa guide, and our Hotel Alassio guide.  If you are gonna wing it a bit instead of planning your vacation, you can always count on Hotel Italia as a reliable place to stay.

Be sure to keep an open mind on your visit, and be ready for a bit of culture shock.  It may be an eye opener at first and even make you a bit uncomfortable, but you will realize that Italian men and women are some of the most hospitable in the world!