Lombardy trip planner

Milan is Italy's economic powerhouse, a bustling modern city of finance and industry, media empires and fashion houses, political lions and Michelin-starred restaurants. It also boasts an impressive cultural heritage of important art galleries, ancient churches, a statue-studded Duomo, the famed La Scala opera house, and one can't-miss Italian icon: Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper... » more

The long, shimmering tendrils of the Italian Lakes—Como, Garda, Maggiore, Iseo, Orta, and others—are snuggled into the deep-cleft valleys of the foothills where the broad, fertile, and industrious plains of the Po River Valley wash up against the mighty, craggy peaks of the Alps and the Dolomites. These lakeshores are strung with fishing villages, medieval castles, lavish Renaissance palazzi and Neoclassical villas, ancient ruins, and sumptuous gardens spilling right down the water's edge... » more

The Franciacorta wine region is famous for both light red and beefy whites (think: Chardonnay), but mostly for Franciacorta DOCG, a Brut ranked among the top sparkling whites in Italy... » more

Along trails snaking through the slopes of the pre-Alpine valleys of eastern Lombardy, the prehistoric Camuni tribes etched half-exposed rock faces with more than 300,000 images of humans, animals, houses, symbols, and inscrutable art... » more