Italy’s lakes have a way of staying with you. Glimpses of blue appear between the trees as you walk through old gardens and at the end of streets that run through elegant lakeside towns. Each lake has its own character, but they share a way of life that gravitates towards the water.

Como is the grandest, with mountains rising steeply from the lake, elegant towns and historic villas hidden among magnificent gardens. Garda feels more outdoorsy, with plenty of room for swimming, sailing, cycling and walking into the mountains. Little Orta is more intimate, its wooded shores gathered around quiet villages and the tiny island of San Giulio, where a single path circles the whole place in twenty minutes.

Boats take you from one town to another, gardens tumble towards the shore and walking trails climb high above it. Some of Italy’s leading wellness hotels make the landscape part of the experience too, with pools, terraces and spas opening out towards the mountains and lake beyond. Swim before breakfast when the water is still glass, walk in the hills, cross the lake for lunch or simply find a garden with a view and stay awhile. However you spend the day, somehow you always find yourself back at the shore.