Lombardy offers a pleasant contrast between charming lagoon landscapes, attractive and lively towns and rich and prosperous countryside.
Como is famous for the majestic Cathedral (XIV century), in gothic and renaissance style. We suggest a trip by boat to Tremezzo, where you will be able to visit Villa Carlotta, famous for its garden, which in Spring is full of wonderful camellias, azaleas and rose-bays, and Bellagio with its elegant cafés, situated at the crossing of the two inlets of the Como and Lecco lakes.
Garda Lake is the biggest Italian lake which to the north borders on Trentino, to the west on Lombardy and to the south and east on Veneto.
Gardone Riviera (Brescia) is famous for its park and "the Vittoriale", the famous poet Gabriele D'Annunzio 's Art Déco Style Villa, while Sirmione (Brescia) is dominated by the charming Medieval Fortress of the Scaliger family and there is an important spa.
Stelvio National Park is the largest protected area in Europe: it includes many glaciers and various flower and animal species.
Among winter resorts, we suggest Livigno, an internationally known and duty free resort, with a ski-area of 120 km of slopes covered with snow.
Milan, the world capital of fashion, is the site of the Cathedral, the third largest church of Catholicism, the Romanesque church of St. Ambrose , the Palazzo Visconti (XIV century), Palazzo Litta, Sforza Castle Museum (that lodges the " Pietà Rondanini" of Michelangelo), Brera Picture Gallery (with works by Tintoretto, Mantegna, Piero della Francesca and Canova), the "Last Supper", the famous fresco of Leonardo da Vinci in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie , whose cloister and old sacristy were designed by Bramante.
Bergamo is divided into two different parts, Bergamo Alta , the oldest part of the town, enclosed within city walls , and Bergamo Bassa, developed on the plain below. In Bergamo Alta we suggest visiting the Piazza Vecchia, the Cathedral, the Colleoni Chapel (one of the most important masterpieces of the Lombard Renaissance) and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (XII century).
In Mantova there is the Court of the Renaissance of the Gonzaga Family; magnificent architectonic buildings such as Saint George Castle and Palazzo Ducale are still evidence of this.
Nearby we can find Sabbioneta (named "the little Athens"), one of the few examples of Renaissance towns designed to be an entertainment resort.
Cremona, the birth-place of Stradivari and Monteverdi, is famous for the manufacture of violins and it has the beautiful "Piazza del Comune", with the Cathedral and "the Torrazzo", the tallest medieval tower of Italy and "the Palazzo del Comune".

LOCAL CULINARY SPECIALITIES:
First course : risotto "alla milanese", "pizzoccheri" of Sondrio, "casonséi " of Bergamo, gnocchi and "pumpkin tortelli" of Mantua, "cassoeula".
Second course: boiled meat, fried cutlet Milan style (with a coating of beaten egg and bread crumbs), marrow-bone, fish (above all the chubs and the salmon trouts in Como and Lecco), salami "cacciatorino" of horse), "bresaola" (dry-salted beef) and "cotechino" (big boiled pork sausage); among the cheeses "bitto, valtellina, casera, formai de mut, taleggio, gorgonzola", parmesan cheese, "mascarpone and crescenza"; we remind you of the importance of polenta and mustarda in the lombard gastronomic field.
Desserts: "panettone" ( Milan's classic Christmas cake), "colomba" (Milan's classic Easter cake), nougat (Cremona), "torta paesana and russumada" (Brianza), "torta sbrisolona and l'anello del monaco" (Mantova), "oss de mort, montaccini and giromette" (Varese).
Wines: Pinot nero, Nebbiolo, Chardonnay, Trebbiano, Pinot bianco, Pinot Grigio, Garda, Valtellina, Valcalepio and the Moscato of Scalzo. .

Sirmione's photo: www.sirmione.com