As the sun sets over the mountains, young women in summer dresses promenade along the lakefront, Gulf Arab tourists lick ice creams and families tuck into plates of seafood spaghetti in outdoor ...

Spring arguably affords the best views of Lake Como. Alpine peaks frame the view to the north — their white accents contrasting to stunning effect with the green slopes in the middle distance — while ...

“On a clear day, the lake is breathtaking, and you can see Milan from here,” one of the locals says as we ride the historic funicular linking northern Italy’s Como and Brunate. I smile at the thought.

Given Lake Como's current cachet, it might come as a surprise that the northern Italian hotspot was home to Romans long before a certain Hollywood star put it on the map in the last decade. And for ...