Discover the unspoilt Lake Iseo

 

With a surface of about 65 squared km, Lake Iseo is big enough for sailing and diving.

From Pietrasanta (my first pick for late summer escapes), driving 250 km north along the A15 motorway, you get to Lake Iseo – the fourth biggest lake in Italy, with a surface of about 65 km². Surrounded by vineyards and olive tree fields, Lake Iseo is a secret gem, little-known even among Italians, considerable less touristy and crowded than its famous brothers Lake Garda and Como. 

One of the main attractions of the lake is Monte Isola, the largest inhabited lake island in Europe. Only 3km long and 600m above sea level at its highest point, Monte Isola is a true mountain, which divides the centre of the lake into two canals. The place is car free – only the local doctor, mayor and police are allowed four wheels – and the 1,800 inhabitants circulate with scooter or Vespas. The best way to explore the island and enjoy its wonderful views is hiring a bicycle. 

Monte Isola isn’t the lake’s only island. There are two other smaller islets – San Paolo and Loreto – both privately

The Hotel Rivalago offer its guests the possibility to hire a private boats directly from the hotel

 owned with very exclusive settings. The inventors of Beretta firearms bought San Paolo in 1915 and built a Neo-Gothic villa. Loreto, which once was home to a religious order, the Poor Clares, today hosts a private villa that looks like a Gaudí-esque folly.

If you are after a peaceful, charming and panoramic setting, stay at Hotel Rivalago on the shore of Lake Iseo (the hotel name means ‘lake-shore’). The four-star hotel is an elegant country style villa with 32 rooms, a terrace/garden overlooking the Monte Isola as well as a swimming pool right on the edge of the lake. Located in the historic centre of Sulzano, it is just a short walk across a labyrinth of tiny alleys to the boat departure point.(http://www.rivalago.it/ENG/Home.asp)

Lake Iseo, also known as Lake Sebino, was formed by the Valcamonica Glacier.

Fishing is a popular activity among locals, as a sport as well as an economic resource – apparently n 1935, more than 300 families earned their living as fishermen. The lake is full of fish (sardines, perch, whitefish, pike, trout, tench and small salmon) which are served at restaurants all around its shores. In Marone, the restaurant ‘Alla Galleria’ located in the 15th century Villa Bagnadore offers a spectacular view from its lakeside terrace, fresh-water fish dishes and wines from the local Franciacorta vineyards.

Franciacorta is one of the most important wine-regions of North-Italy, well known by wine connaisseurs. The charming vineyards, with rustic buildings and old mansion houses, recall the feeling of Tuscany,  which is my last pick for late summer escapes. Find out more in my next post.

How to enjoy quieter beaches, cooler temperatures and cheaper prices

Are you booking your next holiday to beat the post vacation blues? Or do you take your break off season? Here is my pick of late summer escapes in Italy. 

By the sea – Pietrasanta 

Botero’s chubby warrior guards the entrance to Pietrasanta.

“I love living in Pietrasanta… It is a marvelous place, with no comparisons in the arts and scenic beauty…” said the Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero in one of his interviews. Many artists, Botero for one, have chosen this medieval town 3km off the coast of northern Tuscany as the place where to work and live. The area has been famous for the purity and high quality of its marble  since Michelangelo began quarrying marble on the nearby Monte Altissimo in the sixteenth century. (The Marble Arch in London is made with local marble.)

 The hearth of the town is the Piazza del Duomo, from where the cobblestone streets and twisted alleyways radiate. Artists’ studios mingle with small boutiques and local restaurants among the wooden shutters and ochre washed buildings.

Next to Pietrasanta there is Marina di Pietrasanta, a seaside resort of the

The D'Annunzio suite at Palazzo Visdomini.

 Versilia Riviera with a 4km long and up to 200 mt wide beach. Going off-season, you wont find the beach covered by sun-burnt people lined up like sardines in cans.

Looking for an accommodation? Palazzo Visdomini  is an oasis of luxury with a private-home atmosphere right in the historic centre of Pietrasanta. Six luxury suites have been realized in this palace which once belonged to a noble Florentine family. The suites are all decorated with original furnishing and pieces of the 18^th century. In the ground floor there is a homely kitchen leading out to the veranda overlooking the garden with the swimming pool. (http://www.residenzapalazzovisdomini.com/)

Next time I will go from the salt to the fresh water. Follow me!