Italy Lake Country

At the top of the Italian boot, where the peninsula attaches to the rest of Europe, an exquisite necklace of deepwater lakes nestles among the foothills of the Alps.

Lago di Garda (Italy’s largest lake), Lago di Como, Lago Maggiore, Lago d’Orta and a handful of satellite lakes are scattered from east to west. Between them, forests, rolling meadows and impossibly quaint little villages fill out a panorama that poets and writers—from Virgil to Hemingway—have gone gushy over for centuries. Lord Byron described it as “paradise on earth.” Victorian novelist Henry James was so swept away by the lake district, he advised against even bringing it up: “One can’t describe the beauty of the Italian Lakes,” he wrote, “nor would one try if one could.”

Nobody took him seriously on this point, least of all photographers. The whole region is a cache of irresistible photo opportunities. I recently got to dabble up there with my camera during a weeklong autumn visit—connecting by car from nearby Milan, and exploring on foot and bicycle. This is a time of year so totally off-season for tourists, you feel that the fairytale world at lakeside is your personal playground. Water-sport crowds jam the shoreline during the toasty summer months (the lakes are world headquarters for windsurfers, sailors and the like), but fall is unhurried and tranquil, great for setting up spectacular, uncluttered scenes. Despite their chilly alpine background, all the lakes are no higher than sea level, with amazingly temperate Mediterranean climates—warm enough year round to support olive groves, vineyards and palm trees. Here’s a smattering of images and some thoughts on visiting this photogenic stretch of Italy:

Jim Cornfield, a regular contributor to Rangefinder, is a veteran photographer and travel writer based in Malibu Canyon, CA.