Homes on the Italian lakes
Such is the beauty of Italy’s lakes – Maggiore, Como, Garda, Iseo, Orta – that some of the world’s best-known faces have homes here, including George Clooney, Sir Richard Branson, Donatella Versace, Sting and soccer coach Jose Mourinho. The good news is that you can snap up a lovely home in Italy's lakes region on a much more modest budget, as our selection below shows:
  As well as its array of famous residents, Italy’s lakes have such star quality that scenes from the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones from and James Bond adventure Casino Royale were shot here. Going further back in time, the romantic poet Shelley said Lake Como “exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty” while writer Henry James gushed: “One can’t describe the beauty of the Italian lakes, nor would one try if one could.”
Como is especially beautiful at its centre, around Varenna, Menaggio and Bellagio, where it splits into two legs. Bellagio is so pretty it is nicknamed The Pearl of the Lake and many argue it is Europe’s most attractive town. Once you come here you might find it hard to disagree.
Maggiore, like the other lakes, boasts stunning views from more or less its entire shoreline. But its heart is the town of Stresa, which overlooks the Borromeo Gulf and the lake can number Ernest Hemingway, Charles Dickens and Lord Byron among the writers to have sung its praises. And among Garda’s many stunning towns is Sirmione, which sits at the end of a promontory on its southern shores.
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