Hotels to remember: Lombardy

Lakes, mountains and fertile plains surround Milan, Italy's one true metropolis: the country's financial capital, and international flagship of fashion and design.

Wealthy, modern, and densely populated, it was during the so-called "Economic miracle" of the 60's, and the great changes that this brought about, that Lombardy secured its dominating role in the economic growth of Italy. This, one of the peninsula's few land-locked regions, is rich in sites of great geographical and historical interest, possessing many of Italy's most impressive and, perhaps, least expected, areas of natural beauty and artistic significance: from its capital, Milan, home of designer fashion and the Scala opera house, to the elegant cities of Brescia, Bergamo, and Cremona; from its romantic lakes and the rivers which run through its valleys, to its majestic snow-topped mountains.