The water is so clear that you can count the stones on the bottom twenty metres down. At Lake Bled in Slovenia, the reflection of the medieval castle on the cliff and the island church creates a symmetry so perfect that the photograph looks like a mirror trick. A wooden rowboat, called a pletna, takes you across the glassy surface to the island, where a tradition holds that if you ring the church bell and make a wish, it will come true. The oar dips into the water and the ripples spread outward in concentric circles, the only disturbance on a surface that seems too calm to be real.
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The Italian Lakes: Como, Garda, and Maggiore
Lake Como is the most famous of the Italian lakes, and the view from the town of Bellagio at the tip of the promontory where the lake splits into three branches is the most photographed scene in the region. The mountains rise steeply from the water, their lower slopes covered in a patchwork of olive groves, vineyards, and the grand villas that have attracted visitors since Roman times. Villa del Balbianello, built on a wooded promontory near Lenno, was used as a location in the Star Wars films, and its terraced gardens offer a view across the lake that is worth the 20 euro entry fee. The lake is at its best in spring, when the wisteria is in bloom and the gardens are at their most spectacular, or in autumn, when the tourist crowds have thinned and the foothills turn gold.
Lake Garda is larger, wilder, and more varied than Como. The northern end, around Riva del Garda, is dominated by the Dolomites, which rise directly from the water. The wind that funnels through the valley makes this one of the best windsurfing destinations in Europe, with consistent breezes from spring through autumn. The southern end is gentler, with olive groves, lemon houses, and the town of Sirmione, a medieval village on a narrow peninsula that extends into the lake. The Grotte di Catullo, the ruins of a vast Roman villa at the tip of the peninsula, offers a view across the entire southern basin. Entry costs about 10 euros, and the site is most atmospheric at sunset.
Lake Maggiore, shared between Italy and Switzerland, is the most elegant of the three, with the Borromean Islands at its centre providing a focal point that the other lakes lack. Isola Bella is dominated by a seventeenth-century palace and its ten-tiered Baroque gardens, planted with exotic species and decorated with statues, fountains, and grottoes. Isola dei Pescatori, the only inhabited island, offers a more authentic experience, with a fishing village, a handful of restaurants, and a pace of life unchanged for centuries.
The Swiss and Austrian Lakes
Lake Geneva, the largest lake in the Alps, stretches for 73 kilometres along the border between Switzerland and France. The view from the Chateau de Chillon at Montreux is one of the great landscapes of Europe. The castle, built on a rocky island just offshore, was made famous by Lord Byron’s poem “The Prisoner of Chillon,” and the underground dungeon where the prisoner was held is still visible. The Lavaux vineyards, a UNESCO World heritage site, climb the slopes above the lake in terraces cultivated since the eleventh century.
Lake Hallstatt in Austria is the centrepiece of the Salzkammergut region, a landscape of lakes and mountains recognised as a UNESCO World heritage site. The town of Hallstatt, squeezed between the lake and the mountains, is so picturesque that it has been recreated in replica form in China. The lake water is so pure that it is drinkable, and the surrounding mountains, with their dark pine forests and limestone cliffs, create a setting that feels theatrical in its perfection. The funicular to the Salzbergwerk, the salt mine above the town, offers a view down the entire length of the lake, with the town appearing as a cluster of toy houses on the shore.
Eastern European Lakes: Plitvice and Bled
The Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is a hydrological phenomenon unlike any other in Europe. Sixteen lakes are connected by a series of waterfalls, cascades, and travertine dams that have formed over thousands of years as mineral deposits from the water built up into natural barriers. The water is a shade of turquoise that seems impossible, coloured by the minerals and the sunlight. The walkways wind across the lakes on a network of wooden boardwalks that keep you close to the water, so close that you can feel the spray from the waterfalls and hear the roar of the larger cascades from hundreds of metres away. Entry costs between 10 and 40 euros depending on the season, and the park is at its most spectacular in the spring, when the snowmelt feeds the waterfalls at their fullest.
Lake Bled, with its island church and cliff-top castle, is the more tranquil alternative. The lake is small enough to walk around in about an hour, and the path through the forest on the far side offers views of the castle that are more dramatic than those from the town. The cream cake, kremna rezina, served at the Park Hotel, has been made to the same recipe since 1953. The lake is quieter in the early morning, when the mist rising from the water gives the scene a soft focus quality that the midday sun flattens.
Have you rung the bell on Bled Island, sailed the wind on Lake Garda, or walked the boardwalks at Plitvice? Which European lake felt like it belonged in a dream?
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