Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The top sleeping option in Varenna is
Albergo Milano
( 0341 83 02 98;
www.varenna.net
;
Via XX Settembre 35, Varenna; s €115-125, d €140-180; )
, nestled half-way up the slope
and offering 12 rooms with magnificent lake views and a super cocktail terrace. There's
also a good on-site restaurant.
Eating choices include
Osteria Quattro Pass
( 0341 81 50 91;
www.quattropass.com
;
Via XX
Settembre 20; meals €35-40; noon-3pm & 6.30-9.30pm daily Jun-Aug, Thu-Sun only Sep-May)
, situ-
ated back from the waterfront, and
Ristorante La Vista
( 0341 83 02 98;
www.varenna.net/eng/
ristorante-lavista.php
;
Via XX Settembre 35; 3-/4-course set menus €38/45, meals €35-40; 7-10pm
Wed-Sat & Mon mid-Mar-late Oct )
with a terrace and nouvelle lake cuisine for diehard ro-
mantics.
Varenna's
tourist office
( 0341 83 03 67;
www.varennaitaly.com
;
Via del IV Novembre 7;
9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6.30pm Tue-Sat, 9.30am-12.30pm Sun Jul, shorter hours rest of year)
offers in-
formation on the lake's entire eastern shore.
WORTH A TRIP
VALLE CAMONICA
Northeast of Lago d'Iseo, the Valle Camonica is dotted with Unesco-heritage rock carvings concen-
trated in several sites around the small town of
Capo di Ponte
(
www.capodiponte.eu
) . The main site
is the
Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri
( 0364 4 21 40;
www.arterupestre.it
;
Località
Naquane; admission €4; 9am-5.30pm Mar-Oct, to 4pm Nov-Feb) , a 30-hectare open-air museum
containing rock engravings dating as far back as the Bronze Age. Colour-coded paths lead you past
vast rock slabs that seem to have been created specifically for people to clamber around and chisel in
their artistic vision of animals (among them an extravagantly antlered deer) and fellow villagers.
Especially rich is Rock No 1 (aka Roccia Grande). If driving, you'll be charged €2 to park at the start
of the path.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Lago d'Iseo
Cradled in a deep glacial valley, less than 50km from both Bergamo and Brescia, Lago d'
Iseo (aka Sebino) is one of the least known of the Lombard lakes. Shut in by soaring
mountains, it is a magnificent sight. To the lake's north stretches the
Valle Camonica
,
renowned for its Stone Age rock carvings. To the south stretches the rolling
Franciacorta
wine country, and to the west the picture-book-pretty
Lake Endine
.
