Let’s have an aperitivo on the water, and then come back for dinner” suggests the frontispiece of a menu at a restaurant overlooking Lake Como’s sparkling shores. This just so happens to be the perfect way to spend an October weekend, but what is it about this particular Northern Italian lake?

Foreigners have been drawn to Lake Como due, in part, to its popularity among A-listers, but it’s just one of several crystal clear lakes that studs the Northern Italian landscape. Long, straight, and precipitous, Como offers neither the respite of Garda, Italy’s largest lake spanning the Veneto, Lombardy, and Trentino-Alto Adige, nor the scenic impact of Maggiore, the stupendous alpine lake sprawled between Italy and Switzerland.