Glitzy Como, sporty Garda, refined Maggiore – these are the A-listers of the Italian lakes. Little Lago d'Iseo hardly gets a mention by comparison. The pages of the brochures are distinctly empty of its name. Therein lies the charm, the reason why this hidden S-bend of water in the Lombard Alps is surely among the best lakes in the country.

Snaking from the vineyard-cloaked hills of Franciacorta in the south all the way to the base of the Val Camonica, where ancient cave paintings hide in the caverns and the River Oglio bleeds down from the glaciers, Iseo certainly has the looks to rival its compadres.