Alpine Adventure: Bavaria to Lake Como

Effortless style, warm summers and cold al fresco beers: little wonder Munich is wryly described as Italy’s most northern city. And yet the Bavarian capital is Germany at its most quintessential: the home of Oktoberfest and lederhosen, rococo palaces and BMW. In this former royal capital in the shadow of the Alps, days can be spent drifting from one world-class art gallery to the next, hitting the boutiques of Maximilianstrasse or idling by the banks of the Eisbach as it ripples through the vast English Garden.

Set on a crystal clear lake, surrounded by snow-smattered peaks and nicknamed the City of Light, Lucerne makes a convincing case for the title of Switzerland’s most scenic city. And those are merely its natural charms: the old town’s timbered houses and cobbled squares, ornate bridges and balconies brimming with flowers, medieval churches and art-filled museums are as romantic as the Turner paintings the place inspired. Indeed, Lucerne may leave you lovestruck.

The name alone evokes grand, stuccoed daydreams, and Lake Como is old-school glamour at its finest. It’s long been a high-rolling hideaway for the rich and famous, who while away their summers on cypress-shaded terraces of vast private villas. But the destination outshines any A-lister: reaching through the lush, green foothills of the Italian Alps, the three-armed lake is the jewel in Lombardy’s crown, where winding roads link pretty villages and ferries criss-cross the water, whisking passengers from one immaculately landscaped garden party to the next.