Lakes, mountains, countryside, and cities - Lombardy offers countless options for your romantic elopement

In the vineyards and cellars of Lombardy, you can take part in the ancient rituals of grape harvesting and pressing and get to know the land where some of the region's best wines are produced

Hiking is an excellent way to enjoy exercise, and Lombardy has some amazing trails for kids and adults to explore in winter. Find out more.

Highest point 2320 mTotal elevation gain 1550 mTotal elevation loss 1550 mTotal climb 18 kmTotal descent 16,5 kmTotal distance 25,4 kmDuration 6-8 hCycling rate (%) 80% This route extends wholly through a valley belonging to the Orobic Alps.  Val  belviso  is  the  last  eastern  valley,  it  is  long,  deep  and  nar-row, but along the path going south from Alpe Magnolta to Passo di Venerocolo it seems bright and wide. The outline of Monte Torena  –  the  last  high  peak  of  Orobic  Alps  –  dominates  the  other  side  westwards reflecting its shape into the waters of the huge artificial lake on the valley bottom. Once you get to the pass dividing us from the  Province  of  bergamo,  you  will  find  some  alpine  lakes  wedged  among  the  rocks  and  the  grassy  small  hills.  The  descent  runs  on  a  trail at first and then turns into a dirt road through the whole valley, both alongside the lake and under the dam. In San Paolo the Rifugio Cristina is a nice place to grab calories and shelter. You can  start  from  the  car  park  nearby  Magnolta  ski  runs  and  take  the dirt road climbing up to the left of the cableway. The sign indicates  Malga  Magnolta  and  Passo  Venerocolo.  You  can  easily  cycle on the first half of the uphill dirt road, which then gets much steeper  from  the  mountain  huts  in  Corna  Alta  (1457  m)  to  the  finish  of  the  cableway  (1870  m),  so  that  you  may  need  to  carry  your  MTb.  This  is  a  challenging  ascent  but  in  summertime  you  can  use  the lift up to Magnolta. Halfway up the second ski lift, at 1940 meters, the track becomes a flat trail, which goes into the wood, turns south and enters Val belviso. you have to ride for about 13 km on a flat path going sometimes gently uphill, going past Malga Magnola (1997 m) and crossing the Valle del latte and the Valle di Pisa.  You have  to  pay  attention  to  some  exposed  stretches.  The  first  part  of  the  descent  from  Passo  di  Venerocolo  (2314  m)  to  the  dirt  road  at  2000 meters above Malga di Campo (1816 m) is steep and not very flowing. The downhill ride alongside the artificial lake and through the  remaining  part  of  Val  belviso  does  not  hinder  your  fun.  The  route ends with the ascent on a paved road from Ponte Ganda (906 m) to the resort town of Aprica.

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Christmas dinner in Lombardy: the most famous dishes of the region's festive culinary tradition, from starter to dessert

From Via Francigena to the Cadorna Line. Discover where to see the autumn colours in Lombardy

From Lake Garda to Valtellina by way of Milan. Among crenellated walls, towers and porticoed loggias

Lombardy is an ancient land, steeped in history and full of charm: its welcoming and generous lands have been home to many different peoples and cultures: the Etruscans and the Umbrians until 400 BC, followed by the Gauls, Romans, Barbarians and Lombards, and then again, in more recent centuries, the French and Spanish.   Their culture, traditions, customs and myths survive in the legends, the tales and the rural, architectural and religious works that tell us today about the lives and secrets of times past. Of course, the stories lose their detail over time, leaving gaps which are filled by mysteries. Here are 5 destinations for an unusual visit to Lombardy. In Rezzato (province of Brescia), for example, in the wood surrounding an ancient Franciscan monastery, hides a strange, centuries-old curiosity: it is said to represent the face of the devil...    Face to face with the devil, at San Pietro in Colle In Brescian dialect they call it “Diaol” or “Mostasù”, meaning 'ugly face', and it is not easy to find. And it's even harder to understand. As you step deep into the wood on the hill where the Franciscan monastery of San Pietro in Colle (11th C) stands in Rezzato, you come to the Rasa path that leads from the building and takes you among the ancient trees, until you reach the large rock between the path and the slope. Look carefully, and carved into the rock you will see a disturbing bas-relief: "the face of the devil", a face that is half-human, half-beast, the guardian of this ancient spot. Numerous legends surround the face, some going back to the mysterious date (1798) engraved in the stone, relating to a man's death, and others saying that it is the very face of a demon and that witches' Sabbaths were held in the sacred wood. Between the faun and the satyr, Mostasù, more prosaically, resembles the Green Man, the Celtic guardian spirit of the woods, also known as Pan, the ancient god of fauna and fertility.   How many ribs does a dragon have?The Santuario della Madonna di Sombreno in Paladina (1443) and the Romanesque Basilica of San Giorgio in Lemine, Almenno San Salvatore (1171), both in the province of Bergamo, share an extraordinary curiosity. From the roofs of these two ancient buildings, since the beginning of time, the ribs of a dragon have hung! Legend has it that these ancient relics belonged to the ferocious dragon that lived near the Brembo, later slayed by Saint George. A symbol of the victory of good over evil, the mythical dragon's ribs are, in fact,... those of a whale. A cetacean even older than the dragon, dating back 5 million years, to the Pliocene Epoch, when Lombardy was submerged in what is now the Adriatic Sea.     Erratic blocks and rock tombs of the Lario Triangle In the areas of Torno and Blevio in the heart of the Lario Triangle (province of Como), two impressive blocks of rock, the mushroom-shaped Pietra Pendula and the Pietra Nairola, a large flat table jutting out of the mountain, attract the curious tourists. As the legend goes, the devil liked to play ball on the Pietra Nairola and the protruding, balancing part of the rock is the work of the Madonna.  In fact, they are erratic blocks, large isolated masses of rock, transported from glaciers during the Quaternary Period. Some are natural monuments, recognised by the Region of Lombardy in 1984. In Torno, you will also find mysterious bathtub-shaped rock tombs (5th-6th Cent. AD) dug into erratic blocks: the tombs of Maas, Rasina, Piazz, Negrenza…

Fountains and springs, the natural oases of Lower Lombardy