Introduction to Northern Italy

Northern Italy's riches are vast, varied, and yours to discover, from art-packed museums and mosaic-filled cathedrals to Roman ruins and hill towns amid vineyards that produce some of Europe's best wines. You can dine at refined restaurants that casually flaunt their Michelin star ratings, or chow down with the town priest and police chief at osterie (small local eateries) that have spent generations perfecting traditional recipes. You can spend the night in a sumptuous Renaissance villa on Lake Como in the Alpine foothills where Napoléon once stayed (the Villa d'Este), or in a converted 17th-century Venetian palazzo where the room opens directly onto the Grand Canal but costs a mere $140 (the Hotel Galleria).