november-December | DESTINAZIONE: lombardia

Our staff has had the delight of visiting Lombardia three different times, but each approach was from a different direction, and to a different part of the region, so it took an extra memory-bump to realize just how much time we’ve spent there.

Lombardia’s capital, Milan, holds a special charm if one takes the time to explore, but Bergamo and Mantova are two underexplored cities in the region that are absolute favorites of ours. As if the fascinating history, art, architecture, and hospitality of these two hidden gems wasn’t enough, the local foods – especially the pastry – were some of the best we had on our entire trip, and found nowhere else in Italy.

Milan, Mantova, and Bergamo all hold proud historical weight in their individual independence – Milan, in fact, was the longest-running independent dynasty in Italy – leading to a special richness of unique discoveries in the valleys of Lombardia. We can’t wait to return.