Visit one of the world's great lakes

Beautiful lakes, since time immemorial, have invited beautiful towns to grow on their shores, and soon became tourist destinations—historically, people came to paint, compose poetry, take strolls though beautifully presented grounds and in more recent times, go swimming and mess about in boats. The stay by Lake Garda or Como is a holiday-maker’s classic from the time before cheap or public air travel, and the appeal is much the same today: gorgeous views, a slower pace of life, civilised entertainment and access to the lake itself. Other lakes have a different appeal. Communities spring up around lakes like Titicaca and as well—so far removed from other cultures, that they develop their own unique ones. Water invites life, and these lakes have lured people throughout history.