Villa d'Este

Built in 1568 as a cardinal's summer residence, Villa d'Este became a hotel in 1873 and has been a fixture of European travel ever since. The main building and the adjacent Queen's Pavilion hold around 150 rooms and suites between them, and the ten hectares of gardens - including a sixteenth-century mosaic nymphaeum and an avenue of clipped plane trees - are among the finest on the lake.

The signature feature is the swimming pool, which floats on pontoons out on the water itself, a piece of showmanship that still surprises. Beyond it there are tennis courts, a squash court, a gym, a spa and several restaurants, plus a putting green and watersports off the private jetty.

Cernobbio sits at the southern end of the western branch of Lake Como, two minutes from Como town and about an hour from Milan. The villa hosts the Concorso d'Eleganza classic car event each spring, which is worth avoiding or seeking out depending on temperament. It closes for a short period each winter.