Travel

Lake Iseo, Italy

travel videos & photos at: https://townsofeurope.com/ with text, maps & links. 00:00 intro 00:30 map 00:43 train to 01:09 arrival 01:35 early stroll around town 02:08 Piazza Garibaldi 03:06 back lanes 03:43 waterfront, to boat ride 05:09 Sensole 05:50 Peschiera Maraglio 1 06:31 Sulzano 07:22 Sale Marasino 07:42 Carzano 08:13 Tavernola 08:30 Isola di Loreto 08:58 Peschiera 10:07 map of Monte Isola 10:20 Peschiera walk 11:17 ferry to Iseo 11:53 back to Iseo 12:09 more crowded 12:40 Iseo walking 13:15 cafe snacks 13:30 cats 13:49 more little lanes 14:26 Cafe Letterario Eden 15:00 Chiesa di Santa Maria del Mercato 15:24 Piazza 15:58 train north 16:48 Pisogne 17:11 Darfo 18:11 cats again There is something magical about being on a lake, especially when you're in the north of Italy, on Lake Iseo, dotted with picturesque villages along the shore, some like this one on an island in the middle of the lake. You can easily get around by boat, which lead out from the beautiful town of Iseo, located right along the shore with a marina, piazzas, little lanes and shops and restaurants. Lake Iseo is not as well known or as busy as the other lakes up here in the Italian Lake District. Like its famous neighbors of Lake Maggiore, Lugano, Como and Lake Garda. You can reach Iseo conveniently by train, such as from the nearby city of Brescia, just 25 minutes away. That costs less than 5 euro, and you will enjoy some beautiful scenery along that short ride, with the train station located right in town, just about a 300-meter walk down to the waterfront. With that early start, there is time for a stroll around Iseo town. It's not a big place, maybe 500 meters wide at most. But in that typical Italian style of a lakefront village, it is beautiful. With its central piazza surrounded by porticos and sidewalk restaurants. Lake Iseo is located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, and it's surrounded by numerous charming towns and villages. There are sixteen coastal municipalities of the lake with another seven hillside municipalities. The lake is 25 kilometers long, with a maximum width of five kilometers, making it much smaller than its more famous neighbors such as Lake Como, Maggiore and Lake Garda. That smaller size of the lake gives it a special charm where you feel like you can see the entire lake at once, embraced by the mountain all around you. And yet the island in the middle, Monte Isola, is the largest lake island in all of southern and Central Europe, dwarfed only by some larger lake islands in Scandinavia. One of the first stops is at Sensole, a small hamlet on the island of Monte Isola, and then the boat continues around, making numerous other stops. You can take a boat cruise along the entire length of the lake where there are as many as 23 different places that the boat will stop, which could take about 3 hours cruising from one end of the lake to the other. However, on this cruise, we're just going from Iseo town to the island of Monte Isola, and then to the western shore, and then back to the island, then back to Iseo. Here is the main destination for the boat ride, the little hamlet of Peschiera Maraglio, on the island of Monte Isola, where most people are getting off. However, the boat is going to go around the island and make a few more stops and then it will come back here, so that's where I'll be getting off because I want to see the entire little circuit the boat can make in this part of the lake. We'll get back to that cute little port of Peschiera shortly, then get off the boat and have a walk around. But for now, we continue on our voyage. Looking back at that island of Monte Isola, which has a mountain 1300 feet high. We've been making the complete circuit around the island of Monte Isola, and you can see how it's attractive to stay on board the boat rather than getting off at that first stop back at Peschiera. And there's no extra charge for staying on the boat if you've got the time. So enjoy the scenery. And then we arrive at Peschiera, which is the main attraction perhaps of the entire visit to Iseo, with its delightfully picturesque waterfront promenade lined with boats on one side and little cafes on the other. Iseo offers a captivating escape for travelers seeking a taste of authentic Italy, often overshadowed by its more well-known cousins, Lake Como and Lake Garda. Iseo hides a charm all its own with a serene atmosphere.