Camping Magic Lake

Take the handsome three-kilometre route from Dongo to the nearby town of Gravedona, by foot or bike along the lake shore. There are weeks' worth of other activities close by on land and on water, such as windsurfing, sailing and kitesurfing on this south to north breeze, waterskiing and canoeing in the mornings and evenings when the lake is quieter, and accessing over 180 kilometres of hiking and mountain biking trails nearby at the lakes of Darengo, Cavrigh and Ledu. For mountain biking high up, make for the Via dei Monti Lariani, where the altitude reaches 1,000 metres; for heady hiking, tackle the 2,000-metre Alta Via del Lario, a mighty challenging trekking trail. Among the many other local options are visits to the Lake Como villas and to the ancient city of Como, or shopping and sightseeing in Lecco and in Switzerland's Lugano, each around an hour away.