Ten lakes from the Alps to the Balkans, ranked by the water and the setting around it, with the boat to take and the month to go for each.
We ranked these ten by the lake and its setting: the water itself, the mountains or towns around it, and what a visitor can do on and beside it. Each one is worth a few nights, not a photo stop.
Still the lake the rest are measured against: a deep Y of water, about 410 m at its deepest, under Alpine slopes lined with villas and gardens. Base yourself in Bellagio or Varenna and let the public ferries link the shores.
A lake of fjord-like arms between Rigi and Pilatus, still sailed by five restored paddle steamers. Take one to Alpnachstad and ride the Pilatus cogwheel railway, at up to 48% the steepest in the world, then return to Lucerne by cable car.
Mountains drop straight into this narrow lake, and Hallstatt's houses cling to the one ledge they leave. Above the village the salt mine has worked the mountain for 7,000 years by its operator's count; stay the night, when the day crowds have gone.
A small glacial lake with a church on its only island and a castle, documented since 1004, on the cliff above. Cross on a pletna, the local wooden boat, climb the 99 steps to the church, then walk the shore path at dusk.
Clear Alpine water about 14 km long, kept clean by decades of strict rules, with the canals of Annecy at its northern tip. Swim from the public beaches in summer, or cycle the 33 km greenway down the western shore.
Italy's largest lake, about 370 km², walled by mountains in the north and broad and gentle around Sirmione in the south. Windsurfers head to Riva del Garda for the afternoon Ora wind; everyone else comes for the Roman villa at Sirmione.
One of Europe's oldest and deepest lakes, shared with Albania and listed by UNESCO for both its nature and its culture. Walk from Ohrid's old town to the 13th-century church of St John at Kaneo on its cliff, then swim off the rocks below.
Switzerland with an Italian accent: steep green shores, palms on the promenade and two funicular peaks facing each other across the water. Ride up Monte Brè, walk down to the old village of Gandria, and take the boat back to Lugano.
A narrow lake under the Watzmann's east face, so clean that only electric, rowing and pedal boats have been allowed on it since 1909. On the way to St. Bartholomä the boatman stops to play the horn against the cliffs, and the echo answers.
A great crescent of water between the Jura and the Alps, shared with France, with Lavaux's UNESCO-listed vineyard terraces on its northern shore. Cross on one of the Belle Époque paddle steamers, then walk the vines above Lutry.
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