The north of Italy has many well-known lakes, beautiful and very popular with holidaymakers for years… but hugely flattened. Time for a suitable alternative. Luckily, this summer I found a fairytale lake 1.5 hours’ drive from Milan where tourism is still mostly limited to Italians who have their country houses there. And it gets even better because I visited an amazing Hideaway there where everything is right and all 20 apartments have a view of the lake.