Echo Hotel, Milan - Centre

Heading up the hills from Lake Garda is the beautiful Monte Baldo region of sloping forests, lush greenery and flowing rivers.

Golf Des Iles Borromées is an 18 hole course built in a natural and uncontaminated environment situated 500 metres above sea level. It has a southerly exposure, fresh in summer and sunny in winter, and from the 18th tee, you can often see the skyline of Milan and four lakes: Maggiore, Varese, Montae and Comabbio.

This 18-hole course was built in 1928 in the historic Royal Park of Monza. The three paths of the course are set within an ancient wood, requiring the player to think carefully about each shot, with a focus on precision in the front 9 and long shots on the back 9.

This large lake, on the eastern side of Milan, was originally built for Mussolini as an airport for seaplanes. Now it is a park for sporting activities and a summer meeting place. Boasting a beach, swimming pools and plenty of open space for walking and cycling as well as other team games, its bursts into life in summer and is a perfect family afternoon with a picnic on a hot day.

This 18-hole, par 72, golf course was designed by Franco Piras and realised in 2002.

The 2-Michelin-starred Seta restaurant located in the Mandarin Oriental Milan hotel is a new kid on the block for the Milanese restaurant scene. An open-plan kitchen gives guests a peak of how the stunning dishes are prepared and a more complete experience to their choices.

Located at the luxury Excelsior Gallia Hotel, this rooftop restaurant boasts a menu created under the consultancy of three-Michelin starred chefs Enrico and Roberto Cerea and the Lebano brothers. They serve modern Italian cuisine with a focus on the Lombardy region.

Il Baretto has been running for over fifty years, delighting the great and the good of the city for half a century. The sophisticated, old English club house decor is host to a refined menu taking cues from Milanese and international cuisine.

Michelin-starred experience that draws on the experimentation of the Venissa culinary approach. The enchanting decor completes the tone for dining in a very unique setting.

The elegant style and furnishings, the neoclassical pieces of art decorating the walls and the hand-painted high ceiling is a dramatic yet fitting setting for the fantastic food of the Palazzo Parigi restaurant. And when the weather is fine, the relaxed atmosphere of the private garden terrace provides an alternative atmosphere for visiting diners.

Part of the Armani Hotel Milan, this Michelin-starred restaurant takes a modern approach to classic Italian wining and dining. The stylish decor has been designed to the smallest detail by Giorgio Armani himself.

Located in the historic centre of Milan, in front of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, this is one of Milan’s hottest and trendiest bars in the city at any time of the day.

This small quirky cocktail bar has a "fusion" feel combining local furniture with Eastern, African and Caribbean styles to create a global feel.

Meaning "heart", this vibrant, friendly, atmospheric spot is worth seeking out down a side street for its changing interior, DJ sets and mixed clientele.

Located in south-central Milan, this former cycle shop is a funky art bar decorated with old bicycles and is a great place to enjoy an aperitivo, a tasty dinner or start your evening.

This super-cool cafe/bar, whose name is taken from the Austrian General who ruled over Lombardy, is frequented by the Brera fashion and arts crowd and is a great place to unwind. It has an old-world feel, fantastic aperitivo and superb brunches. Best enjoyed in summer.

Start your evening with a large aperitivo and a cocktail at the bar, and stay for the night's event - themed parties and renowned DJs.

The Big Pirelli or 'Pirellone', as the tower is affectionately known by locals is, with its tapered sides, a feat of architectural prowess. In the 1950s, the 32-floor tower became Italy's first skyscraper and is still one of the tallest in the country.

Husband and wife Antonio and Marieda Boschi Di Stefano collected over two thousand works of contemporary art. About three hundred of these have been selected for their quality and distributed in chronological order in the ten exhibition areas of the Boschi Di Stefano Museum-Home.

PAC is Milan's most important centre for the exhibition of contemporary art, located in the heart of the city, near Porta Venezia's park.

This gallery is the oldest in Milan, originally founded in 1957, and initially focussed on post-war avant-garde.

A private foundation, set up by the Bagatti Valsecchi heirs, to open the family's late 19th-century residence and collections of artworks to the public.

The Brera Art Gallery hosts one of Lombardy's most important permanent art collections. Though modest in breadth, the collection is outstanding in quality covering the works of acclaimed Italian artists from the 13th to the 20th centuries including masterpieces of Bellini, Raphael, Carvaggio, and Bramante.

Located just within 15 kilometres north of Milan, this big but picturesque town, the third largest in the Lombardy region, has been transformed from a mainly industrial trade centre to a popular spot for good cuisine, pretty squares and of course the F1 Gran Prix.

The city of Bergamo is perched atop a hill just within a 30-40 minute train or car ride from Milan. The fourth largest city in Lombardy, it is located at the foot of the Alps.

The lovely town of Angera dates back to Roman times when it was an important stopping point for boats transferring their wares to the road, and vice-versa. Sitting high above the town is the Rocca Borromeo, a fortress dating back to the 11th century.

High up above the lakes is the village of Arcumeggia in the mountains. It is famous because in 1956 the local tourist office decided to ask important Italian painters to fresco the walls of the town's stone cottages.