16 km west of Perugia. Broad, shallow, muddy at the edges and surrounded by low hills, it is not the most spectacular of Italian lakes. Here in 217 BC the consul Flaminius tried to turn back Hannibal. He failed and lost his life but his name lives on in Via Flaminia, the old road north from Rome, while the invaders are remembered only in vague ruins on Isola Maggiore in the lake, derisively dubbed the ‘Carthaginian palace’. The lakeside towns – Castiglione, Passignano – have ferries, excursion boats, windsurfers and water-skiers and a beach. There is a hotel on Isola Maggiore.