WANDERLUST

10 Jaw-Dropping Lakeside Retreats to Visit This Spring

You don’t have to wait until summer to put on your bathing suit.

by Gillian Sagansky

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We get it. This winter never seems to end, and summer still seems so far away. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take a waterfront vacation. Whether fly-fishing in the heart of the Ozarks or enjoying a lakeside spritz in Italy, unwind from the winter and jump into spring with these 10 lakeside escapes.

Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Italy

Photo courtesy of Grand Hotel Tremezzo

tommypicone

Overlooking Lake Como, with views of Bellagio and the Gringe mountains, Grand Hotel Tremezzo is a family-owned, five-star hotel with a seasonal outdoor pool and a private lakeside beach area.

Mohonk Mountain House, New York

Photo courtesy of Mohonk Mountain House

Located in the heart of New York’s Hudson Valley, Mohonk Mountain House is a family-owned fairy-tale estate, with 85 miles of trails for hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing, and a glacial-formed lake that is ideal for boating, fishing, and swimming.

Big Cedar Lodge, Missouri

Photo courtesy of Big Cedar Lodge

Tucked in its own wooded hollow overlooking the 43,000-acre Table Rock Lake sits the ultimate wilderness resort with rustic cabins and sprawling fireplaces. The lake is the country’s best for bass fishing, and one of the natural jewels in the Ozarks.

The Ritz-Carlton Lake Oconee, Georgia

Photo courtesy of Ritz Lake Oconee

Don Riddle

City-dwellers trade traffic for nature’s tranquility and retreat to Georgia’s 30-acre Lake Oconee. Dine beneath a star-filled sky and unplug with Southern-inspired spa therapies, a campfire in the backyard for making s’mores, or a day of reading and fishing on the lake.

Hotel Grand Toplice, Slovenia

Photo courtesy of Grand Hotel Toplice

On the shores of Slovenia’s famed Lake Bled sits the idyllic five-star hotel Grand Toplice. The lake, clean enough to swim in, is said to have extraordinary healing powers, thanks to the surrounding Julian Alps, which you can see from the Toplice’s terrace.

Shore Lodge Resort, Idaho

Photo courtesy of Shore Lodge Resort

Deborah Hardee

Located on the glacial waters of Idaho’s Payette Lake, in the heart of the region’s prized Salmon River Mountains, Shore Lodge is an award-winning lakefront resort in one of the best hidden ski towns. This four-season hideaway offers travelers a mountain retreat that embodies the spirit of the destination—peaceful, authentic, and vibrant.

The Beau-Rivage Palace, Switzerland

Photo courtesy of Beau-Rivage Palace

Situated on 10 acres of private gardens and at the foot of the Swiss Alps in Lausanne, the lakeside hotel offers one of the most spectacular vantage points of Europe’s highest mountain range. Open since 1861, the historical hotel was the site for both the Lausanne Treaty (1923) and the Iran Nuclear Deal talks (2015), and has hosted everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Nelson Mandela to Elton John and Coco Chanel (it’s rumored her dog is buried in the hotel’s gardens).

Ashford Castle, Ireland

Photo courtesy of Ashford Castle

Set on 350 acres of land on the shores of Lough Corrib and the River Cong, with a spectacular backdrop of woodlands, lake, river, and mountains, the 13th-century castle hotel features 83 guest rooms and a lakeside cottage, and is renowned for a range of country sports including an equestrian center, fly-fishing, and Ireland’s first school of falconry.

Hotel Sereno, Italy

Photo courtesy of Hotel Sereno

Located in the picturesque town of Torno, the newest luxury hotel on Lake Como features a lakeside pool and its own Michelin- starred restaurant, where diners can eat underneath the stars.

The Leela Palace, India

Photo courtesy of TheLeela.com

Known as “the Venice of the East,” the city of Udaipur, in the western part of Rajasthan, is home to 11 former palaces surrounding Lake Pichola. The Leela Palace offers breathtaking views of the lake and the Aravallis mountains.

Related: 13 Editor-Approved, Travel-Friendly Beauty Products to Buy This Summer

8 Photos of the Cutest Dogs In the Chicest Homes

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© Stacey Bewkes, courtesy of Rizzoli

Daisy Olympia Green, a Wheaten terrier, in Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s home in California.

© Stacey Bewkes, courtesy of Rizzoli

Loretta, a Great Dane, in Michelle Nussbaumer’s home in Dallas.

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Jack, Lulu, Boris, and Violet, all pugs, in Mary McDonald’s home in Los Angeles.

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Lily, aka HRH Lily, a French bulldog, in Mark D. Sikes’s home in Hollywood Hills, California.

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Sera and Sophie, both shih tzus, at Brooke Giannetti’s home at the Patina Farm in Ojai, California.

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