10 great lakes where nature is at its spectacular best.
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| Lake Garda, Italy |
Lake Garda, Italy
If the shape of Italy is a couture boot, think of the imprint of Lake Garda as a design from the funky sister line — long and skinny at the top, opening up toward the bottom.
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| Plitvice Lakes, Croatia |
Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
In Croatia, the Plitvice Lakes offer hiking trails with killer views, especially of the 230-foot-high waterfall Veliki Slap.
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| Lake Bled, Slovenia |
Lake Bled, Slovenia
The best view of Slovenia's Lake Bled is from a castle perched on a 460-foot-high cliff. Bled Island is a tiny forested circle that's home to the 17th-century Church of the Assumption.
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| Lake Nakuru, Kenya |
Lake Nakuru, Kenya
An African buffalo wades along the shoreline of Kenya's Lake Nakuru. In the background, flamingos feed in the shallow lake.
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| Loch Lomond, Scotland |
Loch Lomond, Scotland
Scotland's Loch Lomond is like something straight out of a Victorian romance novel.
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| Lake Annecy, France |
Lake Annecy, France
Lake Annecy meanders past eight miles of nature reserves, waterfront villages, and soaring peaks in the heart of the French Alps.
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| Lake Matheson, New Zealand |
Lake Matheson, New Zealand
Lake Matheson in New Zealand is also known as Mirror Lake. For good reason.
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| Lake Atitlan, Guatemal |
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
A fisherman on Lake Atitlán, nearly a mile up in the highlands of Guatemala.
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| Peyto Lake, Alberta |
Peyto Lake, Alberta
In the Canadian province of Alberta, Peyto Lake lies amid the Canadian Rockies. Its waters pop with a brilliant turquoise more often associated with warm-weather paradises like Antigua and Bora-Bora.
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| Crater Lake, Oregon |
Crater Lake, Oregon
About 8,000 years ago, the top of a 12,000-foot-high volcano in the Cascade Range exploded. The massive pit left behind became known as Crater Lake, the centerpiece of a national park in southern Oregon.
