The Northern Italian lakes became popular European tourist destinations from the late 1800s onwards, thanks to new rail connections and the first tourist guide books. These contained rail and boat timetables, thus inaugurating modern organised tourism. A key role in this was played by the historic Gotthardbahn, the Gotthard railway which brought international tourists to the Italian lakes via the Switzerland-Milan line. Many of the timetable guides were printed in Milan and they are now graphic testimony to an era in which lake travel was a byword for exploration and wonder.testimonianze grafiche di un’epoca in cui il viaggio sui laghi era sinonimo di scoperta e meraviglia.
