Lake Trasimeno is the fourth largest body of water in Italy and on its banks Hannibal thrashed the Romans. There are two main settlements around the shore. Passignano is small with a cluster of bars around the shore, a small church & some dilapidated battlements. Short piers straddle into the shallow waters from where passenger ferries depart for the outlying islands.

Around the lake on the opposite side lies Castiglione del Lago – as it suggests a ‘castle on the lake’ with the duomo on the land end of a narrow ridge & castle remains & a tower on the part that juts into the water of the lake. A narrow street joins the two.

Along this main drag bars, restaurants, pizzarias, gelaterias & shops selling local products to tourists stretch in a thin line from the small piazza, with its essential fountain, where all the action takes place (well, action is an over exaggeration for the handful of locals passing their time away).