Italy

Northern Italy's Alpine and pre-Alpine rivers offer perhaps the most scenically beautiful trout fishing in Europe. The rivers of the Dolomites — the Piave, Tagliamento, Brenta, and their tributaries — run crystal-clear over pale gravel beneath extraordinary pale rock towers. Wild marble trout, once nearly extinct and now recovering through conservation efforts, are the jewel of the Italian Alps — a spectacular fish found nowhere else in the world. The grayling fishing is exceptional, and the cuisine and wine after a day on the water have no equal.

The Dolomites — UNESCO World Heritage pale rock towers above river valleys, Alpine meadows, ancient villages, pre-Alpine hill country, and the transition to the Po Plain.