Formerly one of the most unhealthy places imaginable, the Po Delta, now cleaned up and largely dedicated to agriculture, is protected by a natural park. The area offers extensive views of a flat, desolate landscape with the occasional isolated farmstead and clusters of poplar trees and umbrella pines and is criss-crossed with canals where the locals fish for eels. South of the delta, the Valli di Comacchio form a lagoon area of melancholic beauty.