• Villas & gardens in a variety of styles set amidst idyllic lakeside & rural scenery

• Visits to all four main lakes including the rarely seen Lake Lugano

• Many private visits including lunches with the owning families

• A day spent on the magical Borromean Islands Lake Maggiore 

• Excellent 4* hotels at magical Bellagio Lake Como & Baveno Lake Maggiore

Combine Alpine peaks with cool lake water, garlanded with elegant lakeside villas and exquisite gardens and what comes to mind – the Italian lakes. Lake Como, Maggiore, Lugano and Orta have long conspired to draw poets, artists, architects, gardeners, Milan’s ‘great and good’ and perhaps, next spring, you too?

Long before their modern borders were established, Lombardy, the Swiss Italian-speaking canton of Ticino and Piedmont all shared not only a common geography dominated by the Alps, but they also managed to produce generation after generation of wonderful architects, masons and sculptors who worked in both stone and stucco. ‘Como’ masons and decorative craftsmen were in demand throughout the medieval period. Famous ‘Roman’ architects such as Carlo Maderno and Francesco Borromini came from this area, and then there are the itinerant ‘plaster workers’, the stuccodori who plied their trade throughout Europe - talismans of their activities will be with us throughout in many of the villas we shall encounter, many seen privately. 

On Lake Como we visit Villa Pizzo, the largest private garden on the lake, Villa del Balbianello where the setting, villa, art collection and garden are exceptional, whilst the garden at Villa Carlotta is one of the most enchanting on the lakes. On Lake Maggiore, the ensemble of the Borromean Islands marries spectacle, ambition and setting whilst Villa Taranto is the product of its creator’s sophisticated horticultural imagination. Lake Lugano, straddling the Swiss canton of Ticino and Italy is rarely included on most itineraries and will be a delight, our visit to the lakeside Villa Fogazzaro-Roi will be a truly literary oasis for the mind.

We have several private visits of exceptional interest: one such visit is a modern plantsman’s garden near Como, another is a garden where Italian formality is softened by ‘English’ style planting whose villa displays a wonderful collection of art. Finally, we shall see and hear a unique collection of historic keyboard instruments and be entertained with lunch in a baroque villa full of immense charm and sophistication.

We stay for four nights at the 4* Hotel Belvedere atop the exclusive village of Bellagio in the centre of Lake Como.  Whilst on Lake Maggiore we stay three nights at the 4* Hotel Splendid just outside the resort town of Baveno.

Day 1: Wednesday 23 April – We fly from London Heathrow arriving at Milan Linate in the mid-afternoon. We continue to Bellagio on Lake Como for four nights at the 4* Hotel Belvedere. After some time to relax and enjoy the hotel’s wonderful setting, we have dinner in our hotel - wine, water and coffee are included with all group lunches and dinners.

Day 2: Thursday 24 April – On our first day, we cross Lake Como by boat to visit Villa Carlotta, a Neo-classical gem which sits on the side of the steeply rising landscape, looking down onto the water. It contains a superb collection of sculptures by Canova, together with pieces by many of his contemporaries. The gardens are laid out as a series of gently rising terraces which should be ablaze with the spring colours of azaleas and rhododendrons. For dendrologists, there are also many fine trees and shrubs. We travel the short distance to the western edge of Lake Lugano for a group lunch after which we visit the Villa Fogazzaro Roi. This magically located lakeside villa was the home of nineteenth century novelist Antonio Fogazzaro. We return to Bellagio. This evening will be free.

Day 3: Friday 25 April – We spend today in the city of Como's hinterland. We travel south-eastwards of the town close to Lake Arserio to visit a private garden, guided by the owner who has for nearly three decades developed a series of interconnecting ‘rooms’ – a marriage of Italian formality and English-style planting. After a group lunch, we visit Villa Pizzo near Cernobbio on Lake Como. Formerly the summer villa of the Austrian Viceroys, who ruled Lombardy from Milan, in recent years the owning family have transformed the formal gardens with much English-style planting, laid out along the lakeside frontage.  We return to Bellagio and this evening will be free.

Day 4: Saturday 26 April - We travel by private launch the short distance across Lake Como to visit the stunning Villa del Balbianello near Lenno: the setting, the villa, art collections and gardens – is as close to paradise as one could wish. We return to Bellagio by private boat to visit the Villa Melzi Gardens. The park offers shady lakeside groves, with fine specimen trees and shrubs and a private mausoleum chapel. Lunch (not included) and the remainder of the afternoon will be free for private explorations. In the evening, we shall dine in one of Bellagio’s best restaurants. 

Day 5: Sunday 27 April – We depart Bellagio one final time and travel to the Brianza, in the hills north of Monza. We spend the day at Villa Medici Giulini which is not open to the public. Built in 1643, it has had many owners including the Medici of Marignano and most recently, the Giulinis from Milan. Signora Giulini and her family have restored the villa over many decades. Our hostess will introduce us first to the formal Italian and English-style gardens. We continue into the villa and here you will discover some of her extraordinary collection of historic keyboard instruments, many of which will be played for us. After lunch in the house and a recital in the villa’s private theatre, we continue to Lake Maggiore to check-in at the Hotel Splendid for three nights. This evening will be free.

Day 6: Monday 28 April – The day begins in splendid fashion on Lake Maggiore, travelling by private launch to visit the Borromeo Isles, starting with Isola Bella, almost unreal in its beauty. The island is entirely dominated by the Borromeo family palace and its extraordinary formal, terraced gardens. The palace has recently undergone a magnificent restoration and extra rooms have now been opened including the family's picture gallery. The gardens need little introduction as they are the most famous formal gardens in northern Italy and are immaculately maintained. We travel by private boat to Isola dei Pescatori where we have a group lunch. In the afternoon we visit Isola Madre where the villa and gardens are delightfully informal. The style of the garden reflects a more relaxed approach with many fine trees and shrubs. The villa is not as grand as the palace we shall see in the afternoon and it was clearly designed to be a place to ‘unwind’ rather than as somewhere to impress and entertain. We return to our hotel by boat where the evening will be free.

Day 7: Tuesday 29 April – This morning we drive along Lake Maggiore to Pallanza to visit the garden of the Villa Taranto, considered by most authorities to be the best garden on the lake. Here, the fecund imagination of the original Scottish owner, Neil MacEachern, survives with plantings of great originality, albeit now overlaid in some places with the less imaginative ‘intervention’ of its present municipal custodians! After our visit, we make our way the resort town of Stresa where there will be some extended free time for lunch, which is not included. In the late afternoon, we leave the hotel for a scenic drive to Lake Orta where we visit Orta San Giulio, a most charming lakeside town, and we shall have our final dinner in an excellent local restaurant here.

Day 8: Wednesday 30 April – We depart mid-morning to travel within a few kilometres of the Swiss border to visit a private villa whose owner is a renowned collector of Lombard & Venetian Old Masters. This sixteenth century villa possesses a charming formal garden and impressive grounds set against wonderful vistas of the surrounding hills that mare the border between Italy and Switzerland. Within the villa we shall see some wonderful paintings and an enviable collection of decorative arts and furniture. Our host will entertain us with a buffet lunch, after which we travel by coach the short distance to Milan Malpensa for the early evening flight to London Heathrow arriving at 19:50 Terminal 5.

Price £4495 Without flights £4265 Deposit £600 per person                                            

Single Supplement £995 (Double for Sole Use with garden/lake view at the Belvedere) £144 (DSU with full lake view at Splendid)

Hotels

4 nights with breakfast at the 4* Hotel Belvedere Lake Como - superior rooms with lake/garden view

3 nights with breakfast at the 4* Hotel Splendid Lake Maggiore -superior rooms with full lake view

Flights British Airways

            Outward:  BA588 Depart London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1155 arrive Milan (Linate) 1500

            Return:     BA581 Depart Milan (Malpensa) Terminal 1 1850 arrive London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1955

Price includes 3 dinners & 5 lunches with wine, water & coffee, all local transfers, entry fees & gratuities, services of Rachel Lamb & James Hill 

Not included Travel to/from Heathrow, 4 dinners & 2 lunches