Lake Como, St. Moritz & the Bernina Express with Venice, Verona & Lake Garda extension

Touch down in Italy and transfer to Lake Como and your chosen hotel. Settle into your surroundings and enjoy your first dinner.

Enjoy a leisurely morning with breakfast at the hotel before boarding the coach for a visit to lakeside Varenna, one of Como's most picturesque towns. Having stood for over 2,000 years, the town is home to quaint cobbled alleys and colourful houses and exudes quintessential Italian charm.

Upon arrival, you'll be free to explore under your own steam, perhaps taking a leisurely stroll along the passegiatta degli innamorati trail (lovers' walk) or embracing la dolce vita at one of its delightful waterside cafés. The best views of Lake Como can be found from the panoramic terraces of Castello di Vezio, and the nearby villas, Cipressi and Monastero, showcase their decadent 18th-century architecture.

After a few hours spent exploring Varenna, return to your hotel for the evening.

After breakfast this morning, head out for a tour of Como’s crown jewel, stylish Bellagio. Idyllically set on the peninsula that divides the lake’s two southern limbs, Bellagio is often described as the most beautiful town in Italy. Join your tour manager for the ferry crossing, then step ashore to discover this exquisite place, with its elegant villas and glorious gardens looking out over the lake and backed by wooded hills.

After a short walking tour, you'll be free to enjoy Bellagio and its wondrous surroundings. Stroll along the lakefront promenade, take a seat in a café, or enjoy a delicious gelato before boarding a lake cruiser to sail past yet more elegant villas and their manicured gardens, and past some of the lake's highly favoured settlements. The cruise will include a visit to the gardens of Villa del Balbianello, after which you'll be free to sit back and relax, enjoying the joys of cruising back to port under hopefully sunny skies on what is sure to be a memorable day.

Have breakfast this morning and enjoy a full day at leisure to spend however you see fit, perhaps making the most of your hotel's amenities or venturing out along the lakeside under your own steam. If you'd prefer a more structured day's activity, you can also join an optional tour to elegant Como, the city from which the lake gets its name.

Start your excursion in the city's walled Old Town, with its eclectic mix of architectural styles and welcoming, café-lined piazzas, and meander along its winding alleys under your own steam. Also of interest are Como Cathedral, with its magnificent, vaulted cloisters, and the impressive Palazzo Broletto.

Along the waterfront, you'll find the Tempio Voltiano, dedicated to the famed inventor, Alessandro Volta, as well as a collection of magnificent neoclassical villas. For uninterrupted views of the city, why not take a ride on the Como-Brunate Funicular?

Today you're free to relax in the hotel and its surroundings, or to join our optional excursion to the great city of Milan. One of Europe’s most exciting cities, Milan is not merely a centre of worldwide fashion; it is also home to some of the best collections of art and architecture in the world.

The Sforzesco Castle, the famous shopping Galleria, and La Scala Opera House, one of the greatest of its kind, are among the breathtaking sights brought to life on your guided tour. Afterwards, you’ll see imposing Il Duomo, one of the world’s largest Gothic churches, before enjoying some free time to browse the shops, visit a gallery, or simply take a seat in a pavement café to watch the Milanese world go by.

Today’s included excursion takes you to St. Moritz, the world-famous resort set high in Switzerland’s Upper Engadine Valley. Board the Bernina Express in the Lombardy town of Tirano and soak up the panorama of spectacular alpine scenery as you glide through Switzerland’s southeast corner and over the 2,253-metre-high Bernina Pass to St. Moritz.

Enjoy window-shopping in this chic resort town or perhaps take a stroll into the beautiful countryside beyond the town, before returning to Como and your hotel by coach.

Join today’s optional excursion, which takes in the twin city of Bergamo, built between the Lombardy Plain and the Alps. Here, the modern Bassa, (lower city) with its neoclassical buildings, is watched over by the walled Alta (upper city). Bergamo’s striking 14th-century citadel, ancient Piazza Vecchia (Old Square), is home to some glorious examples of Italian architecture, including the beautiful Pallazo della Ragione, and the elaborate Santa Maria Maggiore church. The energetic won’t want to miss a walk around some carefully preserved Venetian walls, either. Bergamo is also famed for its food and boasts a host of cafés and osterie (tavern) in which you can enjoy a delicious snack.

Bid farewell to Lake Como and board the coach for the journey west to Lake Garda. Here, you’ll have the choice to stay in either Torbole, a quintessential Trentino town, or charming Riva at the top of the lake. Upon arrival, you’ll have the rest of the evening to settle into your new surroundings and make the most of the hotel’s amenities.

After breakfast, board the coach to begin a Grand Circular Tour of this beautiful lake in the company of your tour manager. The fjord-like eastern shores and the northern, mountain-backed resorts of sun-blessed Torbole, and pastel-painted Riva del Garda give way to a western shoreline of citrus and olive groves.

On the southern shore, a promontory leads to the spa resort of Sirmione, with its healing waters and fairy-tale Rocca Scaligera castle. The tour will also visit the wine-growing town of Bardolino, and the busy resort of Garda itself, on the way back to your hotel.

Today, you’ll visit the thoroughly charming city of Verona and join a local guide on a walking tour. Amongst its outstanding sights, you'll find the best-preserved Roman amphitheatre in Italy, famed across the world for its summertime opera festival.

You'll also take in the sweeping Piazza Bra, with its popular pavement-side cafés, and the colourful market on ancient Piazza delle Erbe. Nearby, the maze of 13th-century streets is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers, and you'll have the chance to soak up their scenic beauty as you wander through.

Later, you’ll return to Garda’s shores.

Today, you're free to rest and relax. Enjoy the facilities at your hotel or perhaps venture into the centre of your chosen resort. Stroll the lakeside promenade, watch the world go by from a seat in a pavement café, shop, or perhaps even take to the water.

After breakfast, today is spent exploring the crags and passes of the majestic Dolomites, which lie to the north of Lake Garda, and provide some of Europe’s most dramatic mountain scenery.

Visit towering Marmolada and Canazei in the mountain's shadow, Val Rendena, the huge Adamello Glacier, the Brenta Dolomites and pretty Val di Genova. Soak up the atmosphere and stunning views as you stop at some of the traditional towns and villages of this delightful region, which sits between the sun-kissed Italian plain of Emiglia-Romagna and the Alps of the Austrian Tyrol, above the wine-growing valley of the Alto-Adige.

Today's visit to Venice, probably the world’s most romantic city, will etch itself into your memory like few others. Board the coach and travel through the Veneto to the city. On arrival, you'll take a walking tour of this simply breathtakingly beautiful place in the company of a local guide. The 100 or so islands that make up the city are linked by innumerable bridges, and gondolas and water taxis ply their trades on the beautiful Grand Canal, past the stunning Accademia museum and beneath the Rialto Bridge.

The vast expanse of St Mark's Square, with its sumptuous cathedral, clock tower and the Doge's Palace, the Palazzo Ducale, is one of the world’s great sights. Close by, joining the palace to the prisons, the famous Bridge of Sighs is said to have afforded condemned men a last view of the beauty of Venice en route to the gallows.

Away from St Marks and the Grand Canal, a labyrinth of narrow streets waits to be explored, each new corner revealing another memorable view of this wonderful city.

Later, you'll return to Lake Garda.

Spend your final day in Italy relaxing at your hotel and in the resort. Revisit your favourite cafés, relax at the water's edge or explore further afield.

Head back to the airport today at the end of a memorable two-week Italian escape.