Italian Lakes - Lake Como

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 ahead of your first day on Lake Como. If you'd like, you can visit lakeside Varenna, one of Como's most picturesque towns, on an optional excursion. 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, offer a glimpse of 18th-century opulence.

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

Today's optional tour introduces you to Como’s most sparkling jewel, stunning 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 stunning 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 lake side under your own steam. If you'd prefer a more structured day's activity, you can also join a fascinating optional tour to glittering 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 Palazzo Broletto, which offers fascinating insight into the city's medieval past.

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, La Scala – one of the world’s greatest opera houses – and the great cathedral, Il Duomo, one of its largest Gothic churches, are among the breath-taking sights brought to life on your guided tour. Afterwards you can head to the shops, visit a gallery or museum, or simply take a seat in a pavement café to watch the Milanese world go by.

Enjoy another day at leisure to spend as you see fit, perhaps joining an optional excursion that'll take you to St Moritz, the world-famous resort set high in Switzerland’s Upper Engadine Valley. Board the Bernina Express to travel from the Lombardy town of Tirano through Switzerland’s Italian-speaking southeast corner – across viaducts (including the famous spiral at Brusio) and over the 2,253-metre-high Bernina Pass – to St Moritz. The journey to this exclusive mountain town features some of the most stunning scenery found anywhere in this Alpine region.

Enjoy window-shopping in this playground paradise, 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 journeys to the twin city of Bergamo, built between the Lombardy Plain and the Alps. Here, modern Bassa, the Lower City with its neoclassical features, is watched over by idyllic, walled Alta, the Upper City. The city's stunning 14th-century citadel, ancient Piazza Vecchia (Old Square) with its beautiful Pallazo della Ragione, 15th-century bell tower, cathedral and elaborate Santa Maria Maggiore church are all breath-takingly glorious examples of Italian architecture. The city also boasts some carefully preserved Venetian walls, and a stroll along a section of these is a must for the energetic. Bergamo is also famed for its food, and boasts a host of reasonably priced cafes and osterie in which you can enjoy a delicious snack.

Bid "arrivederci" to your hosts, and transfer back to the airport to catch your flight home at the end of a wonderful stay in a beautiful corner of the world.

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

Today introduces you to Como’s most sparkling jewel, stunning Bellagio, often described as Italy’s most beautiful town, as you discover its elegant villas and glorious gardens. Following a short walking tour, you are free to enjoy Bellagio’s wondrous surroundings, perhaps taking a seat in a cafe, enjoying a delicious gelato, or simply strolling the lakefront promenade before returning by ferry back across the lake.

Take a second boat trip on Lake Como's still waters. Relax as the wooden shoreline slips by, revealing the elegant villas and grand hotels that shelter along the water's edge, on a day that also includes a visit to the pretty gardens of Villa del Balbianello.

In the twin city of Bergamo, the 16th-century walls of Alta (the upper city) shelter the grand Palazzo della Ragione, churches and colonnaded library that surround Piazza Vecchia, and overlook the Neoclassical buildings of Bassa (the lower city). Don’t miss the chance to enjoy a meal - or at least a snack - here, in a city famed for its food and fondly championed by the late, great Antonio Carluccio.

Milan is not merely a centre of worldwide fashion; it is also home to some excellent collections of art and architecture. The Sforzesco Castle, the famous shopping Galleria, La Scala - one of the world’s greatest opera houses - and the great cathedral, Il Duomo (the world’s second largest Gothic church) are among the breathtaking sights on your guided tour.

Board the Bernina Express to travel from Tirano across viaducts, via Brusio, and across the Bernina Pass to St Moritz. Window-shop or enjoy a coffee in a choice of cafes, before returning to Como by coach, arriving in time for dinner at the hotel.

Mark your final day on Lake Como with an optional visit to Lugano, one of Switzerland’s most stylish lake-side resorts. Around the lake, pretty villages nestle amidst luxuriant vegetation, and the shoreline is dotted with villas and summer homes. After a short sightseeing tour, explore under your own steam, or to take the funicular ride up Monte Bre for a panoramic view.

You'll return to the UK today.