Lake Como Escorted tour with Riviera Travel
Lake Como is the jewel of the northern Italian region of Lombardy and home to many of the world’s rich and famous, including George Clooney. And with good reason, boasting magnificent lake views, mountain vistas, historic Italian architecture and a relatively mild and humid climate, giving the area its beautiful lush flora. This has long been a destination we had wanted to explore, having been to Lake Garda a few years ago we were keen to see how it compared. After a long summer of Covid travel restrictions we were very excited when Riviera travel invited us to be part of a small group of travellers to take advantage of the travel corridor with Italy on an escorted tour to this area.
Our week long trip started in the UK on a miserable Friday morning in early October with the early drive to Gatwick airport, where we were greeted by a Riviera representative who helped us check our baggage and made sure we had all the necessary Covid paper work etc that we needed to travel. A quick and comfortable two hour flight took us to Milan airport where no sooner had we walked through to arrivals than we were greeted by name by the wonderful Matt, our tour manager for the week. Matt was responsible for not just organising us and showing us around Lake Como but also for our health and safety while we were there. With this in mind we were all temperature checked before getting on the coach (something that happened at least 3 times a day, both in and out of the hotel), our luggage was all wiped down and we were allocated seats on the overly large coach to ensure we weren’t sitting too close to one another. These precautions set the tone for the week and throughout our stay we observed social distancing, wore masks whenever we were outside our hotel room and had regular temperature checks - we felt very safe.
Having my temperature checked in the hotel restaurant before breakfast
Unfortunately the miserable weather had followed us to Italy and didn’t let up for the whole of our nearly two hour coach ride to the hotel, but it didn’t dampen our spirits, the hotel was grand and our room was lovely with a gorgeous view over the lake and a wonderful little balcony which I could see us spending a lot of time on over the next week (when the weather hopefully improved). We hastily unpacked and headed up to the rooftop restaurant for dinner which was a 4 course affair, with a choice of 3 dishes for both the primo and secondo courses. Dinner over and the rain still lashing down outside we headed back to our room for an early night after a long day travelling.
The view from our balcony - when the weather did eventually improve!
Whilst we had hoped to wake up to better weather the rain still kept coming, so our intrepid tour managers quickly re-arranged todays tour to something more suited to the inclement weather. So, after a leisurely breakfast our group met in the hotel foyer to set off for our rescheduled visit to the villa next door, Villa Carlotta. A two minute walk up the road took us to the villa where we all enjoyed walking round in the dry admiring the renaissance statues and artwork whilst a storm raged outside. With the rain finally starting to ease off as lunchtime approached we were able to enjoy the 14 acre finely sculptured garden. Having walked the entire garden and built up a bit of an appetite we were grateful to stumble upon the villa’s cute little cafe for a bite of lunch.
Lunch over we had some free time, so we decided to take a walk along the lakeside to explore the nearby villages. The beauty of walking right beside the lake is mesmerising and before we knew it we had been walking for a few kilometres. With the skies turning bluer every minute and the temperature increasing we made our way back to the hotel to while away a couple of hours sitting on our balcony with a good book and a glass of local Prosecco.
Despite the next day being a Sunday there was no lie in for us with an 8am start for our planned trip to the city of Monza. Although Monza was an hour and a half coach rode away the empty Sunday morning roads meant we were soon wandering the quiet streets of the city centre before anyone else arrived. Although Matt, our tour manager had never been here before he guided us all to the meeting point and gave us some ideas for passing our free time in the city. Rich and I decided to begin with a visit to the duoro before meandering around the city, watching as it came to life and busied up. With so many lovely cafes tempting us we coudln’t resist stopping in a cafe for coffee and croissants before meeting back up for our short drive to Monza race track, the next stop of the day.
At the race track we were shown around the buildings surrounding the track, including the media rooms and the podium. We are both big Formula 1 fans but it was a fascinating tour even for those not really interested in Formula 1, getting to see the behind the scenes rooms as well as having a birds eye view of the track and garages. After our tour we drove back down the road to the Villa Reale, the summer residence of the then Italian Royal family built in the late 1700s. This impressive building which houses over 700 rooms has restored and recreated some of them to be opened up to the public, including the Kings and Queens private rooms and the Royal Chapel. However most people who visit simply come to appreciate the magnificent huge gardens and meet up with friends and family in the palace grounds.
After a long and action packed day we were ready for the coach ride back to the hotel, but our day was not over yet. Matt surprised us all with one final Monza experience, a drive round actual track in our large 30 seater coach! We weren’t able to go more than 50km/hr but we were given a commentary of all the chicanes and corners as we went that will definitely make watching the Italian Grand Prix more interesting in the future.
As we left the track the rain set in and we all breathed a sigh of relief that the weather gods had blessed us rather than the rain of the day before. After a sleepy coach ride back to the hotel we had time for a quick shower before dinner. This evening the hotel had live entertainment in the hotel bar so after dinner we headed to the bar for a nightcap and a bit of piano music to finish off a long and enjoyable day.
Despite the busyness of the previous day there was no rest for us the following day with another early pick-up for our drive to Lake Maggiore and the lovely little town of Stresa. This little town boasts the best views of the cluster of 3 islands, the only ones on Lake Maggiore. Riviera had arranged as an optional extra for a private boat and reduced admission to the main island which houses a magnificent villa but we had decided that we were going to do something a bit different. We planned to take the cable car situated at the end of the town up to the mountain that sits above the lake and offers magnificent views over the town and the lake. Half way up the mountain the cable car stops at some tropical gardens and for those brave enough to take on the challenge there is a chairlift all the way to the top. But that’s just half the fun, the upper section of the downhill run involves an optional railed toboggan ride before completing the descent back in the cable car.
Excited about our mountain adventures we set off from the coach, along with another couple from our group, for the twenty minute walk along the promenade to the cable car station. However as we were walking along it became clear that the town had been quite significantly affected by the storm over the weekend with the level of water in the lake being significantly higher than was normal with some parts of the promenade flooded and lots of debris (mostly trees and branches) sitting along the shore line. Once we got to the car park for the cable car the damage was even worse with a large area of the car park completely flooded and lots of debris sitting in the small marina adjacent to the station. It was at this point that we noticed that there didn’t seem to be any cable cars running and once we got to the station we could see that it was shut - apparently the damage on the hillside was affecting the running of the cable car.
The flooded marina at the cable car station.
Disappointed and a little heartbroken by the devastation this lovely town had suffered (especially after the hardships it was already facing due to Covid) we headed back into the town centre to have a wander around before stopping for some lunch. We found a local trattorie in a cute little square and settled in for a leisurely lunch of pasta and beer. All carbed up we had a bit of time before the coach ride back to the hotel so we decided to explore the other end of town including a climb up a little hill offering us a different perspective of the islands and over the bay that the town sits in.
The next day was our 30th wedding anniversary and although this was originally a rest day, Matt had re-arranged our cancelled excursion from day one (which had been rained off) and postponed our rest day to a day later. However, this turned out to be a real treat for Rich as our first stop of the day was a boat ride to Villa del Balbianello which sits right at the end of a little peninsula which juts into Lake Como at the nearby town of Lenno. Now, whilst we enjoy a villa tour we had already done a few so what you may ask, was Rich so excited about with this one? Well, it turns out that this was the villa used in Star Wars Episode 2 where Anakin secretly married Queen Amidala (stay with me non-Star Wars fans) and Rich being the old romantic he is thought it would be fun to spend most of our spare time at the villa recreating this scene as a ‘special’ 30th Wedding Anniversary treat!
From Villa del Balbianello we re-boarded our private boat for the short hop over to beautiful Bellagio, the town we had been looking out on all week, just over the other side of the lake from our hotel. We arrived in Bellagio just in time for a little wander round the quaint hillside streets before a spot of lunch in one of the many cafes and restaurants in this affluent little town. The rest of the day was free time in Bellagio with Matt having issued us with an open return ticket for the regular ferries across the lake back to Cadenabbia. We decided to take a long walk around Bellagio and the adjoining little fishing village of Pescallo before heading back on the car ferry to our hotel.
No sooner had we shut the door to our hotel room when we got back after our day out than there was a knock on the door and we were given a lovely bottle of Prosecco, courtesy of Matt and the Riviera team, what a thoughtful and generous gesture. And as it was our anniversary we decided that rather than eating in the hotel that evening we would like to go out and do the touristy thing, eat pizza! Just a few doors down from the hotel was a lovely little traditional pizzeria so after a couple of glasses of Prosecco we headed out for a delicious wood fired pizza.
Having postponed our free day from the day before the next day we had a free day and we had arranged to meet some friends who were staying near Varenna, a little village over the other side of the lake. So we left the hotel early to catch the passenger ferry over to this picturesque little village. Our friends were waiting for us when we stepped off of the boat and we wandered along to the village square to find cafe for a coffee and a chat. Two hours later and with little of Varenna explored (but a lovely catch up with our friends) we had to catch the ferry back to our hotel.
The weather had completely changed from our first few days at Lake Como and we decided that now it was a little warmer this would be the perfect time to try out the hotels brand new, heated outdoor swimming pool. Rich only managed to dip his toes in the water before chickening out so I had the whole pool to myself. After an invigorating few lengths (the lengths were long!) we headed back up to the hotels rooftop sun terrace to dry off whilst gazing out over the lake with a good book in one hand and a refreshing cocktail in the other, what a perfect lazy Italian afternoon.
Waking up the next day to our last full day on Lake Como we were greeted by the most magnificent sunrise over the mountains across the lake from us. With the sun shining we headed off to the city of Como, at the foot of the lake and a half hour drive south from where we were staying. Following our disappointing cable car visit in Stresa a few days earlier we had already decided that we would take the funicular in Como up to Brunate, the hilltop village sitting above Como. So as soon as we arrived we headed round the lakeside to the funicular station and up to Brunate. Once there we embarked upon the steep 1.5 km climb up to the Faro Voltaino lighthouse. This was a hard climb but it rewarded us with a stunning view over the lake and since the skies were so clear we could see over to the Alps in the far distance.
Feeling rather hungry after our long and arduous climb we headed back to Como and found a lovely little lakeside restaurant to grab a quick lunch before we had to meet up for our two hour, sun-soaked, scenic boat trip back to the hotel, taking in the rather lovely shoreside villas that can only be seen from the lake itself.
As this was our last day together Matt had arranged for a little pre-dinner soiree on the hotels roof terrace, so we all donned our glad rags and headed up to the terrace for a glass of fizz and a last chance to look back on our week and feel exceptionally glad to have made it out of the UK. Over the week we our group of 18 intrepid travellers had formed a (socially distanced) bond and shared many laughs as well as having the opportunity to visit some jaw-dropping villages on beautiful Lake Como. Safely back in the UK the following day we were grateful to have had the chance to travel abroad and hope that it won’t be too long before we can do it again.
Many Thanks to Riveria Travel for sending us out to Lake Como to cover one of only a handful of escorted tours that took place this summer. Special thanks also to our amazing tour guide, Matt, who looked after us so well and kept us safe throughout the week.
If you enjoyed this review why not take a look at our review of our three favourite hotels in Cornwall, UK.
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