Italian Lakes - Frequently Asked Questions

The Italian Lakes are often talked about as a single destination — but are the different lakes actually very different from each other?

They are, and understanding those differences is one of the most useful things we can help with before you choose where to stay. Lake Como is the most celebrated and the most dramatic: a deep, narrow lake flanked by steep wooded hills, with elegant belle époque villas, famous gardens and a grandeur that has attracted visitors for centuries. It is the obvious choice for those who want glamour and sophistication alongside the scenery, and hotels such as Villa d’Este and Villa Serbelloni set the tone. Lake Maggiore has a slightly more expansive, open character, with the famous Borromean Islands — Isola Bella and Isola Madre, both with extraordinary baroque gardens — as its centrepiece; it feels a little calmer and less busy than Como, with some excellent hotels in Stresa and along the Piemontese shore. Lake Garda is the largest of the lakes and the most varied: the southern end is flatter and busier, but the northern reaches around Gargnano and Limone have a wilder, more Alpine feel with excellent walking and watersports. Lakes Orta and Iseo are smaller and quieter still — Orta in particular, with its tiny island and medieval village, has a charm and unhurried atmosphere that appeals strongly to clients who want to be somewhere that feels genuinely undiscovered. We will always advise on which lake, or which combination of lakes, best suits what you are looking for.

What is the best way to get to the Italian Lakes from the UK, and do we need a hire car once we are there?

There are three practical options, and we offer all of them. Flying is the most straightforward: Milan Malpensa is the most convenient airport for Como and Maggiore, Milan Linate for Como and the city, and Verona for Garda; we arrange a private transfer from the airport to your hotel as part of the holiday. For those who prefer to avoid flying, the train from London St Pancras to Milan is a genuinely comfortable and enjoyable journey — around eight hours door-to-door, with no airport stress at either end — and from Milan the lakes are easily accessible by local train or private transfer. It is a particularly good option for a short break where the journey itself sets the mood. A fly-drive arrangement suits clients who want to tour between two or more lakes rather than stay in one place: distances are manageable, the roads are scenic, and having a car gives the freedom to explore the smaller lakeside villages and hill towns at your own pace. Within each lake, however, the boat services are excellent and are often the most pleasurable way to get between towns and villages; on Como and Maggiore in particular, a lake pass or a hired boat is an essential part of the experience. We will advise on the combination of transport that works best for your specific itinerary.

Can the Italian Lakes work for a short break as well as a longer holiday?

Extremely well, and they are one of the destinations we most often recommend when clients want something special for a long weekend or a four or five-night break. The proximity to Milan — Como is less than an hour by train, Stresa on Maggiore around an hour — means that a direct flight from the UK to Milan followed by a private transfer or train to the lake works very smoothly, and the journey time from London to lakeside hotel is realistic even for a Thursday-to-Monday trip. A short break on the lakes suits anniversaries, significant birthdays and other special occasions particularly well: the combination of beautiful scenery, excellent food, elegant hotels and the particular quality of light on the water in the early morning and evening is hard to surpass. For those who want to add a night or two in Milan at either end — for the opera, the galleries or simply the city itself — we can build that in easily. Longer stays of a week or more suit clients who want to explore more thoroughly, combining two or three lakes, adding day trips to Verona, Bergamo, Mantova or Venice, and settling into the slower rhythm that the lakes reward.

Can we combine the Italian Lakes with a city stay, and which cities work best?

A city combination is one of the most satisfying ways to structure an Italian Lakes holiday, and we arrange it regularly. Milan is the most natural pairing: it is close to all the western lakes, has outstanding cultural attractions — the Last Supper, the Brera gallery, La Scala — and has become one of Europe’s most compelling cities for food and design. Two or three nights in Milan alongside a lake stay makes for a very complete itinerary. Verona sits at the southern end of Lake Garda and is an ideal companion for a Garda stay: a beautifully preserved Roman and medieval city with a spectacular arena that hosts one of Europe’s great summer opera festivals. Venice is further east but well worth the addition for clients with more time, and pairs naturally with Garda or Iseo; the combination of a quiet lake and one of the world’s great cities within the same holiday is hard to better. For clients arriving by train, the journey from London to Milan and then on to the lakes means the train itself passes through Switzerland — Lausanne, Brig or the Simplon route — and it is perfectly possible to add a night in a Swiss city or lakeside town to make the journey part of the holiday.

We have travelled widely in Italy — is there anything about the Italian Lakes that would still genuinely surprise us?

Quite a lot, as it happens, and this is one of our favourite conversations to have with experienced Italy travellers. The lakes that most people overlook are often the most rewarding: Lake Orta, in particular, consistently surprises clients who assume they know what the lakes offer. It is small, serene, entirely uncommercialised in feel, and its island — the Isola San Giulio, with its ancient basilica — sits in the middle of the water like something from a dream. There is no car traffic on the island, the village of Orta San Giulio behind it is largely unspoilt, and the whole place operates at a pace that Como and Maggiore simply cannot match in high season. Lake Iseo is similarly underrated, and has an additional distinction: it sits at the heart of the Franciacorta wine region, which produces some of Italy’s finest sparkling wines from a landscape of rolling vineyards that most visitors to the lakes never see. The hotel L’Albereta, set among the Franciacorta vines, is one of the most accomplished in the entire region. Beyond the lakes themselves, the cities within reach are far richer than most visitors realise. Bergamo’s upper city — the Città Alta, reached by funicular — is one of the most perfectly preserved medieval cities in Italy and is often deserted by comparison with the more famous centres. Mantova, south of Garda, has a Renaissance ducal palace of extraordinary ambition and beauty. Brescia has Roman ruins and a Pinacoteca that would be celebrated anywhere else in Italy. For travellers who think they know northern Italy well, a carefully constructed lakes itinerary that ventures beyond the obvious is often the most satisfying Italian holiday they have taken.