Culture

Authentic experiences

This 6 night group tour combines stays in five star hotels on both Lake Como and Lake Maggiore , both of which have a distinctly alpine feel but are also luxuriant in their vegetation . The garden tour holiday operates with a maximum of 14 people .

THIS TOUR OF TWO VERY POPULAR and dramatically beautiful Italian lakes features a splendid range of striking villas and their gardens which you visit with a local guide .

On Lake Como these include the splendid Villa Melzi d ’ Eril at Bellagio with its eclectic collection of sculptures in this essentially English-style park that abounds with excellent tree specimens , the enchanting Villa Balbianello facing Serbelloni , secluded in its setting and full of woods of pine , cypress and oak as well as flowerbeds and the Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo , full of imaginative planting , sunny terraces , with climbers , ferns , giant magnolias and cork oaks . Two more gardens complete the tour at Lake Como ; Villa Cipressi which is poised upon a rocky promontory with terraces leading down to the lake , planted with Mediterranean shrubs and vines , laced with magnolia , eucalyptus , pittosporum , lavender and agave and Villa Monastero , renowned for a fine collection of Mediterranean and tropical vegetation , as well as fountains and statues .

On Lake Maggiore we had to include Isola Bella , one of the most dramatic 17th Century Baroque gardens in Italy , seemingly floating on the surface of the lake with its ten-terraced garden and marble balustrades . Water theatre , putti and grottoes embellished with tinted stucco , pebble mosaic and shellwork add to the sense of fantasy here . Trees include orange trees , lemons and pomegranates . We also visit Isola Madre and the Botanical garden Alpinia above Stresa .

Villa Monastero

Lake Como from the Grand Hotel Imperiale Grand Hotel Majestic , the gardens

Gardens of Villa Taranto Isola Bella

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