Lake Como tour from Milan

Meeting of participants in Milan at 08.00 and departure by minibus / private bus to Menaggio.

Short stop in this beautiful town, which, thanks to its central location, is an excellent base for discovering the beauties of Lake Como. The historic center of Menaggio is divided into an upper area with medieval lanes and a lower area overlooking the lake, with tourist and nineteenth-century architecture.

At 10:15 am meeting and boat departure for Bellagio.

Bellagio, known as the "pearl of the lake", is one of the most famous and romantic resorts in Como and its surroundings. Wonderful location, elegant hotels and charming alleys attract many tourists from all over the world every year.

The first stop is the nineteenth-century Villa Melzi, which can be reached in 10 minutes on foot from the dock; before reaching the villa, you walk along a tree-lined avenue, shaded by planks, cut as umbrellas, allowing you to enjoy a walk. Once you reach the large terrace facing the villa, you can admire the landscape of the lake, the harmony and sobriety of the building, which is accessed through a scenic staircase. The park's visit meets both artistic and landscaping interests. Rich in species of flowers, plants and trees, with exotic essences, typical of the taste of the time, it was designed between 1808 and 1810 by architect Luigi Canonica and botanist Luigi Villoresi. Charming is the part adapted to an oriental garden with a pond of water lily, particularly suggestive in the colors of autumn, with the avenue of planar trees on the lake and azaleas.

At the end of the visit, at 12.00 am, there is some time to have lunch in one of the many restaurants on the lake; the many restaurants in the town center have their own traditional dishes, with the specialties of the lake cuisine with its main ingredient, fish, and the cuisine of the valleys centered on polenta, game, mushrooms and cheese.

At 2.30 pm, at the end of lunch, departure by boat to Varenna and time to visit the town.

Varenna, the most romantic center on the lake, welcomes us with its unmistakable appearance, a compact group of houses perched at the foot of a rocky wall on top of which stands the Castle of Vezio, where the legend said that Queen Teodolinda used to reside. The town, overlooking an incomparably beautiful cove, is connected to the jetty by a lake walkway called "the walk of the lovers."

At the end of the visit, at 4.00 pm we continue to Lecco with time to visit the city; Lecco is known mainly for the novel "The Betrothed", the first novel in Italian literature written by Alessandro Manzoni. But there is more: history and culture intertwine and we can discover them thanks to civic museums.

Walking through the streets of the center we breathe the neoclassical style of Bovara, which left in Lecco its elegant footprint, mixing with the remains of the fortified village, starting from the Azzone Visconti bridge.

But we can say with absolute certainty that a unique and great value is the natural landscape that Lecco offers: the lake set in the mountains.

At the end of the visit, at 6 pm, departure for returning to Milan.