Romantic Getaway to Lake Como: Italy’s Favorite Lake

Northern Italy - Milan, Turin , Stresa (Lake Maggiore)

Our agent did a terrific job in making the arrangements for our trip.  The hotels selected in each of the cities were well located with excellent amenities.  All of our tours, pick-ups and excretions were on time and well done. 

We appreciated that our agent checked-in with us twice during our trip to make sure all was going well.  All in all, a wonderful experience.

Overall, this trip was fantastic!! Everything was arranged for us to the point that we just had to show up and someone took care of us from there. Before departure, all of our vouchers were sent to us along with a detailed itinerary of each day and activity, down to the name of the person picking us up. If something changed, our travel agent thoughtfully texted us the new information. Yes, texted us, because we were provided with a phone that contained our itinerary and all of our vouchers along with a GPS program in case we got lost. We used the GPS a lot! If there were any issues I could easily call our agent or text him and he answered immediately, always!

All of our pick-ups were on time and in very comfortable cars with water provided. All of the drivers were extremely professional in their demeanor and appearance.

We also loved our guides in every city. I never imagined that this would be so intimate. I have only ever been in group tours where you get a headset and there are 25 or more people. There were 3 of us on this trip and it was the 3 of us with the guide. This allowed for questions and explanations that you could easily hear and understand.

The hotels, with the exception of Como, were superb with our favorite being in Florence at the Hotel Santa Maria Novella. Breakfast was always included and it was beautiful as well as delicious! I was sorry that we had booked Como. We had no activities planned there and I am not sure why so we were on our own. I also think it was the wrong time of year (March) to be going there as nothing was in bloom and there was a lot closed. Our guide in Milan told us that we could have done it as a day trip and she could have accompanied us. Oh well, this was the only piece that was not perfect, yet we still enjoyed it. It is a lovely little city on the lake. We took a water boat to Bellagio and walked around and then decided to take a local bus back. It was actually more scenic than the water boat.

The only other disconnect we had was the first day. We arrived at the hotel at 7am after a very long flight and our room was not ready. It took 3 hours to get something ready and it was not what we had booked but that was okay. In retrospect it might have been good to send us out on a city tour by car or bus to give us the big picture view and to kill time. Instead we sat in the warm lobby waiting and waiting.

As I said before, overall this was a fabulous trip. Being able to customize exactly where you want to go is invaluable. Working with our travel agent on getting our activities just right was so easy too. And being taking care of as we were was priceless!

Locations Visited: Venice, Verona, Florence, San Gimignano, Siena, Pienze, Rome, Pompeii, Positano

My husband and I planned this trip for our 10-year anniversary. I’m a person with high expectation and this travel agency exceeded all my expectations. The entire trip was dream.

We opted for personalized tours and transport for 95% of our trip. All of our drivers were wonderful. They arrived on time and made sure we made it to all of our destinations without issue. They had the contact information for the tour guides we were meeting. Upon arrival to our first hotel, a local cell phone and gift were given to us. Having the iPhone during our trip made any needed communication with our agent and his team a breeze. In addition, we used the phone apps for navigation throughout the cities we visited. We made a last-minute request for an additional private transport, and our agent was able to make it happen. We greatly appreciated their customer service.

We participated in a several unique experiences while in Italy. We went truffle hunting in Pienza, which was amazing. After, we were served a meal that highlighted truffles and the cheeses made locally. In addition, we did a cooking day in Rome. This was a private cooking class where we made pasta, several sauces, and appetizers. The one disappointment is that we never received the recipes from the chef (we were told by the chef that they would be emailed to us). However, this is a knock on the chef and not our travel agent. Once the class was done, we were served a meal in a private garden area. Lastly, we did a food walking tour in Rome. This was an amazing way to find local cuisine that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. A wonderful experience.

All of our tour guides were excellent. They were knowledgeable, friendly, and familiar with the cities. We had one guide that really went into the details and reasons for expressions in the art. We didn’t care for that, but we didn’t specify that ahead of time or to the guide. It was wonderful seeing her excitement and passion for all of the amazing working works of art and sculpture that we saw.

Overall, I would highly recommend this travel agent and his team if you are traveling to Italy!! You will not be disappointed. We gave him our wish list of activities, accommodation preferences, etc. ahead of time and he made sure we got them all! Thank you for such a wonderful and memorable trip. If we are able to return to Italy, you will be hearing from us.

If I could give more than five stars, I would.our agent at this Italy travel company put together a perfect trip for my husband and I. Hotels, guides, connections, drivers, restaurants and reservations, absolutely everything in Venice, Florence and Bellagio was seamless and beyond wonderful.