nonconformist2

Although I think it was in the village not the hills.

bvlenci

Mussolini fled secretly in a German convoy. His mistress and her brother were with them. They were stopped along the road, near the Swiss border. Mussolini was disguised as a German soldier and seated in the back of the truck in a group of soldiers. One of the partigiani recognized him, and he was seized. The rest of the convoy was allowed to proceed. Mussolini was taken to a nearby farmhouse. Later his mistress joined him there, at her request. They spent the night there, and were shot the next morning. I don't think it happened in the village of Dongo.

deniseoliver86

Wow, this thread took quite a turn. Thank you for the history lesson in Italian politics. I passed your comments to our group and we will be adjusting itinerary a bit. Thank you very much again, to everyone who contributed!

Rubicund

"The death of Benito Mussolini, the deposed Italian fascist dictator, occurred on 28 April 1945, in the final days of World War II in Europe, when he was summarily executed by an Italian partisan in the small village of Giulino di Mezzegra in northern Italy." wiki

deniseoliver86

Very interesting, I will see if we can stop by the Giulino town

werth

We visited this place on a detour from the Lago di Como Greenway walk. To locate it, open a google map of Tremezzo then search for "Luogo Fucilazione Mussolini". It is on Via 24 Maggio just after Via Pola intersects it. There is a gate to a villa. That is where he was shot. It is marked.

deniseoliver86

Thank you, Werth! We added this to our itinerary.

HappyTrvlr

Upon arrival at MXP, drive a short distance to Ranco on Lake Maggiore, SE area of lake, Very nice small town. Stay at Il Sole di Ranco or another of the hotels there. There is a ferry dock to other Lake Maggiore locations. This is very close to MXP.

neckervd

Pallanza is a gem as long as you stay in the old town and not aloong the noisy main street. Stresa, Baveno, Arona, Orta San Giulio and Cannobio are fine too.
Most scenic way to go from Pallanza to Bellagio:
Pallanza - Intra - car ferry - Laveno - Luino - Ponte Tresa Lavena (Lake Lugano) - Porto Ceresio (Lake Lugano) - Brusino - Capolago Riva San Vitale (Lake Lugano) - Melide - Lugano - Gandria - Porlezza (Lake Lugano) - Menaggio - car ferry - Bellagio.
Cable cars to viewpoints:
Laveno - Sasso del Ferro, Brusino - Serpiano, Lugano - Monte San Salvatore, Lugano - Monte Bre.
Cog wheel railway from Capolago to Monte Generoso (best views over all lakes and to Mont Blanc - Matterhorn - Piz Bernina - Ortles).
Medieval church and battisterio at Riva San Vitale.
Copy of the Last Supper at Cpriasca, painted by a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci.
Swissminiatur at Melide.
Tamaro Fun Park at Rivera.

deniseoliver86

Wow, guys! So many great suggestions! My friends are eager to get up high on some mountains so will be adding them to the list as neckervd suggests. By the way, I just noticed a super big mistake in my itinerary, not sure what was up with me that day, but I wrote the wrong month - We are departing on Saturday, Aug 24 and not June

deniseoliver86

Hey guys, thanks to everyone who contributed to making our Italian vacation a dream come true. I'm back home, trying to recover from the pasta, sun and laughter overdose, but wanted to share my trip report here in case you'd be interested in how everything turned out to be. <!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placementame-cell;}-->7 days around the lakes in Italy