Hello - We are travelling to Italy during the last two weeks of August. Had a few questions, it seems like folks on this forum are very knowledgeable!

We'll be traveling with an 8 month old, and we are thinking in terms of basing ourselves in one place in the lakes for about 9 days. This works well, because with the baby, we typically take short day trips, and packing up and moving every two days won't be fun. We will probably have a car for outings.

We'd like to be somewhere large enough to be interesting, ( perhaps like Varenna?), but small enough to get out with the stroller for some nice walks. I've been to Italy frequently, but not to the Lake Country. For a first trip there, would you recommend any of the lakes in particular? I gather Como is spectacular but more frequented than Garda.

And opinions on whether it is too late for cottage or aprtment rental reservations?

Any suggestions appreciated. By the way, I don't join too many forums, but I read a lot of old postings here and was really impressed at the helpfulness and enthusiasm!

Thanks - Roberto

My family rented a villa just outside of Stresa on Lake Maggiore a couple of years ago. We stayed there for about 10 days. The youngest was 14 so our profile does not fit yours with a baby. But we hung out in Stresa and really loved it. It was a slower pace than I am used to but it worked for us. From there we drove to Switzerland for a day, took boat trips to the Borromean Islands, rented mtn. bikes and took the funicular up to the top of the mtn and rode down (TOTAL BLAST!!) and even drove over to Como and Garda, which we both liked as well. My sense was that Como was much more chic than Maggiore, but where we were suited us fine. As you would expect, the food was glorious.

Thanks Weezie, I am doing some online investigating of Maggiore too! I'll check Stresa out...

Roberto...don't ignore small Lake Orta....lovely place....nice town ..you can visit all of the lakes by basing here....Maggiore is very close, Como is no more than an hour away.
Stu T.

If you do go to Stresa check out L'Antico Maniero. This is a family villa/estate that has been turned into a restaurant. We went there for dinner and it was a total delight. It is run by an elegant Italian couple (as I recall their son went to school in California) and you feel like you are eating at the home of a new friend. The dining room has a wall of windowns with an incredible view down a pristine lawn to Stresa. Between courses we would get up from the table and walk around the main floor looking at the house and the artwork then return to our table where it was prepared for the next course. We were taken by my then father in law who was head of an international division of a corporation so I am guessing it was a fairly pricey evening. In their sitting room I had my first limoncello and it is seared into my memory as a luscious experience. If I had the opportunity I would go back in a heartbeat!

Thanks for these tips folks, I am busy checking the places out on the internet...

read my trip report #351 on www.slowtrav.com. Spent 9 days in Stresa at a great apartment(can send u pics)and drove everywhere..Orta, Bellagio, Locarno etc. Apt owner,Giorgio, is a fab man.

Can I put in a word for Garda? For a family with kids of any age it has a number of advantages - it is less than an hour from Verona airport [and from verona for day trips] it has a wonderful boat schedule for trips around the lake, and very interesting things to see at each place, there are buses as well as the boats if you don't want a car [unnecessary in my opinion]and I thinkthere is more variety of things to do than on Maggiore. You may find a hotel with possible babysitting facilties better than a villa, but there should be villas\apartments if you want them. Good luck.!