Lake Como, Lake Garda, Zermatt
 

During an upcoming trip to Italy, my companions and I have planned to stay two nights at Lake Como and two nights in Zermatt. We will have a car. Is getting to Lake Garda for one night feasible (and worth the effort) or does Lake Como really warrant a two night stay? Lake Como hotel recommendations [three stars/$200 per night] would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Lake Garda does not have as much to offer as Como and with your limited time, I'd enjoy as much of Como as I could. You could easily spend a week around Como visiting adjacent sights. <BR>And if I was going to try to hit another lake, I'd visit the city of Lugano. Easy to get to from Como and a strikingly beautiful little place with its palm trees and deep blue waters backed by steep mountains.

Lisa, <BR>You don't say what town on Lake Como you will be staying at, but my recommendation for a hotel is the Belvedere in Bellagio. We found the hotel to be very clean, comfortable, and charming...it is a bit of a walk up hill to get to it, but the views are worth it. We stayed in a double room in 1997 and payed about $130/night. <BR> <BR>Bellagio is a lovely, picturesque town. If you'd like to see photos from our trip (which included Zermatt) go to www.lunadesigns.com/travels. <BR>

Lake Como is worth more than 2 days. A good hotel if you want to stay in the city of Como is the Barchetta Excelsior right on the main square overlooking the lake. Get a room with lake view and balcony. Very nice hotel with great breakfast buffet. Other hotels are all over in Como and also in Bellagio, etc. In my opinion the Lake Como area is one of the most beautiful and romantic places in the world. Enjoy

Thanks to everyone so far for their responses. We're trying to book two nights in Bellagio and having some difficulty. We might end up splitting the nights between two hotels. (Belvedere being one of them.) I've heard consistently that Bellagio is the nicest town on Lake Como--can anyone confirm or deny this?

Lisa, <BR> <BR>I forgot to mention in my previous email that the website for the Hotel Belvedere is www.belvederebellagio.com. <BR> <BR>Nicole

Lisa Marie, Spend as much time as you can in Bellagio---the Belvedere and the Du Lac are your best options, but then do not try to drive all the way to Zermatt. I would personally either drive to Stresa on Lago Maggiore and train to Zermatt from there, or drive as far as Brig--over the Simplon Pass--and then take the local red train from there. Too much hassle to drive it, and you have to leave your car in a big lot short of Zermatt if you even try. <BR>I find Stresa as nice as Bellagio, and the train from there is not a long trip.

In Como, we just stayed at the Hotel Metropole and Suisse, and for $130, we got a wonderful, huge room, with an impressive balcony overlooking the lake. The room itself was great, with wood floors, an enormous marble bathroom, and a sitting area. It's right on the Plaza. If you can afford it, stay at the Villa d'Este, so you can feel as if you are in a fairy tale. It's about 20 minutes from Como in Cernobbio. There they recommended a restaurant on an island in Lake Como which has a fabulous restaurant, but we couldn't make it. Saw lots of references to it in guidebooks, though.

I'll also recommend the Belverdere in Bellagio. One of the best things about the hotel (besides the magnificent views of the lake) is its wonderful, helpful staff. <BR>In answer to your question, the area is worth far more than 2 nights!

We are staying at the Hotel FLorence in Bellagio--anyone have any comments on this hotel?? <BR> <BR>Mary

The Florence is fine---almost next door to the Du Lac and similar. Also has a great American bar at nite. But Karen Brown wrote that page many years ago and missed the Belvedere.

Last September stayed at the Grand Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio. The room was excellent as was the service and the staff. I would highly recommend it.

I wondered whether anybody could recommend a reasonably priced place to stay near Lake Como? This place must be a reasonable distance from Milaan. <BR> <BR>Thanks

Mary, we just spent Easter (4 nights)at Hotel Florence, Bellagio and found it to be delightful. Our room had lake views,was prettily decorated and spacious with a good bathroom. The staff were friendly. Breakfast was served in the charming, newly refurbished dining room where we also enjoyed a meal one night. <BR>All this for L.300.000 per night plus they offer an 8% discount for cash. <BR>Its near the ferries too which is handy. <BR>We loved Bellagio and followed advice on this board in staying there, but the most charming village we saw was Varenna. Only problem is-Varenna seemed very quiet-hardly any shops, restaurants etc-fine if you want to get away from it all. <BR>We would stay in Bellagio again.

I'm going to offer a dissenting opinion. My husband and I spent a delightful three days at Lake Garda last summer, and highly recommend the Hotel Gardesana, in Torri del Benaco. It's right at the harbor, has wonderful rooms with views of the lake, a charming terraced dining room, and is steps away from the ferries that cross the lake. It was a wonderful place. [email protected]

We have been to Lake Como twice. Its amazing that nothing changed there in 10 years. Even some of the waiters were the same! We loved Hotel Florence. We had a large room on he top floor with a view. We treated my mom to 2 nights at Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni and she loved it, but noted that you needed to be dressed just to feel comfortable in the lobby(and its also very expensive). Lake Como and Lake Garda have a different feel to them - Garda is much larger and is popular for water sports and other recreation. Its about an hour from Milan so we stay there to recuperate from our jet lag. We love Hotel Olivi- with its pool and fabulous dinner(we do half-board) on the peninsula of Sirmione. You can drive through the old town only with a hotel reservation. Its a beautiful town with olive orchards, a grotto that dates back to the 1500's and great shopping!