basingstoke2

We are invited to a destination wedding at Lake Maggiore. So far so good. BUT, it is scheduled for the last week in August! Now we are conflicted since we dearly love the couple. It sounds to us like the most expensive time to go considering high season airfare and price of rooms combined with the least pleasant time of year to be there from what I have read here and elsewhere - we have been to Italy a bunch of times but never in the Summer. We would be combining the wedding with our major vacation - we usually travel in shoulder season as we prefer spring and fall in most places. Opinions?

zeppole

I can top you:

I've been invited to an August wedding in the Bronx, NYC. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Much of the area around Lago Maggiore is simply a paradise in summer if you are willing to get into a car and drive around the Ossola valleys. Or, if you don't want a car, take a trip to the valle d'Aosta Have you been to Torino? It is so cheap in August. An air conditioned hotel is really easy to come by. After the wedding, head to Torino for a few days, then take a train to the valle d'Aosta. You might want to rent a car there, but even if you don't, you can get by using trains and buses to beautiful places.

The other thing you could do after the wedding is take the bus to Malpensa airport and go anywhere you want in Europe. Not all of it is hot. I would probably pick the Belgian coast. It will be crowded, but delicious.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/201...eaches-secrets

But if you want to stay in Italy, not all of it hot or crowded in August. Just head for the hills, and you can even fit in some touristic spots like Asolo, Asiago, Aosta - the A-list. Or if you prefer cities, Bologna is a bargain, and the porticoes make it shady and breezy. Torino is fun. Genova is empty and the weather is terrific. You can zip out of Genoa for sunset in beautiful places, and enjoy the museums in the mornings.

basingstoke2

Thank you Zeppole - that was very helpful information and a good link. I have never thought of Belgium as a summer resort. I also thought that since the last week in August is when many in Italy take vacation that hotel booking and prices would be at their peak.

StCirq

I've been at Lago Maggiore in August, and it wasn't bad at all. Especially if you spend time boating around the lake - out to the islands and to other lakeside towns. And you can drive up into the hills from there and enjoy an almost alpine atmosphere. We found Lake Orta to be less crowded, and somehow less hot, at that time of year, too, maybe because it's a smaller lake with less concrete sidewalks and structures surrounding it and more trees.

basingstoke2

We just received some more info. The wedding will be in Verbania at the Villa Rusconi-Clerici. There seems to be plenty of reasonably priced lodgings nearby - even a hostel. Sounding better and better.

basingstoke2

After spending much time with AA customer service, and they were very helpful, it turns out there are no AA FF miles to Milan at the times I need. However, I was able to score a FF flight to Zurich and the drive from there to Verbania is very doable so we will fly in and out of Zurich and that will give a couple of days in Switzerland so no Lake Como this trip but Maggiore here we come! We will have 5 days at Lago Maggiore, 3 in Switzerland and 6 in Israel - a nice mix.

Now, since we are attending a wedding in August in Verbania, I was curious what is worn by male guests. I asked a similar question attending a wedding in Charleston, SC last year and was delighted to learn my trusty seersucker is uniform of the day. Would that be the same in Italy. Can a man get away at a wedding with just slacks and white shirt, no jacket, no tie and not look out of place? DW already knows what she wants to wear.

We still intend to do a R/T Zurich to Tel Aviv before leaving for home and the schedule actually works out better than from Milan.

simply_me

Hi, I actually love at lake maggiore (opposite part of verbania) Let me know if you need help

basingstoke2

simply_me, How nice of you to offeryour help. BTW, I assume you meant to say "live" and if so I imagine "love" is also true.

At the moment I have a reservation for a superior lake view room at the Hotel Ancora. The Europalace seems attractive too and perhaps a bit less cost. Do you have thoughts about either. The wedding as noted above is at the Villa Ruscon-Clerici. Is one of the hotels more convenient to the Villa than the other? Another hotel we looked at is the Aquadolce but I wasn't convinced it was better than the two I mentioned and it cost more. Are there hotels that I did not mention that you know about and would be preferable in that price range?

Also, my question about what a man would wear to a wedding in that area in that season is a real one - do you have an opinion? Thank you once more and thank you to any one else who cares to respond.

jubilada

A nice linen suit .

zeppole

basingstoke,

You can do a google search for "wedding lago maggiore" and you will get links to wedding planner and wedding photographer websites that have no end of photo galleries of weddings on Lago Maggiore, so you can see for yourself what the guests were wearing.

This one takes a few seconds to load, but if you scroll down you'll see plenty of photos of guests

http://www.andreamatone.com/lake-wedding/

basingstoke2

zeppole - you come through again. Thank you once more. Looking at the male guests it seems that nice slacks, white shirt, optional necktie is all that is needed. Wonderful!