Visit the elegant gardens of Lake Maggiore with ADAM FROST
The popular Gardeners’ World presenter will join you to explore the gardens of the magnificent Italian lakes on this wonderful tour
The lakes of northern Italy have inspired poets, painters and botanists for centuries with their attractive Renaissance villas and glorious cultivated gardens. Lake Maggiore straddles both Italy and Switzerland and we stay in Stresa, a typically stylish Italian town that was once a favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway and on this exclusive eightday Country Living tour, you’ll explore it along with Lake Como and Lake Orta.
Adam Frost will join you for a boat trip to the islands of Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori, founded in the 10th century, and you’ll take a walk with him through one of its formal Italian gardens. He will also join you for an exclusive talk and Q&A session about his life, award-winning garden design career and time presenting BBC’S
Gardener’s World. You will also travel into the Swiss Alps to see the Matterhorn and experience a journey on the famous Centovalli Railway.
REASONS TO BOOK LAKE MAGGIORE
Walking the cobbled streets of Stresa’s Old Town feels like winding back in time to the elegance of a largely bygone era. Visit the enchanting islands of Isola dei Pescatori and Isola Bella, including a tour of the latter’s 17th-century baroque villa.
ITALIAN GARDENS WITH ADAM FROST
You’ll take a boat trip to the spectacular terraced gardens of Isola Bella with award-winning garden designer and presenter Adam Frost and have the opportunity to ask the Gardeners’ World presenter your burning horticultural questions during a private talk and Q&A.
THE CENTOVALLI RAILWAY
Named after the so-called ‘hundred valleys’ it passes through, the train features specially designed panoramic carriages so you can soak up the scenery as you journey through mountainside villages, wild woods and romantic landscapes.
LAKE COMO’S SCENERY
Explore Como town, renowned for its imposing cathedral, delightful parks, grand hotels and the majestic Villa Olmo, which has hosted many eminent guests including Napoleon, Archduke Ferdinand and Garibaldi, the ‘father of modern Italy’.
ITALY’S PRETTIEST – AND LESSER-KNOWN – LAKE
One of the country’s best-kept secrets, the small and charming Lake Orta will be one of the highlights of your trip. The pebble-studded lanes and alleys – lined with traditional food shops selling the fresh produce Italy is so respected for – lead to the lakeshore and romantic main square.