The Italian lakes were always a popular destination for any of the long weekends celebrated in Switzerland, but the challenge was always how to handle the 17 km Gotthard tunnel. For this Easter weekend trip, we opted for a middle of the night departure meaning we arrived bright and early at our first stop, the Verzasca Dam. After stretching our legs and admiring the view here we continued on to our accommodation, which I had found through the Agriturismo site. So many options here for farm stays throughout Italy. We chose La Nevera, with old stone buildings transformed into accommodation, riding stables, woods to walk in and the most amazing restaurant. The rooms were rustic and a bit chilly in early April, but the views were beautiful!
From our base we made day trips out into the local area – down to Lake Como, the nearest town, Argegno, or up high at Monte Sighignola for views of Switzerland and Lake Lugano from the Italian border.
Villa del Bablianello sits on the banks of Lake Como. The villa can only be reached by boat or on foot. We parked in Lenno and then it’s about a 25 minute scenic walk through the grounds. Lenno is a pretty town itself and after the villa we had lunch on the terrace of a lakeside restaurant.
We couldn’t come to Lake Como without visiting Bellagio. We took the Griante-Bellagio ferry route from Cadenabbia; it’s possible to take your car on this route but we went as foot passengers. Plenty of tourists, glamour, gelato and pretty cobbled streets – which some of us enjoyed more than others.
For our final day we travelled back into Switzerland to Monte Tamaro. At the base of the mountain is the Splash and Spa park – no swim kit with us this time so we took the cable car up. First stop was the ropes course up in the trees, with different levels suitable for different ages. Then onwards passing the snowline to the toboggan run and, of course, lunch in a cafe at the top in the sunshine.
