1st day: Arrival in Italy
Landing at the Milan Malpensa Airport and meeting with our tour leader. Transfer to Varese. Arrival at the selected hotel, accommodation in the booked rooms and time at your leisure. Evening: dinner and overnight at the hotel.
2nd day: Angera Borromean Gulf
Morning: Buffet breakfast at the hotel. Transfer and guided visit to the Borromean Stronghold of Angera, an ancient fortification perched on a spur overlooking Lake Maggiore. Embellished by a medieval-style-garden, it keeps a beautiful cycle of frescoes, dating back to the end of XIII century. At the end private transfer to Laveno for sailing to Mother Isle. Self-guided tour of the Borromean Isles, fully covered with a botanic garden embellished by rare plants and exotic flowers, and where peacocks, parrots and pheasants live free. Then, by private boat, on to the Fishermen’s Isle, an old medieval village, still inhabited by a few families, who devote themselves to fishing, and characterized by narrow streets and striking corners. Lunch: possibility to have lunch at a local restaurant. Afternoon: transfer on the shore of the lake (Verbania) for a self-guided visit to Villa Taranto, one of the most famous botanic complexes enriched with rare world-wide floral species. Transfer to the hotel. Evening: dinner and overnight at the hotel.
3rd day: Casalzuigno Varese
Morning: buffet breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Casalzuigno and guided visit to the villa and the garden Della Porta Bozzolo, built as a mansion house in the 16th century and embellished by a large garden in the French taste. Lunch: lunch at a local restaurant. Afternoon: transfer to Varese and guided visit to the 20th century Park of Villa Toeplitz, the protagonist of which is the majestic water flight of steps and then guided visit to the Estensi Gardens, natural appendix to the homonymous Palace, today the seat of Municipal Administration. They were planned on the model of the ones of Scho?nbrunn in the second half of the 18th century and they are considered the first green lung of the “garden city”. Short visit to the town centre and transfer to the hotel. Evening: dinner and overnight at the hotel.
4th day: Departure
Morning: buffet breakfast at the hotel. Check-out and transfer to the airport. Depending on your flight time, you might visit the Sacro Monte of Varese or have time at your leisure for individual activities.