Luxurious Lake Como Itinerary – 2024Walter Eagleton2023-02-01T19:20:07-06:00
Sunday
Welcome to Luxurious Lake Como! Our Artistic Gourmet Adventures airport greeting window is between 4pm and 5pm on the first day of your Adventure. Our driver will meet you in the Lobby of the Sheraton hotel located 50 feet from the airport and will transport you by private van to our lake front Villa, your Lake Como home for the week. We will set the exact time between 3pm -5pm based on your availability as the Adventure approaches.
After a bite to eat and a leisurely afternoon to explore the Villa, you will then enjoy an amazing Gourmet Dinner provided by Le Cordon Bleu Alum Chef Walter and the Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff at the villa.
Monday
Wake rested and refreshed. After a filling breakfast at our Villa we will depart from the dock at our Villa in Moltrasio, and board the elegant venetian-style taxi boat. Bionda with its sliding sunroof for magnificent lake views, for a two hour private tour of Lake Como. During this voyage, we will admire the most beautiful Villas. You will see Villa Fontanelle (famous for being Versace’s house), Villa d’Este and many other magnificent Villas. We will disembark in Varenna for lunch* and a little shopping, then return to the villa via our water taxi.
In the evening, we will serve our famous ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ on the terrace (A canapé, pronounced “can-a-PAY”, is a type of hors d’oeuvre, or small, easy to eat food, made with a base of a small piece of bread or pastry with a variety of toppings, and traditionally served before dinner, usually with cocktails. These finger foods are made to be held with one hand, so that you can hold a drink in your other hand, and eaten in a single bite (or two at the most, to make it less messy). Soon after, you will enjoy a delicious gourmet dinner at the villa again prepared by Chef Walter.
Breakfast and Gourmet Dinner provided by Chef Walter Eagleton and the Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff at our lake front villa.
Tuesday
After a delicious breakfast at our villa, we will again board our venetian-style taxi boat, Bionda, for a cross lake voyage to famous Bellagio, the pearl of Lake Como. The tiny streets of Bellagio are so pretty that a simple walk is worth the visit. The old town center of Bellagio has one main road, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, which gets to Punta Spartivento (tip of the village) in less than 10 minutes. Via Giuseppe Garibaldi is populated by dozens of shops and boutiques where visitors can find local food, leather goods, clothing, perfumes, and much more.
To the left of the main street, several alleys lead to the lakefront, facing the Como branch of the lake. These alleys are also full of shops and restaurants… and stairs, too! So wear a pair of comfortable shoes and get ready to do a lot of ups and downs. In the town center, you can get to Piazza della Chiesa and admire the Basilica of San Giacomo, a Romanesque church built between the 11th and 12th centuries. Lunch in town*, after, a little more shopping or just sit and watch the lake until the Bionda picks us up at the Bellagio dock. We will then head back to our villa for ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ on the terrace and an evening of delicious food, fine wine, and relaxation while awaiting your Gourmet Dinner.
Breakfast and Gourmet Dinner provided by Chef Walter Eagleton and the Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff at our villa.
Wednesday
Today is a day to enjoy the Villa. After our homemade breakfast, you will spend a leisurely morning at the Villa where you may read a book, enjoy the hot tub or the pool or just sit by the lake imagining you are Amal Clooney! A light lunch will be served on the terrace by Chef Walter and the Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff. And, as the day dwindles on, it will be time for ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ and slow dining with our Gourmet Dinner.
Breakfast, lunch and your Gourmet Dinner provided by Chef Walter the and Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff at our villa.
Thursday
Another fun day exploring what Lake Como is known for! After breakfast we will take a short 15 minute drive to the city of Como and we will be dropped off just at the entrance of the outdoor market, open from 8 am to 1 pm, it is located next to Porta Torre, the main entrance of the old town. A five minute walk will take us to the Piazza San Fedele where you can lose yourself in the delightful little streets of the town center, and where you can sip a coffee together with the locals. Originally a wheat market, it is one of the main squares of Como and hosts a beautiful Romanesque church which dates back to 1120: the Basilica of San Fedele. After entering the town center, you will notice the incredible amount of cafés and shops. Como has plenty of clothing stores for all budgets. We will stop for lunch* and then decide if we need more time to shop or we want to return to the Villa. We will then head back to our villa by van for ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ on the terrace and an evening of delicious food, fine wine, and relaxation while awaiting your Gourmet Dinner.
Breakfast and Gourmet Dinner provided by Chef Walter Eagleton and the Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff at our villa.
Friday
Awake rested and ready to go. We will enjoy breakfast and meet our water taxi at our private dock and be transported to the the town of Menaggio. Piazza Garibaldi, the heart of Menaggio, with its cafés and restaurants, pulsates with life. The splendid lakeside promenade, where in the afternoon a light Breva blows, invites you to take a nice walk while enjoying a gelato. The Lido di Menaggio with its beautiful beach has a spectacular view of the lake. Archaeological findings indicate that the area of Menaggio was already inhabited in prehistoric times. In Menaggio we find three of the fifty panels that are placed along the shores and on the western mountains of Lake Como that are part of the 4 thematic routes of the itinerary “The End of the War”.
Two panels retrace the events that led to the capture and shooting of the Duce and the hierarchs and one recalls the killing of the partisan Enrico Caronti. Shopping, strolling the water front and lunch* at a nearby restaurant.
When we are ready, we will take a short 6 min drive to Tremezza where we will enjoy a visit to Villa Carlotta. Built at the end of the seventeenth century by the marquises Clerici of Milan, the villa tells the story of over three centuries of great collections, and each year also opens the gates of a fascinating botanical garden that draw thousands of visitors from all over the world. The botanical garden of Villa Carlotta is a kaleidoscope of colors in every season. In these weeks, large patches of hydrangeas in bloom and all shades of green are vivid, from the intense and exotic green of the Fern Valley to the brilliant green of the pre-Alpine meadows: summer has arrived in all its splendor. Masterpieces by Canova, Hayez and Thorvaldsen await visitors in a setting of great elegance, which also makes the most of the private apartments and furniture of Princess Charlotte of Sachsen-Meiningen.
We will then head back to our villa by van (a 30 minute drive) for ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ on the terrace and we will finish the evening with a special farewell dinner.
Breakfast and Gourmet Dinner provided by Chef Walter Eagleton and the Artistic Gourmet Adventures staff at our villa.
Saturday
Today, at 08:00, we say goodbye, Brown Bag Breakfast and coffee in hand, and our private driver will transport you to the Milan airport and send you on your way home or on to your next adventure!
