After 10 days of hiking in the Dolomites, my boyfriend and I have 2-3 day to visit the Lakes, and or visit some gardens, or do a farm stay. I'm an avid gardener and would love to stay at a vineyard or an olive farm. Our hiking trip ends in Bolzano. We weren't planning to rent a car, but it seems perhaps we'd need to in Milan to get to the Lakes area? After this part of our trip we take a train to Naples to visit Pompei. Any ideas for getting around, gardens to visit or farm stays in the general area of Bolzano or the Lakes.
Posted by
488 posts
Colli Euganei is a beautiful wine growing region southwest of Padova. Rolling hills, charming villages, near Padova,
lots of agriturismi. We stayed at this one https://www.il-feudo.it/ during harvest season. Great cycling but you need a car.
Brad
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32365 posts
You don't need a car to get to any of the lakes, as all are well served by trains, and using rental cars comes with some potentially expensive caveats. A few thoughts......
- Lago Maggiore - Stresa is easily accessible by train from Milan. There's an alpine gardens above the town, but I'm not sure about access at the present time as the cable car is not operating. You might be able to take a cab? You could also visit the elegant Borromeo Islands and they have some beautiful gardens.
If you had the time, you could travel via the scenic Centovalli Railway from Italy to Locano, Switzerland, and then return to Stresa by boat. In Locarno you could take the cable car to Cardada / Cimetta. It's absolutely a beautiful spot - https://www.cardada.ch/en/cardada-cimetta/the-place-to-be .
- Lago di Como - Varenna is easily available by train, but I'm not sure if there are any gardens that can be toured other than some of the posh mansions that can be visited.
Posted by
Monterey County, CA (formerly Verbania Italy-Lago Maggiore)
1641 posts
I’m partial but you would love the gardens on the Borromeo Islands on Lago Maggiore. There is a direct train from Bolzano to Milan centrale, then regional train to Stressa. No need for car rental.
Three nights gives you two full days. Maggiore is best experienced by ferry.
Villa Toranto in Verbania, across the bay from Stessa is also beautiful and uncrowded. The monastery on the east side of the lake, built into the rock walls is also a quick ferry ride.
Or, you could take the hydrofoil ferry to Ascona Switzerland (better than Locarno) for lunch and a little exploring.
Or if you prefer castles, Fortress Angora was very cool. From the top we could see the Matterhorn.
Or you could take the ferry across lake from Intra to Laveno and take the bucket gondola to top at 1200 meters with spectacular view of the alps and lake.
If you want additional info, let me know and I can provide links.