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The Islands & Gardens of Lake<br />
Maggiore<br />
8 days from £999 May, July, September & October<br />
You will have time to explore and have<br />
lunch before taking the ferry across to the<br />
island of San Giulio, with a short time to<br />
wander round and/or visit the fascinating<br />
12th century Basilica. From here you<br />
take the ferry back across the lake to San<br />
Filiberto, where the coach will be waiting<br />
to take you back to the hotel.<br />
DAY EIGHT: Free time until you depart for<br />
the airport for your flight home.<br />
This holiday includes a week on Lago Maggiore, Italy’s second largest<br />
lake, which stretches north from Lombardy and up into Switzerland. It<br />
lies, sheltered, on the south side of the Alps, making for a mild climate<br />
and consequent lush vegetation. Famed gardens feature Mediterranean<br />
and exotic flora, including azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias.<br />
• 7 nights hb Lake Maggiore • Full day excursion by boat to the<br />
Borromean Islands • Excursion by boat to Captain McEacharn’s fabulous<br />
Villa Taranto garden • Excursion to Lake Orta<br />
PROGRAMME<br />
DAY ONE: Flight to Milan, transfer to your<br />
Lake Maggiore Hotel for seven nights half<br />
board accommodation. Transfer times<br />
from Malpensa and Bergamo are 45<br />
minutes and 1 ¾ hours respectively.<br />
DAYS TWO TO SEVEN: These are spent<br />
on Lago Maggiore, where beautiful villas<br />
line the shores. Our hotel is in Stresa, the<br />
lake’s main resort, halfway up the lake<br />
and from where boats and steamers<br />
frequently traverse the lake from the<br />
landing quay close to the hotel. The<br />
lakeside promenade near the hotel<br />
allows for a pleasant stroll to the pretty<br />
town centre - around the main Piazza<br />
there is a good range of shops, bars, and<br />
restaurants. As long as it is operating, you<br />
will have the chance to travel high onto<br />
Mount Mottarone by cable car – fabulous<br />
views!<br />
We have included three excursions<br />
during your stay.<br />
1. The Borromean Islands. Your first<br />
excursion features Lake Maggiore’s three<br />
best-known islands, which lie in the bay,<br />
a short way from the shore. Your first<br />
island Isola Madre, ‘Mother Island’, has<br />
an impressive villa and gardens with<br />
towering palm trees – the tallest in Italy.<br />
You then have free time for lunch on<br />
the pleasant quays of Isola dei Pescatori,<br />
the ‘Fishermen’s Island. It is a very short<br />
crossing to Isola Bella, the ‘Beautiful<br />
Island’, with its 17th-century palace – you<br />
are following in the holiday footsteps<br />
of Goethe, Byron, Stendhal, Wagner<br />
and Hemingway! The formal gardens,<br />
patrolled by peacocks, contain plants<br />
from all over the world. Entrance fees and<br />
Guide Service on both Isola Madre and<br />
Isola Bella are included.<br />
2. The Villa Taranto Botanic Garden. You<br />
take the boat across the bay to Pallanza.<br />
Although supposedly created as an<br />
‘English’ garden, Villa Taranto’s heritage<br />
is very much Scottish – its creator,<br />
Captain McEacharn, was a proud Scot:<br />
the Taranto name comes from one of his<br />
Macdonald ancestors, who was given the<br />
title ’Duke of Taranto’ by Napoleon and<br />
whose father sped ‘over the sea to Skye’<br />
with Bonnie Prince Charlie! The entrance<br />
to the garden is through ‘Conifer Alley’.<br />
Highlights include the water gardens, the<br />
Dahlia Garden and the herbarium and<br />
the fine terraces.<br />
3. Lake Orta. You will have a relaxing<br />
excursion to one of the most beautiful<br />
lakes in Europe, Lake Orta. You travel<br />
firstly to San Filiberto to take the ferry<br />
to Orta S. Giulio with its quaint cobbled<br />
streets and picturesque lakeside piazza.<br />
YOUR HOTEL<br />
HOTEL MILAN SPERANZA AU LAC HHHH,<br />
Stresa (seven nights)<br />
This four-star hotel is in two adjacent<br />
buildings in the centre of Stresa,<br />
overlooking the lake and opposite<br />
the boat station. The Speranza has a<br />
pleasant street-front café while the Milan<br />
houses the hotel restaurant. All rooms<br />
have bath or shower, wc, hairdryer and<br />
satellite tv. Lake view rooms are available<br />
at a supplement. Milan Speranza guests<br />
have use of the swimming pool (mid-<br />
May to mid-Sep) at the nearby Hotel<br />
Regina Palace. (www.milansperanza.it)<br />
A WALKING HOLIDAY is also available<br />
from this hotel. Please ask for a copy<br />
of our Walking <strong>Holidays</strong> brochure or<br />
visit preferredts.com.<br />
Please refer to the enclosed ‘Dates and Flight Information’ for details of departure dates, prices and flights.<br />
www.preferredts.com | 19
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