Italian Lakes Explorer

Over the years we have been on several holidays with Inntravel and have many happy memories of them all. This holiday certainly did not disappoint and the standard of all the hotels was amazing. We have to say that our favourite was Relais Due Roccoli on Lake Iseo both for the food, wine and ambience. We can definitely recommend this holiday and we look forward to planning another holiday with Inntravel next year.

This is a beautiful area and the hotels were all excellent. We felt it was well worth adding on an extra day at each hotel to give plenty of time to explore both on foot and in the car. 

A wonderful holiday travelling around the Italian lakes. The arrangements made by Inntravel were fool-proof and enabled us to see far more of the lakes than we would have done otherwise. We loved the hotel at Lake Maggiore and its location, from our balcony you could watch all the comings and goings on the lake as it is right where the ferries come and go. We had wonderful meals outside on their terrace right by the water. Lake Como is stunningly beautiful but everything is expensive reflecting I think its profile overall and everything highly manicured (not the Hotel though interestingly which has rules like something out of a bad 1970s English seaside hotel). Lake Iseo was a lovely contrast, less refined but more real and the hotel was amazing. At Garda we stayed at the sister hotel of the hotel normally used but we loved it, very Art Deco and right on the water. We were sorry we didn’t have time to spend longer there. All in all a great holiday.

This was a wonderful holiday. All the hotels were well situated and enjoyable to stay at. Covering 4 lakes (5 if Lugano is included) in 10 days was amazing and relatively easy to do. A valuable aspect of the holiday was the opportunity to visit each area using the ferry boats (and public transport), which provided rest from the driving. The detail given about how to get from one place to the next was very good. I don't think we got lost even once the whole time! We got a real feel for the diversity of the area, crossing as we did the Swiss-Italian border more than once. This was an expensive holiday but real value for what we got. Our memories of our tour of the lakes will stay with us for ever and we hope to return some time soon.

Most enjoyable tour . Stick with small car for narrow lakeside roads and car parks. Try to avoid the Italian school holidays as very busy in popular towns and on weekend ferries.

Our favourite hotel was the 4th. Amazing staff and setting. Food really good and a silver water boiler at breakfast to make tea properly, only place. Food and service not as good at sister hotel squashed on narrow balcony

My wife and I had a first class holiday (apart from the weather!) and the arrangements made by Inntravel were excellent throughout. Hotels were excellent and we found the notes supplied for each stage of the holiday to be informative and extremely helpful.

A twelve day trip to Italian Lakes starting with a couple of days in Verona followed by a self drive trip taking in Lake Maggiore with lovely walks and visits to beautiful gardens on Borromean islands (Royal Horticultural Society members free) and Villa Taranto. On to Lake Como to visit Villa Balbianello (National Trust members free) and a ferry trip across to Ballagio with a fabulous walk around the town and a circular walk to take in the countryside and gardens at Villa Melzi. Moving to Lake D'Iseo, a small gem of a lake with visit and walk around Monte Isola - very quiet and lovely. Finally a few days at Lake Garda - very beautiful - albeit it a little more touristy than the other lakes. A wonderful holiday with exceptional accommodation - thank you Inntravel. 

Our first non walking holiday with you [Italian Lakes  Explorer combined with a stay in Verona] and we were not disappointed. The lakes all had quite a different feel to them. The hotels were well situated with friendly, helpful staff. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Italian Lakes Explorer Journey in SlowMotion. We visited four beautiful lakes at a relaxing pace with plenty of time to explore either on foot, by ferry, by car or by train. We were thoroughly spoilt with good food, lovely wines and some superb accommodation. Thank you once again to the Inntravel Team.

The food at Iseo was excellent as were the rooms although we paid for upgrades wherever possible. As it was our 30th Wedding anniversary celebration this was brilliant but I would recommend it. The hotel on Lake Como was the only slight disappointment - faded glory and a little bit mean charging for towels for the lake side beach. A recommended restaurant in your guide Trattoria Santo Stefano, was so unwelcoming, it felt that customers were an inconvenience and the food was poor. The following night we went to the Sports bar, not my usual choice, but the food and service were excellent. View also better. Overall an amazing holiday. We could not have wished for more.

Don't have a highlight per se but the whole trip was outstanding. It was exactly what we wanted from a trip to Northern Italy. Mountains, lakes, food, wine, history, walking, boat rides, vineyards, and people were exactly like what you read or see on TV or in the movies. Looking forward, Rome and southern destinations in the future. Definitely recommend a small car, much easier to get around in and park. Also would recommend parking the car when you get to your hotel and not using it again until you change hotels. Boats made the lakes and nearby towns very accessible and walking is the best way to see things.

I have several observations to make:

Cannero: suggest a mini map of the exact location of the hotel on the lakeside. We were put off by the access road which looked non-traffic.

Route to Lenno via Switzerland: took a bit of navigating to find the Route 2 recommended. Completely lost until a very helpful flower shop girl put us right. It might be worth noting the auto route and route 2 are given equal billing on the signs. Our worry was no separate large route 2 sign.

Further to finding San Giorgio Hotel, we approached from the direction advised but after much upping and downing on the Lenno Road we were guided to the hotel entrance by a passerby. It was then that we saw the huge entrance sign facing the oposite direction, ie not the direction we were travelling in. Could be highlighted, perhaps using the next door hotel as a tip?

This was a brilliant holiday and a great opportunity to experience the Italian lakes.  Hotel Cannero was a wonderful start - we loved the hotel and Lake Maggiore. We enjoyed a day trip, as suggested, to Lake Orta and also to Stressa and the Isola Bella. Although the second hotel was very different, it's situation on Lake Como and the ease of using the ferries made it a perfect base. Bellagio was a definite highlight and we thought the gardens at Villa Melzi were wonderful.  The third hotel, Le Due Roccoli, was simply superb! A room with a view was definitely worth having and the restaurant was truly exceptional. However Lake Iseo was disappointing, and three nights, nothwithstanding the brilliant hotel, was too long.  An extra night on one of the other lakes would have been better. We enjoyed Garda too - Gargnano was a lovely town. Salo was probably the standout destination - which we visited en route. All in all a really successful holiday.

The hotels, service and food were all quite excellent and the itinerary, the locations and the lakes perfect. The only downsides were a couple of rainy stormy days, and drinking too much Amarone, Barolo and Montalcino. On second thoughts, ignore the last part of that sentence. 

We really enjoyed this trip. It was all well organised, the hotels were all different and interesting, and the notes were excellent. 

The whole trip was brilliantly planned by Inntravel - we never got lost once using the maps and detailed instructions for driving or walking - which was a first for us and avoided lots of rows! We took the boat to Limone on Lake Garda which you don't mention in your guide and, though touristy, is well worth a visit. On Lake Iseo we took the last ferry of the day at 5pm out to the southern towns and back for only 3 euros each for the hour's trip. We were the only two people on it coming back! Sun was shining and it was brilliant value for money. We used the hotel bikes in Verona to cycle to part of the walking tour as otherwise it can be a lot of walking in very hot weather. We would consider 3 nights at Lake Como as we wanted to do more here and ran out of time.  

Overall this was an excellent holiday. We explored all the lakes and some of the islands, drove up into the mountains as well as wandering around the towns and villages. The hotels were all very different in their characters and locations, the staff at every one were very good, and the weather was perfect. All round, a first-class experience.

As usual Inntravel have tailored a wonderful holiday to our requirements with excellent choice of locations, hotels, restaurants and some very useful tips regarding places to visit.

Inntravel came to the rescue after another company cancelled our trip at the last minute.  They delighted us at every turn!  Our rooms at Hotel Cannero and Due Roccoli were magical and the food superb.  Everything was well organized and the directions were spot on.  I have already recommended you to all of my friends and I look forward to our next trip!

An excellent itinerary for a first visit to the Italian Lakes. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing a range of different places and recommendations for places to visit en route were also appreciated. Our favourite hotel was the Gardenia and we would have liked to spend more time there. Will be back!!

The itinerary gave an excellent flavour of the different characteristics of the Italian lakes, and the Inntravel suggestions for places to visit / places to eat were all excellent. The addition of Radein / Hotel Zirmerhof was first class and gave a great insight into the Dolomites and the 'alpine' way of life. Anyone visiting this area / hotel must visit the mountain 'huts' like the IsiHuit- the food, coffee and atmosphere are something else. Thanks to the Perwanger family and their staff for recommending this.

We loved the way moving from lake to lake kept the holiday fresh and exciting to the last. Lake Como was our favourite as San Giorgio was such a beautiful spot to enjoy the lively comings and goings on the lake. Our main tip would be to take or wear swimming things on any trip, as you never know when the perfect opportunity for a dip in a lake will appear.

A favourite moment was sitting on the lakeside wall under the olive trees at Sensole, Monte Isola on Lake Iseo, watching the damselflies over the water. Also I especially recall watching a swan with her six cygnets at Salo, Lake Garda, upending themselves to feed in water so clear we could see them as well below as above the surface of the water.

The 10 day Lake Explorer is a brilliant holiday with excellent hotels and excellent food. An ideal break for couples but I would not recommend it with young children. The walking was good and the general driving and travelling not a problem. The trip on the Cento Valli was worth doing as was the trip up Mount Baldo on Lake Garda.

Inntravel have again put together a very good holiday package which it is difficult to fault.

Excellent, memorable holiday. We really enjoyed it. We liked the contrast of the hotels, one being high above Lake Iseo with stunning panoramic views, while the others had beautiful lakeside settings. We also enjoyed the ferry journeys to villages across the lakes. The car hire worked well. Would recommend small, automatic car especially around Lake Garda where roads tended to be busier. All the hotels were lovely but the ones at Lake Garda and at Lake Maggiorie were my favourites as the staff gave excellent customer service. Overall a great holiday.