Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

View of scenic mountains in Sardinia, Italy.

Hiking the scenic mountains of Sardinia. Photo: Traveler Gregory Yurkoski

First of all, Marianna on Andrea’s team dutifully checked in with us almost daily. This is always a nice touch when traveling.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The staff at Hotel Villa Fanny were particularly fun and kind. This is a great hotel—modern and in a good location. The only thing missing was a pool and gym. Our driver, Sara, for the first several days was simply delightful. She even bought us small gifts!

Su Gologone Experience Hotel is a special place, albeit in need of a little pampering. The gym and pool were awesome. The beautiful cliffs and natural surroundings were always spectacular. The restaurant had some wonderful dishes, but we felt the food and service were not consistently good, and the menu was not diverse enough.

We loved our time with our guide Melina. She adapted our time with her to maximize the experience and tailor it to our needs. The drive and hike up into the mountains and the time with the shepherds were highlights.

We found Alghero very interesting, historic, not too touristy, and accessible. It had great food and restaurants, excellent shops, and bars with kind owners and staff. I believe Villa Las Tronas was the only 5-star hotel on our itinerary. It had an unbeatable location: an easy walk to town, quiet, and situated directly next to the sea. The pool and gym were another highlight. We had two small baths in our sea view room, but both had small or cumbersome showers. The room did not include a coffee maker and, in fact, had instant coffee packets! But the decor and breakfast and staff were all wonderful.

We probably could have used another 30-40 minutes at our last stop in Castelsardo. We enjoyed a nice lunch at a local restaurant, but we did not have time to walk to the top of the castle.

The end of our trip with friends in Porto Cervo went very well. We had great meals, enjoyed the beach, and went boating.

This was our third trip with Andrea, and as our previous travel experiences with Andrea, this one was no exception.

We were looking for last-minute tickets for a Coldplay concert which we could not find, and Andrea´s team managed to get not only regular tickets but amazing tribune tickets at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Was doubtful on the suggested hotel, Palazzo Ripetta, but it was an amazing, top-notch-service property with walking location to main sites in Rome.

Few last-minute requests on the go were taken care of immediately, as if they knew what we wanted.

Don’t go to Italy without Andrea!!

Traveler Jeannie Mullen approaching Isola dei Pescatori by boat, Italy.

Approaching Isola dei Pescatori by boat. Photo: Traveler Jeannie Mullen

I had a short window of opportunity to squeeze in a trip to Milano and the Lake District in northern Italy recently and turned to Wendy for advice on how best to approach a private trip with local guides and drivers that worked with my schedule. With very short notice (three weeks) during what is a very busy season in Europe in general and northern Italy in particular, Andrea and Creta put together a lovely and well-balanced itinerary that met all of my particulars. They were prompt, detailed, responsive to all of my questions and delivered in spades.

The trip started with two days of guided walking tours in Milano…on day one, we visited Basilica di Santa Maria Delle Grazie, San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, and the canals, shops and neighborhoods in the Berra district…afternoon food stops included saffron risotto, charcuterie, limoncello AND the obligatory gelato. Molto bene! The second day started with a back-of-the-house tour of Teatro alla Scala or La Scala (the opera house), followed by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and the Duomo (too many flying buttresses to count!).

I had been to most other parts of Italy on previous trips but never the Lake District, so the rest of the short time that I had available was spent enjoying Lago Como and then Lago Maggiore. They were similar in beauty, but very different in feel (Como was a good bit busier and suffered a little more from the traffic on narrow, winding lakefront roads). I spent my first afternoon on Lago Como investigating the shops and restaurants in Mennagio. It is such a photogenic area, particularly along the lakeside promenade. The following day was spent with a private boat tour of the villages, gardens (Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo was stunning) and villas around Como. Everything looks better from a boat! And, no joke, our boat captain’s name was George (just not THAT George!). I took the ferry across Como to Bellagio on my second full day, met with a darling local guide, Emanuele, who proudly introduced me to and shared stories about the numerous Bellagio hamlets that we passed through on our way to lunch at a local restaurant which boasted a gorgeous view of the upper end of the lake. On our way to the top (5K in total with a 1,400 ft elevation change which took place mostly in the last 1/3 of what started out as a walk and ended up being a “hike”), we walked through the hamlet where he, his parents and grandparents live. We also shared fresh black cherries from a tree in his grandmother’s garden! On our return by car to the city center Emanuele helped me find a local shop to purchase local olive and truffle oils before I boarded the local ferry back to Mennagio. The weather had been threatening each afternoon of the trip and unfortunately did not cooperate for the WOW Moment that had been scheduled for later that evening, a sunset cruise around the lake.

My next three days were spent on Lago Maggiore in Stresa, another beautiful lakeside village where every photo fairly jumps into your camera by itself. I explored the shops and narrow alleys of Stresa on my own the first afternoon and took a long walk along the lakefront the following morning. I met Kate, a local guide, that afternoon for a tour of two of the three Borromean Islands on Maggiore…Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori. The Baroque palace (complete with underground grottos) and Italian gardens on Isola Bella were stunning despite threatening weather. After a short boat transfer we had Isola dei Pescatori basically to ourselves. It was a lovely and picturesque island, where a small number of fishermen still live and work to supply the local eateries. The small church on the island, the Church of San Vittori, dates back to the 11th century. Headstones in the local cemetery just around the corner had some wonderful stories to tell. The next day we drove to the opposite side of Lago Maggiore for a walk through the botanical gardens of Villa Taranto in Verbania. Kate brought Taranto alive with her many stories behind the history and development of the gardens. Afterward we walked to the next lakeside village, Sintra, and enjoyed a tasty charcuterie lunch before returning to Stresa for the evening.

In sum, this trip which was planned on short notice at a very busy time during the travel season, turned out to be just the ticket for an 8-day getaway to what has now become my new favorite part of Italy. Andrea and Creta listened closely to my stated trip goals and came through brilliantly. All of the logistics were taken care of in great detail. And, in a very nice touch before my departure…Giulio contacted me directly and reviewed the details of the itinerary (and how to access it through their portal) to be sure that I was content with the final itinerary and logistics before I headed to the the airport the next morning. I was also contacted multiple times during the trip by the local tour coordinator to be sure that everything was going according to plan. Each of the local guides and drivers were well chosen and ensured that the logistics were seamless. Last but not least, the fast-track arrival and departure services in Milano were perfect given the long lines I witnessed at immigration and security.

Grazie mille, Wendy, Andrea, Creta and Giulio!

Travelers Deb and John Wente in their private boat tour on Lake Como, Itlay.

Deb and John Wente in their private boat on Lake Como.

We just returned from a trip to northern Italy planned by Andrea’s office (May 28-June 8, 2024). The primary destination was lake country, but we started with a few days in Cogne in the Aosta Valley. It was off season, many shops and restaurants were closed, and we loved it! Hotel Bellevue was wonderful, and there were hiking trails accessible just out the front door. We had a guided hike into Gran Paradiso Valley complete with a wonderful picnic lunch.

Next we traveled to Lake Country. We visited Lake Orta, Lake Mergozza, Lake Maggiore and Lake Como. At times we hit crowds, but mostly we were able to escape into the surrounding countryside thanks to our guides. We were lucky and the weather was beautiful. Andrea and her team planned a number of hikes around the lakes which gave us an opportunity for solitude, and the chance to chat with the local guides.

We explored the Borromean Islands in southern Lake Maggiore — very interesting. We stayed on one of the islands, Isola Bella. It was lovely but it’s important to be prepared for the closing of all shops, bars, and restaurants after the last ferry leaves around 6:30 pm.

A stop in Lugano for lunch and shopping was fun, then on to Lake Como. We loved Hotel du Lac in Varenna. Our terrace looked out over the lake with the smell of jasmine in the air. It was magical. We took a couple of hikes, explored Bellagio, had an amazing lunch at Baita Belvedere and explored the lake by boat. Staff at the hotel told us we had to go home to rest because we did “everything” while we were there.

Then, our WOW Moment! We pulled up to a dock and there was a musical group founded in 1807 from the village of Lezzeno waiting on the shore to entertain us. We even waltzed a bit! One of the members made focaccia and pizza for our snack and we toasted with sparkling wine with our guide Rita. Family and friends of the group waved us off as we got back on our boat.

Friends ask me how I find these destinations and experiences and I explained it is the expertise of the Trusted Travel Experts recommended by Wendy Perrin. Andrea lives in Bellagio on Lake Como and personally knows the guides she recommends. They were fantastic. It makes all the difference to have good, local guides and interesting, hospitable places to stay.

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