Lake Como & Milano: My Private Services

Walk the streets of Milano which may be the most elegant city in the world. There are canals, shopping, fine dining, and beautiful parks. Today with your professional expert local guide & you will discover how business and history have blended in one of Europe’s most important commercial cities. You’ll visit the Piazza del Duomo with it’s beautiful cathedral dating from 1386, and just adjacent is the famed Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Considered to be one of the most beautiful shopping malls in Europe, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a massive glass building filled with shops and restaurants. The building was first opened in 1865. The cathedral’s construction started in 1865, and it was the first of it’s kind to use iron & glass structure. You will also be able to visit the La Scala Opera House, the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie where you’ll have pre reserved tickets to view the incredible renaissance masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci’s, the Last Supper.

The Last Supper depicts Jesus and his twelve disciples sitting at a table eating. This is a universal biblical event, but the composition is distinctly Italian, and it contains elements of life found in Italy during the Renaissance. When visiting La Scala opera house you’ll learn about the artistic traditions that inform Leonardo's work.

Inclusions:

Private local expert English speaking guide

Advanced reservations/Entry tickets

While this tour is typically operated by meeting your private boat in Como at the port (we can arrange for the private boat tour to start elsewhere on the lake if desired, such as Bellagio, Tremezzo, Varenna)

One of the most picturesque places in the world is Lake Como. Known for its natural beauty, Lake Como’s so picturesque with its crystal-clear water, alpine mountains, and stunning villas. Lake Como is so beautiful, pristine, and pretty that it appears in many films and pop culture references. Its shores are home to villas owned by the likes of George Clooney, and featured in tv shows like HBO’s Succession.

Your first stop on the default itinerary is one of these villas that are available for guest on the day you visit. You’ll enjoy a tour of a villa interior rooms, galleries, and gardens. Then proceeding on the lake you’ll be able to admire from the lake several other of these villas before reaching the island of Comacina, where you’ll stop off for lunch at the restaurant. After lunch you’ll head to Bellagio, the gem of the lake, where you’ll have a walking tour of the lovely lakefront village. Then the ride back down the lake to Como where you’ll end the private boat tour.

(Itinerary is open to discussion in advance, or even with the skipper of your boat on the day of service)

Inclusions:

Private local guide & Private lake boat

In the evening when the sun sets on Milano another side of the city comes to life, a mix of the older more mysterious Milan mix with modern nightlife. Where legend & fact are blurred to stimulate your imagination & eyes. This evening your private English-speaking walking guided with take you on an itinerary through the city that combines superstitions, beliefs, and magic, as well as the charm of both old and new Milan. This evening you are invited to join us on this adventure through the darkest heart of Milano.

We will pull back the curtains and you will experience this other side of Milan, visiting piazzas where heretics and witches were burned alive at the stake. The home of the “Prince of Darkness” and a mysterious “veiled woman”, who is said to be beautiful woman with a disfigured face & enchants young men on foggy nights. Your guide will tell you of the dark legends and ghost stories that keep the Milanese children up at night. The Prince of Darkness is a demon from the seventh circle of hell (Milan) in Dante’s Inferno & he is just waiting for his time to escape hell so he can return to Earth and make all the people of the world suffer for their sins. Discover a Milano known only to a few and learn of the unknown origins of golden risotto alla Milanese and panettone.

You don’t have to believe in ghosts to enjoy this evening walking tour.

Sights you will visit on tonight’s walking tour include Sforza Castle, Sempione Park and Piazza dell’ Duomo.

Inclusions:

Advanced Reservations/Entry Tickets

Local expert English speaking walking guide

Today your English-speaking driver will pick you up at your hotel in Como (or elsewhere on Lake Como).

From Como you will follow the lakes left shore and admire the stunning views. You will then proceed to reach the border town of Tirano between Italy & Switzerland. In Tirano you’ll board one of the world’s most famous scenic train lines in the Bernina Express. On the Bernina Express you will climb up and through the incredible heights of the Bernina Pass in the Alps and over into Switzerland, the whole journey with dramatic views throughout until your descent in elevation and arrive in St. Moritz (St. Moritz is one of the highest towns in elevation in Europe at 5,900 ft above sea level). St. Moritz is beautiful in summer & winter, known as a chic ski mecca to the worlds rich and famous, and avid skiers worldwide. In the summer months the town is quieter with stunning lush alpine scenery and it’s mountain lake. You will have time in St. Moritz to do some shopping and have lunch on own.

After lunch you’ll meet your English-speaking driver for the day and leaving St. Moritz you’ll head through the Maloja Pass that will wind it’s way back into Italy. Along the way back to Como you’ll stop briefly in Chiavenna, a beautiful Italian village nestled with an alpine valley. Your day ends with drop off at hotel in Como.

[Contact me to discuss pickup at hotels elsewhere on Lake Como]

Inclusions:

English speaking driver for transfer to Tirano

Bernina Express train tickets to St. Moritz

English speaking driver from return trip to Como, from St. Moritz