I have been asked to review a trip I booked whilst in Milan. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side. It was a damp dismal day however this did not detract from the beauty of Lake Como. The low hanging cloud over the mountains gave it a magical feel. Onto the tour, our guide was a very nice lady. She was factual but very difficult to understand. The tour was advertised as English and whilst she did speak English her accent made it difficult to understand. She was a few sentences in before I realised she was speaking English. Tour companies’ please note just because somebody claims to be able to speak English. The target audience, English speaking nationals, need to be able to understand them. Arriving at Bellagio we were informed it was low season and the majority of places were closed. However, the tour guide did advise she would take us to a restaurant she recommended for lunch. We were reminding that because it was low season we had limited choice because most shops/cafes were still closed and not scheduled to open for a week or so when the tourist season started. We had been up very early and were hungry at this point so took her advice, (as did the majority of our group) I have to say the food was very nice at the recommended restaurant Hotel Suisse, however the price was eye watering, 71 euros for two plates of pasta, (carbonara and lasagne) and two glasses of house wine. Guys this was evening a la carte prices for a spot of lunch. However, the warning that majority of places were closed left us feeling we were a captive audience with limited options. My experience of ‘recommended’ places to eat on tours have been positive in the past with lunch time menus presented or a fixed price option. Not here, left the restaurant feeling ripped off. This was compounded by the fact when we went to explore Bellagio, a beautiful little port area, there were lots of places or take away cafes offering much cheaper food options that were open. Our walking tour of Como was a stroll up the main street then left to our own devices to explore for 1.5 hours. The places we visited, Lake Como, Bellagio and Como town were beautiful, however we left feeling very disappointed. We didn’t come away feeling we knew more about the history of the places we visited due to the language barrier and we still feel aggrieved a the prices we paid for a spot of lunch.

Plenty of time at each stop. Franco was an excellent guide speaking English Spanish and French to accommodate our tour group. He also gave recommendations on restaurants. Fabrizio was an excellent driver. The bus was nice and clean and had USB outlets for recharging your phone. And you could leave things on the bus in between stops too if you wanted. It’s a long day but well worth it.

Daniel the guide was knowledgeable, patient and pleasant. He organized the stops very well. Alfredo the driver was incredible. He drove perfectly on the narrow roads. In the morning I was delayed a few minutes because I got confused with the subway, but the person in charge of telephone communications was very kind and told me the next stop where I could join the tour. The bus had perfect temperature and was clean. The boat was very good also, safe and big enought. Everything was good, the only thing that would improve was the recommendation of the Nando restaurant in Belagio, I feel that the service there was not at the same level as the tour and the food was not relevant at all. But it's not that it was bad either. 100 points for the tour, happy that I made a good decision when choosing them.

We had a great day even though the weather wasn’t great. The guide was informative and fun and we were able to enjoy what the time on the bus, in the boat and exploring the towns. There was a good amount of time at each stop and the boat trip was great. The route also took in Lake Lugano which was beautiful. This was a great way to experience this region making full use of the day that we had.

Wonderful trip! We traveled by bus [no toilet], boat, and train. We had no idea that this was a 13-hour trip and did not have warm clothes on the St. Moritz, Switzerland portion of the trip. It would have been helpful to have more than 20 minutes to find a restaurant, bathroom before traveling to the next stop. Our bus driver must have been having a bad day because he demonstrated "road rage" on the return drive from St. Moritz.