LUGANO AND LAKESIDE VILLAGES

h. 9.30 AM Meeting with an English-speaking driver at the hotel in Como and transfer to Lugano (CH) by private car/minivan; meeting with a licensed tour guide for a complete walking guided tour to the leading city of the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino, which sprawls luxuriously along the shores of Lake Lugano, embraced by San Salvatore and Brè mounts. It is rich in art: such as the lakefront church dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels (Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angioli), dating back to 1499 and frescoed by Bernardino Luini (Leonardo da Vinci’s pupil) in Renaissance style. Time at your leisure for individual activities, shopping and lunch. In the afternoon, transfer (without a tour guide) to Campione d'Italia, an Italian enclave in Canton Ticino, known for its casino. Brief lakeside walking and then drive towards Morcote, the “pearl of Lake Ceresio” and one of the most beautiful lakeside villages. Individual visit to its charming historic centre, well-known for its late medieval arcades and buildings, the noble residences dating back to XVI-XVIII centuries, as well as for its botanical and artistic park set up by the rich St. Gallen cloth merchant, Hermann Arthur Scherrer, opened to the public since 1965. Back to Como by private car/minivan.