We return to beautiful lakeside setting of the Stella d'Italia, Valsolda in September for the 3rd year of Maestro! Music on Lake Lugano. Following the pre-registration period we have just two rooms remaining (14th June) so please call to check availability before returning your booking form.
Lake Lugano is 70% in Switzerland and 30% in Italy. We stay on the Italian shore of the lake at a hotel that has become a firm favourite with Maestro clients over the past ten years, the enchanting Albergo Stella d'Italia situated on the lakeside in San Mamete, one of the seven little villages that make up ‘Valsolda’.
“Piccolo Mondo Antico” (“Little old-fashioned world”) is how Italian author Antonio Fogazzaro described Valsolda in his novel of 1895 and little has changed since! The ‘Stella’ opened in 1910 and remains owned and managed by the Ortelli family. It is unique in our experience of Italian lakeside hotels in that ALL rooms face the lake and the only difference between 'standard', 'superior' and ‘deluxe’ is really the decor and size of the room. It has an idyllic setting besides the lake just 2km from the Swiss border and 7km from the centre of Lugano. San Mamete is a small lakeside hamlet with just one square but has a bank, baker, general store, pharmacy and hair-dresser as well as a few bars & cafes.
The hotel and its beautiful garden invite you to relax and enjoy the lake. This year the hotel has added a 'wellness' suite with massage and spa facilities. If you want to explore independently a bus runs several times a day between Lugano and Menaggio on Lake Como, stopping outside the hotel in each direction. The hotel also has a once a day visit from the traditional lake steamer as it traverses the lake from Lugano to Porlezza.
The holiday includes three days of organised sightseeing visits to the beautiful Villa Carlotta on Lake Como, Villa Fogazzaro on Lake Lugano and the lakeside towns of Bellagio & Menaggio and the city of Lugano itself as well as three dinners and two lunches (all with wines included).
The flight schedule from Manchester (Terminal 1) with Swiss is:
Monday 16th September
Manchester – Zurich 0845 – 1145 (baggage transfers directly)
Zurich – Lugano 1235 – 1320
Sunday 22nd September
Lugano – Zurich 1520 – 1615 (baggage transfers directly)
Zurich – Manchester 1710 – 1805
From Gatwick (North Terminal):
EZY 8191 Gatwick – Milan Malpensa 0900 – 1205
EZY 8196 Milan Malpensa – Gatwick 1350 - 1440
From Heathrow (Terminal 5):
BA 576 Heathrow – Milan Malpensa 0920 – 1220
BA 577 Milan Malpensa – Heathrow 1320 - 1425
The package includes pre-reserved seats and 1 checked bag per person (23kg/50lb), six nights hotel bed & breakfast, all transfers, meals and inclusions as detailed.