Travel & Transport

We send you detailed information when you book your holiday, but this page gives  some general guidance

Where we are

        Lake Como is on the edge of the Italian Alps north of Milan and not far from Lugano in Switzerland (see 1st map). Casa Felice  is to  the northwest of the Lake on the road between Dongo and Stazzona. (see 2nd map). Its position on the edge of the escarpment gives it a wonderful view over the Lake (see 3rd  map  - NB large 3D file)

Local Travel

        To make the most of your holiday we recommend that you take or hire a car.  Driving in northern Italy is not diffficult.

        There is  also  good public transport, however, some of which you will certainly want to use. There are  ferry services which criss-cross the lake  and which are frequent, cheap and enjoyable. To visit the Abbey of Piona, for example, you could catch the passenger ferry from Dongo (1 1/2  miles from the house) instead of driving round the top of the lake. For longer distances there is  a fast service using hydrofoils which  make a day-trip to Bellagio or Como  even more memorable

        The bus service is also good. You can catch a bus near the house to  take you to Dongo, from where there are frequent services up and down the western side of the lake from Como to Colico.

        The nearest railway station is at Colico (about 11 miles) on the line from Milan to Chiavenna. From here you can reach Milan for about 6 euros, or travel further afield. Como (city) is on the line from Milan to Lugano in Switzerland.

Flying in

        The three airports of Milan Bergamo (Orio al Serio), Linate and Malpensa are very roughly equidistant - about 1 1/2 hours drive - from Stazzona.

        The main low-cost airline from the British  Isles is Ryanair. This flies to Bergamo from Stanstead, Luton, East Midlands, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Dublin and Shannon. Jet2 fly to Bergamo from Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast while Easyjet go from Gatwick to both Malpensa and Linate and from Edinburgh to Linate. FlyBe go from Birmingham and Manchester to Malpensa. Flights vary according to season etc, but can be very cheap (we have flown from Liverpool for 1p plus taxes!).

        BA, BMI, Aer Lingus, Alitalia and Lufthansa also all fly to Milan. Departure airports include Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin. There are also regular intercontinental flights to Malpensa from the USA and elsewhere.

        It is possible to reach Casa Felice  by train and/or bus, but for convenience we recommend that you hire a car at the airport.

Driving from Britain

        The most direct route from northern Europe or the Channel ports is to use the fast French, German and Swiss motorways to Lugano, less than 50 miles from Stazzona. The driving time to the house from Calais, for example, is 11 hours (plus breaks), which we have done in a day with two drivers. Alternatively you could build in a pleasant overnight stop on the way. There is a similar length drive from eg Rotterdam if you live in the north of England and catch the overnight ferry from Hull.

Coming by train

        The nearest station is Colico, but from Britain you will get  to  Como more quickly. In both cases it is possible to reach Casa Felice by bus (or ferry and bus) via Dongo.