If you’re interested in a trip, email us. You can also let us know if you’d like to gather your own group of 8-10 or join a group, and whether you’d like to come with couples (singles are also welcome), or join a ladies trip.
If you’d like to rent the villa and get help with an itinerary or do your own thing, we’re happy to help with that, too. 🙂
Lunches include Michelin-starred restaurants and good local food (and can be planned according to the group’s interests). Dinners, at the villa, feature ingredients sourced locally and are accompanied by some special, mostly small-production Northern Italian wines. The order of the days and the activities may change a bit depending on arrival dates and group preferences.
Day 1: Lunch and Dinner at the Villa
We’ll unpack and then enjoy lunch outside on the terrace or “Portico Coperto” if weather permits. After lunch we’ll take a walk around the local ‘loop’ which includes a stop at the excellent Paolo Sala bakery. Back at the villa we’ll settle in and get to know the villa and each other, maybe play a game of badminton, bocce, ping pong, foosball, or just relax until dinner.
Day 2: Bergamo
Lunch at Frosio
We’ll pop over to a nearby hilltop village, Montevecchia, for a beautiful view south to Milan and north to the Val Curone then continue on to Alme, outside of Bergamo for lunch at Frosio, a perennial favorite run by two brothers and their wives. After lunch we’ll visit the stunning Renaissance and Roman sites of Bergamo, one of the most beautiful hill towns in Italy, with our excellent guide, Elena. If there’s time on the way back to the villa, we’ll make a stop at Enoteca Pirovano, a surprisingly good wine shop in the basement of a completely unassuming grocery store.
Day Trip 3: Valtellina
Lunch at Ristorante Fracia
After breakfast we will head north along the east side of Lake Lecco and then turn east toward the beautiful and steep wine-growing area of Valtellina. We’ll have a wine tasting at Aldo Rainoldi, then continue to nearby Ristorante Fracia, perched among the Nino Negri vineyards, for a wonderful lunch (and sampling of the accompanying Nino Negri wines). If there’s interest, we’ll walk up a bit from the restaurant through the vineyards to a beautiful overlook. From there we’ll head back down the valley along the upper road, the Via Panoramica, past the ruins of Castel Grumello (with a possible stop if time allows) and take in the gorgeous view of the valley and mountains. From there we’ll continue to a modern agriturismo, La Fiorida, for a gelato and/or to pick up some local specialties (bresaola, speck, Bitto and Sciumidin cheese) to enjoy that evening and the rest of the week. We’ll return to the villa in time to relax a bit before dinner.
If the group is interested, we have an option to start even earlier and make the drive up to St Moritz for some beautiful scenery, a short walk into the town to visit an excellent chocolate shop, then drive back down through the stunning Bernina Pass to Valtellina for lunch at Fracia, a quick stop at La Fiorida, then back to the villa. It’s a long day but if the weather allows, it’s quite beautiful!
Day 4: Como
Lunch at Materia
Our driver will take us to the beautiful lakeside town of Como. We’ll stop in at the very, very old San Fedele church, then continue to the Como cathedral with its impressive tapestries and duck into a shop or two. We’ll then walk along the Como Greenway to Villa Olmo, where our driver will pick us up and take us just up the road to the Michelin-starred Materia in Cernobbio. On the way back to the villa we’ll stop at Dassogno, a dairy farm, for a gelato and more dairy products if we’d like. We’ll return to the villa in time to relax a bit before dinner.
Day 5: Villa Day (or choose your own adventure!)
Villa
Spend a quiet day enjoying the grounds, playing ping pong, badminton, bocce, reading, writing, playing cards or board games, walking, resting (or doing a load of laundry if you are continuing your adventure after your time at Poggio!).
Varenna
The gardens of Hotel Cipressi and Villa Monastero are wonderful (and beautiful) examples of two microclimates of Lake Como. They’re situated on the lake across from Bellagio. If time permits we’ll take the train back south toward Mandello del Lario for lunch at Il Giardinetto on the lake, where we can try the local specialty of lake fish and rice.
Cooking Day
On the days Katharine is in the house, the group can choose to visit local growers and purveyors and pick up ingredients for a hands-on cooking demos (focaccia, pasta, aperitivi). We’ll consume the results of our labor, of course!
A Walk in Val Curone
Weather permitting, there’s a beautiful regional park close by that has some lovely walking paths through vineyards, past the donkeys, down to a restored farmhouse-turned-restaurant and winemaker.
Piani d’Erna
About 25 minutes from the villa is a road that winds up to a cable car that takes visitors up, up, up above Lake Lecco. The view from the top is glorious but there are also a variety of trails around a large meadow that we can choose from.
Golf
Play a round of golf and have lunch at the Golf Club Milano in Monza, site of two recent Italian Opens.
Weather permitting we’ll have aperitivi and play a few rounds of bocce on the 2nd terrace before dinner.
Day 6: Bellagio, Villa Balbianello
Lunch at Dispensa 63
Our driver will take us to the iconic little lakeside village of Bellagio and we’ll walk down a set of stairs to the entrance of the stunning Melzi Gardens, which is beautifully situated along Lake Como. We’ll walk through the gardens and into Bellagio for a bit of looking around and shopping and/or visiting Punta Spartivento for the amazing views before lunch at Dispensa 63. After lunch we’ll meet our private taxi boat driver who will deliver us across the lake to visit the grounds of the stunning Villa Balbianello. On return to Bellagio we’ll head back to the villa, stopping back by Enoteca Pirovano for a bottle or two to take home, as desired, and Pasticceria Fumagalli for some of their special treats we’ve sampled during the week.
Departure Day
After breakfast, our driver will take guests (and their bags and wonderful memories) to the Malpensa (MXP) airport for their return home or to the train station to continue their travels by train.
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The price (double occupancy) includes pickup at Malpensa or Linate airports or a Milan train station, lodgings at Poggio Verde Country Villa (choice of queen or twins), Italian continental breakfast, all lunches, dinners and wine, entrance fees, museums, and ground transportation on day trips except for optional activities on the ‘villa day.’ Everything but airfare and personal purchases is included. Tips for restaurants and transportation are included; tips for the villa chef at the end are appreciated but optional.
The rooms in the villa all have their own bath (four are attached and one is across the hall). When needed for larger groups or singles, we can also spread out to “Maddy’s Poggio” which is across the courtyard inside another part of the villa. That apartment has 3 queen bedrooms and a single bedroom (plus kitchen and living room). One queen bedroom has an attached bath and the others share a bath.
To register for a trip, email us and we’ll send you a link. We’ll also send an invoice to pay the deposit (750 euros per person converted to dollars at that day’s rate), and the rest will be due about 15 days before departure.
Adjustments to the itinerary will be made along the way as needed in response to weather conditions. Itineraries can also be designed according to a group’s preferences for activity level, dining interests, cooking lessons, etc.
For more photos, see our blog and Flickr photo albums, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @poggioverdevilla.