The 4 Best Luxury Day Trips in Italy

1.Lake Como Highlights – Villa Balbianello & Bellagio exclusive full-day tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 207 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $302Our pick

Spend about eight hours with a live English-speaking guide, traveling by hydrofoil and public ferry from Como to Villa Balbianello, Lenno, and Bellagio. Expect film locations, grand villas, mountain views, steep walking, and a group of up to 12. Guides such as Violetta, Michele, and Elena lead the route.

“I want to begin by mentioning the few positive things: Our guide, Michael, was excellent and did a good job. He was very nice, knowledgable and fun yo be around. It would have been even worse if he was not good at his job. Lake Como and the Villa Balbianello were both spectacular. Worth visiting as a tourist—truly. Just not on this overpriced and poorly planned tour. The tour itself was a complete waste of time and money. Did not even remotely meet our expectations. We met with our guide and small group and then got on the public ferry from Como to Lenno. We were charged €45 per person…”

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2.Lake Como – Varenna & Bellagio Exclusive Full-Day Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 165 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $266Best value

Spend about eight hours exploring Lake Como with an English-speaking guide, often Violetta, Giovanni, Daniele, Bianca, or Paula. Travel by hydrofoil and ferry, walk Varenna and Bellagio, visit three historic churches, and get help handling crowded boat schedules. Expect extra costs for the scenic ferry, lunch, and gelato.

“We have been using Viator for over ten years now. This was the best, most informative tour we have ever been on. We had Violetta as tour guide. She is by far the best guide we have ever had. She was skilled and professional in every way. We had 8 people in our group and by the end of the 8 hour tour, we were all friends. Violetta had a great personality, she knew all of the historical details of every place we walked by and into. She pointed out the most scenic photo ops and was happy to act as photographer to capture the most endearing scenes. We highly…”

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3.Villa Balbianello & Bellagio Full-Day Tour on Lake Como by boat

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 135 reviews · 8 to 9 hours (approx.) · from $453

Spend 8 to 9 hours exploring Lake Como from Como by boat, with visits to Villa del Balbianello gardens, Villa Melzi, Lenno, and Bellagio. An English-speaking guide such as Ricardo, Francesca, Bianca, or Violeta leads the day for groups of up to 10. Expect steep walks, free-time lunch, and changing boat arrangements.

“Was looking forward to this tour. Sadly, two people caused a huge 1-1/2 hour delay (they over slept) and we had to wait for them. This in turn caused us issue all along the rest of the day. We had to wait now an extra 30 minutes for a boat to the Villa, not being allowed the hike up as we were hoping to do. The tour guide could have let us proceed and these other people could have caught up to us at some other point, but we had to wait in the hot sun, doing nothing. We were rushed through all other portions of the tour. Villa del…”

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4.Exclusive Cinque Terre Day Trip from Florence

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 102 reviews · 13 hours (approx.) · from $700

Leave Florence at 7am for a private 13-hour day through all five Cinque Terre villages. Your guide, such as Angel, Daniele, Stefano, or Freddy, handles the train, boat, timing, and lunch while you explore Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso.

“Our guide Danieli was wonderful and the scenery of Cinque Terre were the highlights. Beautiful vista’s ad Danieli’s detailed explanations enhanced the tour. He was a wealth of information both on our 2 hour ride from Florence…and on our return trip. Great guide!! He truly felt bad about the train delays. The only negatives ….no reflection on Viator or Danieli..we’re the crowds of people in all 5 towns and the very poor train service. We wasted about 90 minutes on delayed trains and the hordes of tourists made it almost impossible to keep with our schedule. It was a great tour but when we got back to Florence we were…”

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