Grand Hotel Tremezzo review: the most storied hotel in Lake Como
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Score 9/10The 80 rooms and suites have either lake or garden views and a pleasing mix of classical and contemporary styling, pops of bold colour and marble bathrooms. Luxury touches include indulgent Beltrami bed linens, made locally with yarn from birch wood, which is both sustainable and addictively silky. All rooms are maintained in mint condition and refreshed annually during the hotel's winter closure. Even the snuggest rooms feel spacious thanks to bay windows and balconies but if you can splash out, the top suite — named after the Swedish-American actress Greta Garbo — is as showstopping as the enigmatic star with its extravagant gilded bed, a marble-lined bathroom with a circular whirlpool tub and a huge terrace overlooking the lake.
Score 9/10 There are four restaurants and none of them hold back on Italian exuberance. Its flagship is the fine-dining La Terrazza Gualtiero Marchesi, which is a tribute to the chef widely acknowledged as the founder of modern Italian cuisine. It would be a shame not to order his classic dishes such as the delicious saffron risotto with gold leaf, proudly served by waiters who will present you with a copy of the recipe as a memento. Da Giacomo on the hotel's 'beach' (the sand is imported) is the place for seafood and people-watching — try the lobster. For a casual bite, there's T Pizza in the garden, while L'Escale, the hotel's 21st-century take on a traditional trattoria, serves Instagrammable meals such as carbonara prepared table-side in a parmesan cheese wheel before being generously topped with truffle. Breakfast offers 101 ways to develop diabetes before lunch, with trestle tables laden with every kind of cake and confectionery known to humankind as well as magnificent displays of cheeses, meats, cereals, nuts and fruits.
• More great hotels in Lake Como• Best villas in Lake Como
Score 9/10There are three pools; the standout one floats on the lake and has its own mini 'beach' for long, lazy sunshine days. There is another cool pool in the garden, surrounded by neatly clipped hedges and sweetly scented borders, while the third is a stylish indoor lap pool in a glass house that has knockout views.
The spa has treatments by the world's oldest pharmacy, the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, which has been making incredible lotions and potions in Florence since 1221, and the high-tech Swiss brand Transvital, as well as a sauna with lake views, a steam room, a hammam, an ice fountain and a hair salon. There's a tennis court, the gym comes with killer views and there are complimentary morning yoga classes.
Score 9/10The gardens of Villa Carlotta, one of the lake's main tourist attractions, are next door, and the extraordinary Villa del Balbianello is also close by. Pick up a ferry from a pier that's about a five-minute walk away to explore the lake's charming towns including Bellagio and Varenna.
Price B&B doubles from £1,900Restaurant mains from £32Family-friendly YAccessible Y
Susan d'Arcy was a guest of Grand Hotel Tremezzo (grandhoteltremezzo.com)
• Lake Como v Lake Garda: which one should you visit?• Best villas in Italy with a pool
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BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Ischia: The Italian Isle where locals cook in volcanic sand
Ischia is famous for its healing thermal waters, but the powers of its geothermal energy are less known – and they're hiding an ancient culinary tradition beneath the surface. I'm wandering through the village of Sant'Angelo on the Italian island of Ischia, searching for the footpath that will take me to the volcanic fumaroles on the isle's southern shore – and towards one of Italy's most unique meals. A shopkeeper points me to a stone staircase snaking up from an alleyway that climbs over the cliffs and mountains. The steep trail takes me past prickly pears and stucco villas, and as I trudge up to the clifftop, I admire the ink blue waters of the Gulf of Naples. On my descent to the fumarole-dotted beach, I approach the crescent-shaped Maronti Bay; umbrellas staked into ash grey sand. I'm soon ushered to a corner table on the terrace of the seaside restaurant Chalet Ferdinando a Mare. Basil and tomatoes perfume the air as bathers frolic in the sea. I order lunch and a glass of wine. Below the terrace is a patch of sand ringed by a fence. Danger signs glare in Italian and English: "Prohibited from entering to the unauthorised. Sand boiling 100C" (212F). These are the fumaroles of Ischia, where sands are heated to a boil by underground volcanic vapours. It's where my lunch is cooking right now. An island tradition Cooking meals in a fumarole is no culinary gimmick; it's Ischian tradition. "My father always cooked under the sand," says Fernanda Iacono, the chalet's owner. "It's something we do in this part of the island. We cook chicken, potatoes, octopus, vegetables, fish, mussels… anything that cooks at low temperature." Plan your trip: Get there: Take the hydrofoil or ferry from Naples to Ischia Porto, then the CD, CS, or 1 buses to the Sant'Angelo stop (45 minutes). It is only possible to reach the fumaroles by foot or by sea. Walk or hail a pedicab down to the village (€8). Take a private boat or catch the water taxi at the docks (five minutes); the path leading to Maronti Bay is found next to Ragno boutique (20-25 minutes). Approach from the east on foot via Maronti Beach. Do: Browse Sant'Angelo's posh boutiques, then soak at the Antiche Terme di Cavascura; a thermal spa carved into pumice rock. Ristorante Emanuela is open from April to November; Chalet Ferdinando a mare is open from June to the end of September. Reservations encouraged. Don't: Attempt cooking in the sand without the chalet's approval (or a local's assistance). Stay: The Miramare Sea Resort & Spa offers mesmerising sea views and full spa services. Ischia teems with fumaroles, but they're hottest in Maronti Bay. Generations of Ischians have come here to cook, wrapping their food and burying it in the sand, where the steam acts as a sous vide. "We'd have parties on the beach where we cooked under the sand. With music, too," reminisces Iacono, who runs the chalet with her children, Giorgio and Desideria Migliaccio, and her son-in-law, Angelo Russo. Islanders cook year round, but the tradition hits its zenith each summer. "All Ischians do it at least once a year," says Mariangela Mattera, an Experience Expert at Ischia-based tour operator FORADAY. "In summer, especially at sunset, we go to the beach, bury the food in the sand, and while it's cooking, we bathe in the sea, which is warm due to volcanic steam rising through the water." Cooking in the fumaroles takes insider know-how – the sand can cause serious burns. Luckily, select restaurants on the island specialise in "geothermic cuisine", allowing Ischia's summertime visitors to experience this cherished tradition themselves. Two of the most popular are Chalet Ferdinando a Mare and, just 65m away, Ristorante Emanuela, helmed by Sergio Iacono (no relation to Fernanda). "We've been serving food like this since I was a child," Sergio says. "Our place is nearly 60 years old. I remember seeing my father's photos from when he was young, when he was cooking [in the sands]", showing me goosebumps on his arms. "I get emotional." With two geothermic restaurants in such close proximity, there's inevitably debate about which began cooking in the sand here first. "My great-grandparents were the first to cook here," claims Desideria, Fernanda's daughter. "My family has managed the fumaroles since 1975." But she concedes that "Ischia belongs to the Ischians – everyone can cook here… as long as they behave respectfully!" The chalet, which opened in 2005 as an offshoot to the family's historic Hotel Ferdinando Terme, has no stove. "Just a griddle for making bruschetta," explains Desideria. "Everything we make is cooked in the fumaroles, preserving the flavours and nutritional qualities." Chicken is the classic protein; a historic staple of Ischia's family farms, says Russo: "People started cooking things like octopus later on." The chalet's menu offers traditional and modernised fumarole dishes, from chicken to calamari with sweet-and-sour onions. Sergio's menu leans more traditional: "mostly chicken and potatoes", he says. "Fish is made to order; sometimes the customer watches." He explains his latest sand-cooked dish: spaghetti with fumarole-steamed white octopus and potato ragù. Film crews are a common sight at both restaurants. "A Brazilian crew came. A Japanese one and a German one, too," says Fernanda. "They come because it's so unique." The uniqueness even surprises Italians. Gallery assistant Eleonora Cacialli – originally from Rome – only discovered the custom after moving to Ischia in the 1980s. "One evening, friends and I organised a dinner cooked under the sand, arriving by boat," she recalls. "We seasoned the chicken with oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then we wrapped it in foil and placed it inside a pillowcase to prevent any sand from getting [inside]. [When] we opened the packets and saw the steaming food, perfectly cooked, it was astonishing. As a Roman, I'd had absolutely no idea something like this existed." This piping-hot sand isn't Ischia's only cooking pit. Further east, in rocky Sorgeto Bay, the water reaches 90C (194F), creating a locals-only natural thermal spa and stockpot. There are danger signs here, too, and bathers avoid the font, approaching just to deposit mesh bags of potatoes, corn and eggs. An island so volcanic, it's its own energy source. Ischia's volcanic gifts Ischia's seismic footprint is everywhere, from its healing thermal spas to the Ancient Roman settlement of Aenaria; sunk beneath the sea by an eruption 2,000 years ago. Though eruptions and mudslides are always a lurking possibility, Ischia's soil is especially fertile, lending rich flavours to its vegetation. The wine I order for lunch is also volcanic – made from grapes grown in igneous earth. Though no texts describing fumarole cooking in Ischia have been found predating the 21st Century, most locals believe it either derives from the Ancient Greeks – who founded the isle as their first Italian colony in 750BC – or the Ancient Romans; both of who embraced the island's volcanic properties. "It's one of the most ancient methods of cooking," Fernanda says. "At least for as long as the island has existed." The islanders' reverence for its fumaroles also comes from their distant ancestors. "Ischia's ancient inhabitants explained its volcanic phenomena through mythology," explains Mattera. "During the war between the giants and the Olympian Gods. Zeus hurled a rock at the giant Typhon, who fell off Mount Olympus and was trapped under the Mediterranean Sea by a boulder; that became Ischia. His struggling caused our earthquakes. His tears became our thermal waters. His angry breath, the fumaroles." Local geologist Aniello Di Iorio – founder of Eurogeopark geothermic tours – has a more formal explanation. "Ischia is on a caldera," he says. "The fumaroles are hot gases that come from its internal magma chamber, located about 2.5km below the island." Di Iorio often brings groups to see the fumaroles in the crater of Mount Rotaro. "We have them put their hand [nearby] so they can feel how hot the gas is." Di Iorio also takes tourists to Maronti Bay to demonstrate fumarole cooking: "With apples, not chicken; that takes too long. We add pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon. We wrap them in heat-resistant foil, wait 10 minutes and they're ready to serve." He adds: "Food cooked this way has a completely different flavour. It's much more delicate." In essence, Ischians have transformed something some might view as terrifying into something useful. As Di Iorio explained: "Volcanoes are Ischia's lifeblood." How to cook a chicken in the sand At the chalet, the lunch crowd begins to filter in, burnt from the Sun. Giorgio Migliaccio indicates the strings snaking out of the sand. "Each one's connected to a different dish," he says. "They have different cooking times. Chicken and octopus take about two and a half hours; same with potatoes and vegetables. Prawns and mussels, around 15 minutes. This happens inside hermetically sealed steel containers to keep out sand and other external agents. Look!" Russo has climbed into the pit with a shovel. He strikes, sand flies and he yanks the strings to haul up crates wrapped in yellow fabric. "When this type of cooking first started, they used cloth," explains Giorgio. "We've evolved, from a hygiene standpoint. Most people use foil now, but as a restaurant, we had to do some research to ensure food safety for the clients." A further nod to evolution: at Ischia's two-Michelin starred Daní Maison, chef Nino di Costanzo uses fumarole-inspired techniques; steaming cod in a copper pot with sea water and stones taken from Maronti Bay. Locals have their own standards. "Never go barefoot; that's the first rule," says Cacialli. "Wear gloves!" Ischians dig one hole per food item; creating a barrier between the food and the sand. "It's homestyle," Cacialli says. "Things have evolved – especially with restaurants that use this cooking style – but the technique has remained the same. Aluminium foil, seasonings, that's it." So how does food cooked in volcanic sand taste? I watch excitedly as Russo pulls my meal from the sand. It arrives on blue marbled plates: chicken and octopus in salsa verde, with a side of turmeric potatoes. The octopus is curled tight as a fist, bathed in green herbs. I'm delighted to find it extremely tender, and the chicken, too, is exceedingly juicy; fragrant with rosemary. The potatoes melt beneath my fork, bright yellow and earthily spiced. I may not have buried it myself, but today, I'm part of a summertime island tradition that celebrates a delicious coexistence with danger.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Venice considers increasing cost of local gondola rides to deter tourists
Authorities in Venice are considering increasing the price of 'secret' cheap gondola rides – usually used by locals – after social media influencers shared tips about the budget-friendly boats. Queues have been getting longer at four crossings at the Grand Canal, Venice 's main waterway, after influencers posted about the large gondolas or traghetti (ferries). The ferries cost around €2 (£1.70) for tourists, and even less for residents, which is a far cry from the €80 (£68) gondola ride that most visitors will pay on average. Locals have complained that they are now suffering as a consequence. 'The ferries have become the latest trend for tourists who want to spend little and get in a gondola,' Andrea Morucchio, a local artist, said in a statement to the Times. 'Thanks to influencers and bloggers it has become one of the most popular things in Venice and as a result Venetians are suffering.' While travel guides have long recommended boarding traghetti to get around the city, the rise of social media has increased their popularity. Influencers have recommended the boat ride to solo travellers who may not be able to afford an individual gondola, plus mooted it as an easy way to snap a selfie without going over budget. Simone Venturini, Venice's councillor for tourism, told The Times that the city was considering increasing the price for tourists, then investing these funds into opening up two new ferry crossings across the Grand Canal. 'An increase would be justified since tourists are using the service as a substitute gondola ride,' he said. Tourists causing havoc on gondolas is not new. In 2024, a group of tourists fell overboard after taking photographs from the vessel. While navigating a low bridge near St. Mark's Square, the gondolier's alleged request for the passengers to remain seated were ignored, causing the incident to occur. The city has a complicated relationship with tourism. Last year, Venice became the first city in the world to charge admission for day trippers. A €5 (£4.30) to €10 (£8.60) levy was trialled between April and July this year. Tourists who make reservations less than four days in advance are charged the higher rate. Day trippers visiting during peak hours – 8.30am to 4pm – have to pay the daily fee, while overnight tourists with hotel reservations are exempt from the charge. However, businessmen in the city have proposed an even larger entry fee at €100 (£86) after they said Venice is in a 'state of calamity'. Setrak Tokatzian, president of St Mark's Square residents' association, called for the charge in order to stem the 'rivers of people' arriving in Venice. 'There's a complete explosion of overtourism like never before, with a type of people wandering around without entering shops or even knowing where they are.'
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The UK 'fairytale' village often mistaken for Lake Como is one of the country's best hidden gems
Along the coast of north Wales, there's a 'fairytale' village that's often mistaken for Lake Como. Nestled in the picturesque Welsh countryside, Portmeirion Village, in Gwynedd, boasts characterful architecture and enchanting pathways. It shares many similarities with the magical and romantic Lake Como, but is instead in the UK. Portmeirion was built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who based the design around a Mediterranean piazza. The inspiration certainly shows, the private village resort features pastel buildings and quaint cottages all centred around a piazza. There's also 70 acres of woodland area as well as gardens and luxurious accommodation to stay in. No pets, except for registered guide or assistant dogs, are allowed in the village. The unique location has captivated many visitors and has more than 5,400 reviews on Trip Advisor with an overall rating of 4.1 out of five. One reviewer gushed over the 'truly magical experience' they had at Portmeirion. 'It's like being transported to an Italian time capsule. The building are so quirky and interesting, the views are breath taking, and the food was incredible,' they said. Another described it as 'absolutely beautiful, so pretty, so unusual'. The visitor added: 'A very clean village, you can tell that they take pride in the place. 'We did the full circle, unfortunately our stay wasn't enough to see the wooded area, but what we seen was beautiful, so colourful. 'Walked down the pebble path to take pics of the chequers board, which was fab.' However, some visitors hit out at the 'expensive' prices in the resort. It costs £20 per adult to visit Portmeirion Village for the day, and £17.50 for 60+ year olds and students. A TikTok video posted by @cezandgaz revealed the hidden gem. They uploaded a clip of the enchanting location, showing the twisting paths and stunning coastal views. The caption read: 'Hidden on the coast of North Wales, this surreal, whimsical village looks like it was plucked straight out of Italy and dropped into the lush, green landscape of Snowdonia. 'Colourful facades, winding pathways, palm trees (!), and a dreamy seaside view, it's giving European fantasy, without ever leaving the UK. 'Designed in the 20th century to prove that development didn't have to ruin natural beauty, Portmeirion is a bold, playful escape that feels like stepping into a storybook. 'From the pastel buildings to the subtropical gardens, every corner is camera-ready. 'This is not your typical idea of Wales—this is a reminder that magic can exist where you least expect it.' Another video posted by the pair showed them exploring Portmeirion and enjoying a Sunday dinner there. Cez gushed: 'Would you believe me if I told you this isn't an Italian village, but it's actually somewhere in the UK?' 'Looks wonderful I wanna visit there,' one viewer penned.
