850 miles to Lake Como from the Cotswolds, UK. Just brilliant, Now at https://www.grandhoteltremezzo.com/en/ Drive your cars!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Pity. I miss it by weeks every summer. The only other tip I have is to visit Harry's Bar in Cernobbio. At the water. If the passes are open when you return, try Susten, Nufenen and Grimsel west of the A2 north, through Switzerland. No, I just checked. They are still closed. Alternatively drive back west via Aosta, Mont Blanc, Chamonix, Montreux and into Germany. Or through France where you must visit the Schlumpf Museum in Mulhouse. If you don't have your own route planned yet. I drove that way coming down from Mainz and back up north via Zurich. The passes I once "raced" in 1999, later in that summer. It was quite remarkable
What a lovely hotel, my wife and I have stayed there twice. On our first trip some years ago we took our 365 GTC and parked more or less in exactly the same place as you and had our luggage taken up to our room. I was then asked to put the car into their garage, which is just a few metres along the road from the main entrance. Many of you will know how little shore line there is around Lake Como, with steep hills running almost straight down into the lake. The hotel Tremezzo has its entrance yard sort of scooped out off the road into the hillside with stairs and a lift up to the main floors of the hotel sitting above and behind. The garage is also scooped out and is almost in a cave underneath the hotel. There aren't many spaces and they have increased capacity by installing car lifts which will drop one car into the floor and take another on top just above ground level. It was in the full heat of the day and we had been on the road for five or six hours (without air con) the car was absolutely swelteringly hot. I drove the short distance into the garage where there were two attendants. There was an old guy and a young lad who looked about 12 to me but I guess he must have been of driving age. Anyhow it wasn't obvious where I should put the car and I was so hot that I stopped in the middle and got out to ask the older guy where he wanted me to put it, leaving the engine running and the door wide open. Before I knew what was happening the young chap was in the driving seat to park it for me. Well I'm sure he was well versed in modern machinery with auto boxes and all mod cons but it was obviously his first experience with an old (1969) right hand drive Ferrari. He didn't understand the gate at all, putting it into what he thought was first gear only to find himself going backwards, which had me and his older colleague laugh at him. Undeterred his logic told him that if top left was reverse then first must be bottom right on this strange machine and slipping neatly into fifth he chugged forward eventually managing to get up onto one of the lifts. Our Italian jaunts are much more comfortable these days in our 456 which is a fabulous vehicle for long distance travel, with plenty of luggage space and proper air-conditioning, but probably not as exciting. Have a great holiday.
