Bellagio holiday apartment: Limonta

We've just returned from a wonderful two week vacation in Italy, one week was based at La Panin. It was a beautiful apartment with amazing views. The apartment was clean, well equipt with items youd need for cooking or relaxing (nice DVD collection even), with modern cabinetry, a washing maching, dishwasher and nicely decorated. The owner Steve was extremely communicative during the whole process, even when we were a bit lost on the way finding the place and went out of his way to secure items for our 9 month old we were travelling with! There was a nice assortment of reference materials on the apartment and the area.

The only downfall for us was it was a little warm for our comfort and without screens on the windows it was hard for us to cool the place down at night since mosquitos could come in and my son and I are highly allegeric to bug bits. However we recognize we have a lower threshold for heat as we are Americans living in the Middle East where we have air conditioning year round set at 19C (68F). There is a ceiling fan, but another above the bed would have made it perfect. Or if you dont mind the windows open it wouldnt have been a problem either.

Definitely need a car to get around in the area though as the winding mountain roads are not meant for pedestrians. Bellagio though is only a couple minutes by car and even a drive to Lugano Switzerland is only about 40 minutes away which is a nice day trip. Como is a nice urban city on the lake, Varenna has a train into Milan, and recommend the Bellagio Water Taxi tours too.

I would definitely recommend La Panin to friends and go back to stay there once again.

We're a middle-aged couple of university lecturers, who spent a week in June at la Pinin. We flew to Bergamo and drove to Limonta in under an hour. The flat has easy-access, safe, private parking. We found the flat itself perfect for our needs, everything as stated in the description. The kitchen has everything you need. The owner provided efficient, friendly customer service. The flat was clean and wel-maintained. The balcony has splendid views across the lake in both directions. Magnificent in the morning to have breakfast watching the red kites swooping across the water as the sun comes up over the hills opposite. In the evening to relax with a bottle of wine and a book as the sun goes down behind and the lights of the villages on the other side come on. We definitely recommend a car. The village itself is almost nothing - no shop, a bar at weekends only (although there is a trattoria down below on the lake road). Which is what we loved most, the absolute peace and quiet. You need a car to go to Bellagio to get supplies and to visit the surrounding area. There are some fascinating small villages tucked away in the surrounding mountains if you don't mind narrow, winding roads. It's also easy and cheap to put your car on the numerous lake ferries and visit all the villages around the lake, together with the hinterland on the other side. We were there in June and the weather was perfect for us, coming as we do from very hot Andalucia - sunny with a few showers. There were also few people around. We got the impression from some of the big closed-up houses around that August might bring in more "beautiful people" from Milan and other parts of Italy (even in June the odd Ferrari), so things might be considerably livelier if that's what you like. We ate very well in various restaurants in Bellagio and in villages and the hills on the western shore of the lake (not too much to the east), including a memorable visit by ferry to an island and restaurant called Isola Comacina (the restaurant a bit kitsch and also with a photo of Michael Winner on the wall, but worth a visit). There are various gardens to visit for those of a botanical bent. The flat at la Pinin is an ideal place to return to at night and sit on the terrace to relax. Altogether a good base for visiting the whole area and in itself quiet and peaceful. But you do need a car. We recommend it wholeheartedly.

We stayed at the apartment for our honeymoon in July 2009 and it was a delightful place to stay. The apartment is nicely furnished in a relaxed style but has everything you need.

The views from the balcony are breath taking and we enjoyed many a lazy breakfast out there.

Its also a great spot to watch the thunderstaorms roll down the lake.

Only down side for us was the lack of restaurants or bars within walking distance. Restaurant Anna , the only one nearby was closed from the 1st July for a week.

My only criticism of the place was the slightly mad Italian drivers whizzing round the very narrow bends! It made driving a somewhat daunting experience at times as the roads are not always two cars wide - so be careful!