Lakes & Peaks: Como to the Engadine

The journey.

Two worlds, one mountain range apart. Como's villa mornings and wooden boats, then the Bernina Pass — one of the great drives of Europe — up into the Engadine's larch forests and champagne air.

The lake A villa hotel that behaves like a private house, a Riva at the dock, aperitivo as a discipline. Days built around nothing more urgent than lunch.

The pass Then up: the red Bernina train through glacier country to the Engadine, hikes on high trails, and evenings in a grand hotel where the service still remembers everything.

Italian warmth, Swiss precision — taken in that order, both improve.