Signature Aperitivo on Lake Como: One Hour, at the Hour You Choose

This is what makes it yours. When you book you pick the label you'd like waiting in the ice bucket, and we have it chilled and aboard for your hour.

Included in the price: an excellent Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG — one bottle for every three guests, so a full boat gets two.

Franciacorta and Trentodoc, Italy's finest metodo classico (supplement from EUR 70): Ca' del Bosco Cuvée Prestige, a Franciacorta Rosé if you want the colour to match the sunset, Ca' del Bosco Satèn for something softer and creamier, and — for a serious occasion — Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore or Ca' del Bosco Anna Maria Clementi, two of the greatest bottles Italy makes.

Champagne (supplement from EUR 140): Moët & Chandon Impérial, Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque, Dom Pérignon Vintage, Krug Grande Cuvée and Louis Roederer Cristal.

One bottle of your chosen label comes with the experience, chilled and served aboard; the Prosecco follows the one-per-three-guests rule. Want more than one, or something that isn't on the list? Ask us.

Trancetti of pizza, focaccine and local cured meats — the Valtellina bresaola, salami from the lake villages — with water, ice and your bottle kept cold.

Your private skipper is at the helm the whole time, which means nobody in your group has to think about anything. The boat is yours alone, up to six guests, and the price is per boat, never per person.

If you'd rather build your own aperitivo, ask us and we make a stop at the Bottega Da Luciano in Laglio, a few minutes across the water from the Orrido di Nesso waterfall.

You order straight from their menu — their tagliere of cured meats, tartare, whatever tempts you that evening — we collect it as takeaway, and you eat it aboard while the boat drifts in the good light. It costs whatever you order at the counter, nothing more from us, and it turns the hour into something you assembled yourself.

This is the point of the experience: you choose the time. A late-morning hour is quiet, the water is glassy and the villas have their best light on the facades. After lunch is for a swim before the glass. Late afternoon is the classic Italian aperitivo, and the last hour before the sun drops behind the mountains is the one photographers fight over — but it is also the busiest, so book it early.

Whatever hour you pick, we leave from the dock nearest you and the whole hour is spent on the water, not getting there. If an hour sounds short for the mood you're in, add thirty minutes when you book (EUR 75) and we simply stay out longer. Many guests decide to extend once they're aboard, and if the calendar allows it we can do that too.

We come to you. Pickup is at any public dock on the lake — Como, Cernobbio, Torno, Faggeto Lario, Laglio, Argegno, Lenno, Tremezzo, Bellagio, Varenna, Bellano — or at your hotel's private pier if it has one, which most of the grand hotels do.

We are based on the central lake, minutes from Villa del Balbianello and Isola Comacina, so the most photogenic water on the lake is where your hour is spent.

Booking is online with instant confirmation: pick the date, the time, your bottle, and pay a 30% deposit by card or Apple Pay. The balance is settled on the day.

If the weather turns, you can cancel free of charge up to the day before and get the deposit back in full. Lake Como evenings are usually calm, but we watch the forecast with you and will tell you honestly if another evening would be better.