Tips for hot thundery weather on holiday

[JustAnotherManicUsername]

We're off to the Italian lakes in just over 2 weeks and the weather pattern for the past month has been hot (32 degrees peak) and thundery rain for at least several hours every day. DC are not especially scared of thunder but I can't imagine them wanting to go out when it's thundering and raining. And 32 degrees is too hot for us to be out and about, unless there's a really good breeze/lots of deep shade. I'm panicking that we're going to be stuck in a small sticky flat with rubbish air con getting bored out of our minds. What can I do to help make this more tolerable if the weather doesn't change? Apart from taking plenty of gin and screens . Is it still safe to swim in an outdoor pool during a thunderstorm? That could be a way of making a positive of the weather. DC are too old to be up for dancing naked in the rain, alas.

Ah, okay, a quick google tells me swimming in an outdoor pool during a thunderstorm is probably a bad idea. Damn.

We’re here in Lake Garda atm. Only spots of rain so far and we’re in the hills. It hit 35 today - we’re sleeping with all windows and doors open to encourage any elusive breeze. We rented a boat to cruise the lake and engineer our own breeze yesterday. (Much recommended) It’s too hot for us - looking forward to going home at the weekend to cooler climes.

Thanks, great to have a local report. We're going to Como which I think is more mountainous, which may be is why it's getting more storms. Generating a breeze with a boat is a good plan! Sorry to hear it's been too hot for you.

We're a family of five staying in como next week . I've even checked surrounding areas and it seems like it's raining everywhere , everyday ! Am a bit gutted to be honest - sorry that's not helpful . I had no idea that daily thunderstorms was the norm . The last time I went was May 2013 and was lovely !

Oh dear badteacher! I heard it was going to get incredibly hot(ter) in the next few weeks. Hot and wet does seem very unfair! We have spent far more on this holiday than usual, kids' first time flying, no holiday last year, so it feels especially unfair to have the weather be so rubbish this year!

Still, I am determined to have a good time anyway. I thought of one thing that would be fun for me and works well in boiling/stormy weather - leave kids and DP at home and go to the enormous shopping mall a bit north of Como town. Not the sort of thing I'd usually do on holiday but it will be air conditioned and make a change from playing Exploding Kittens!

Oh no OP. The lakes are stunning though and hopefully there will be some dry slots , too.
Which mall is that btw ?I'm tempted . I'm going with teen/ tween girls who'll probably appreciate that , although I think the aim was meant to be fresh air and walks !

We're off to Garda and I'm hoping against hope that we don't get a lot of rain.

Only the two of us though, so no kids to entertain. If it does rain, I guess we'll just hole up in a cafe/bar with our books.

I think the weather and climate in lake Garda is totally different to that in Como! Como seems far more prone to rain and thunder , lake Garda is drier and sunnier

Lake Como is ridiculously beautiful. Admittedly it was nice weather when I visited but honestly I was happy just looking out of the window.

Ferries zigzag across the lake between the villages and you can get a day pass very cheaply. It will be cooler on the lake itself and the ferries will have shelter if it’s raining.

It’s quite easy to do a day trip to Milan, which I don’t know well but I’m sure has indoorsy/air conditioned places.

We did a train trip to Switzerland which was amazing - passing glaciers and mountain lakes. I can’t remember what it’s called now but it’s one of the famous train trips in the world. It would be amazingly dramatic during a thunderstorm.

It was one of my favourite holidays...wistful sigh

The beautiful train, as written up in vogue:
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/train-journey-from-lake-como-to-st-moritz-bernina-express/amp

Hobbes How long was the train to Switzerland and where did you board at ? We were planning to go by car but rethinking that now

badteacher we did it as an excursion from the hotel, so it was all laid on. There was a coach to the train station (Tirano I think) and the train journey was about 2 hours. We had some free time in St Moritz (lunch and browsed the very swanky shops) and then there was a coach back, which I think was cheaper than a return train journey.

I’d definitely take the train if you have a chance - it’s spectacular.

The shopping mall is this one www.centrocommerciale-lariocenter.com/home Enormous is maybe an overstatement but some shops and a hypermarket. If you poke around the site there's a map with a list of shops most of which were ones I'd never heard of which is more fun than Gap etc.

The train trip sounds great. I'd written it off as too pricey (given that we've got a hire car and were planning to drive to Lugano one day) but actually if the weather's bad we could probably justify it.

There's a small but well rated museum of the end of the 2WW, with air con, up towards the north on the west side - will find it in a minute.

Drongo (great name!) is where the museum is www.museofineguerradongo.it/en/

Ahh @JustAnotherManicUsername it's exactly the same here ! Had written off train journey as it's really pricey and we've spent enough as it is on the car hire . Also planning a day trip or two to Lugano which is one of my favourite spots on earth .
Will check out the mall, looks like somewhere to spend time on a rainy day and the girls like browsing through international brands .

Car hire is sooo expensive! I booked it months ago and the best I could get from a company that wasn't all terrible reviews was £600 for the fortnight! I haven't hired a holiday car for years but I'd budgeted for £200-300. How wrong I was. I did try to persuade DP that we could manage without because of ferries and staying in a town, but he wasn't persuadable. I guess it will be worth all the money for having air con. Maybe we'll just do lots of road trips!

Just I think we're living parallel lives at the moment . There were way cheaper deals for car hire but reviews were horrendous so we couldn't get the best price . A car is pretty mandatory with kids though and especially for the trip to Lugano . We're going for a week and it was around £400 just for that and that's not even including the car seat 😲 when do you leave x

Yes, clearly parallel lives! We leave on Sat week but have such a late flight that we're spending the night in an airport hotel (another cost I hadn't factored in!) so don't get to our apartment until Sunday afternoon.

But despite whinging about the weather and the cost, I am really looking forward to it. It looks so beautiful and there's lost of exciting firsts for the kids.

It is beautiful and the kids will experience two fantastic new countries and would have visited a world class destination .
Where on the lake are you staying ?

We'll be staying in an apartment in Griante which is near menaggio . Flying to Milan.
Did you notice it was tricky to find apartments with air-con ? We used booking .com and found many didn't have air con at all and the ones that did were pricier!

Lenno, so also mid-lake. Also flying to Milan. Also had trouble finding affordable air con (and what we've got looks more like cold air blowers in two rooms than proper climate control but I hope it will help a bit). I am also a teacher of sorts, so very parallel lives!

We went to Garda a couple of years ago in August and had lovely weather - one day was rainy out of 12.

Car hire must’ve rocketed as we paid less than £300 for 12 days.

Op we're here and the weather has been gorgeous ! Not a drop of rain or a clap of thunder !

We lived in Milan and used to go skiing for the day to a small and basic "resort" Piani Di Bobbio near Como. The cable cars run in summer and it might be high enough to be above any rain. It will definitely be cooler too.

@badteacher Hooray! That's great. Hope you're having a lovely time. Forecast looks cooler for when we are there, especially the last week of August. We might even need to pack jumpers!

Thanks Chester, that's a useful tip, I hadn't found that in my researching.