We've been playing around with the idea of wandering the Italian Lake District this fall, and, while researching in the TZ archives and elsewhere, I find that there are many gardens to visit.

My question is: Would a trip to this area be more interesting in the spring, when more things are blooming, or are most of the gardens more of the formal, almost-architectural variety?

The idea of going in the fall (late-September thru early-October) has a lot of appeal because I'm assuming (?) there'd be fewer tourists and we can ad-lib the trip rather than make a lot of advance reservations.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

(We're going to fly in-and-out of Zurich and have a car the whole time.)

Al Sonoma, CA, USA