HilaryDash

We are flying into Milan and would like 4 nights in the Como area - any suggestions for a B&B on the lake?

Then we plan to spend the other 4 nights in Cinque Terre (1 night), San Gimignano (1 night) and need to figure out the last 2 nights to be about an hour or 1 1/2 hr from Milan Airport. We were thinking Lucca? Or any suggestions?

Thank you very much!

Jean

Do you want to stay in the area of the town of Como, or do you mean you want to stay somewhere on Lake Como? What time of year? And what's your budget?

There is no train service directly to San Gimignano, so the closest you can get by train is Poggibonsi. From there you'd take a bus, and you'd have to return to Poggibonsi by bus to catch a train to your next destination. This is a lot of travel time for just one night. It's also about 5 hours from Lake Como to the CT, so you could be looking at 3 straight days of long travel times.

Or were you planning to rent a car after the CT?

Lucca is a 3+ hour drive from Malpensa or 5+ hours by train. Before suggesting alternatives, we'd need to know if you'll have a car.

HilaryDash

How nice of you to reply so quickly! We would be going late September. We ahve never seen the Como area and around lake Como, Lecco was recommended as a central place to see the whole area. We would have a car the whole time and would love to see as much as possible.

We loved San Gimignano on a day visit 2 years ago and would love to spend one night there. We also loved Vernazza in the CT and would love to spend one night there. The final 2 nights we would like to see more of the coast, perhaps Chaivari? Somewhere where we can get to Milan in about 2 hours to leave.

Our budget is probably up to $150-$175 per night. We like small, local towns, don't need flashy.

Thank you!

Jean

IMO, Lecco is not "a central place to see the whole area" if 'by area' you mean the lake towns, villas, gardens, etc. Most would agree that the mid-lake area (Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio) would make a better base from which to explore. There is frequent ferry service that concentrates on this mid-lake area and is separate from the service that runs up and down the length of the lake. Varenna is the only one of the three that has train service.

Your budget is tight for Lake Como, especially if you'd have to pay over-night parking charges on the car. You might consider not picking up the car until you're ready to leave the lake. You don't need a car to get to or explore Lake Como, and many sights are easier to reach by ferry.

Have you researched the driving times involved? Varenna-Vernazza is 4.5-5 hours, Vernazza-SanG is 3-3.5 hours, SanG-Chiavari is 3-3.5 hours, Chiavari-Malpensa is about 3 hours. That's a lot of driving over 4 days and doesn't include lunch stops, comfort stops, detours to see anything else, etc.

HilaryDash

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So it would make sense to take a train from the airport to varenna then pick up a car somewhere for the final 4 days?

Are there local places to get one or would we need to go back to the airport? We had wanted to go back to the tuscany region but perhaps it makes more sense to focus on the coast such as the CT area after como area?

sandralist

If you would switch your trip around and go to Lago di Como last then you could have a taxi take you to the airport the morning of your flight. But you cannot reach Malpensa from the Mediterranean coast or Tuscany in 2 hours, even if you drive a sports car. The terrain just makes it impossible. There are mountains in the way.

Probably the easiest thing to do is to go from Milan to the Italian Riviera. Pick a train ride without too many changes since you will be jet lagged. It would make sense if you rented a car on the Italian Riviera (pick one up in Rapallo or La Spezia) to get to San Gimignano next. I suggest spending more than one night there to make it worth your while.

Drive the car Como (the town) to get ride of it because you won't need it on the lake and it is expensive to park.

Jean

After your time on Lake Como, you could pick up a car in Lecco (20-40 minutes by train, depending on the train) or in the town of Como (hydrofoil or ferry from the mid-lake area).

After landing at Malpensa, many people like to start at Lake Como because it's fairly easy to reach by train and doesn't take too long. Others like to end their trip at either Lake Como or Lake Maggiore because getting to Malpensa is fairly easy and doesn't take too long. Whether you decide to put the lake at the beginning or end depends on a few things: How much more travel do you want to do on your arrival day, and conversely how close do you want to be on the night before your departing flight? (Malpensa to Vernazza by train is 5 hours; Malpensa to Varenna or Stresa is about 2 hours.) Then, how late do you arrive at Malpensa? If you wanted to head to Bellagio, you'd need to arrive early enough to ride the ferry.

I also would stay in San Gimignano more than one night to make it worth the effort. If you let go of the idea of a 3rd destination, you could just drive to Malpensa the afternoon before your departing flight. There are some decent hotels near the airport.

snowgirls

The Med coast was the unexpected highlight of our September 3 week trip last year. A real beachy vibe we land locked Canadians fell in love with.