marilee12

Going to Italy in May. Flying into Milan and then going to Bellagio, on to Venice and florence. Will take a car through Tuscany but need to know best place to drop off and pick up as we are going to rome from Tuscany. Would you take the train from Milan to Bellagio, venice and florence? Thanks. marilee

WallyKringen

Sure you can train it all the way to Florence before renting a car, except for this wrinkle: Bellagio is not on the train line. You get off at Lecco, there are eight or more bus services daily from outside Lecco FS station up to Bellagio by the lake ("lungolago&quot, takes about 50 minutes. Then maybe a taxi to get to the hotel, unless it's close or they have a courtesy shuttle?

Also note that Milano-Malpensa has no direct train link to Milano-Centrale where just about all trains come and go. The Malpensa Express is a private train that drops you at a suburban Metro station - not a good solution to schlep bags up and down the subway to get to Centrale.

A better (but longer) solution: Take the shuttle bus to nearby Gallarate train station on the main train line into Milano Centrale. Or grit your teeth and take the one-hour long bus ride into Milano Centrale - watch your bags as you put them under the bus before climbing on, crowd control was lousy when I took it, but it may depend on the driver, of course - ours stepped away to smoke and it was a free-for-all...

WK

marilee12

I thought you could take the train from Milan to varenna and then take a ferry? Would that work? Thanks. Marilee

MarciaS

Several years ago we were able to get a bus right outside Malpensa Airport that took us directly to Lake Como. We walked about a half a block to a boat that took us to Bellagio. It was a very easy trip. After a couple of days in Bellagio, we took a train out of Varenna which connects to major train stations in Italy.

Intrepid1

Just for informational purposes, trains from Milan to Varenna take about 1 hr and 20 minutes. The ferry is a ten-minute walk, all downhill, from the train station in Varenna. The ferry to Bellagio takes about 10 minutes.

marilee12

I might have misled you as where we were going to be. We are staying downn by the central station in milan over night. I wanted to take the train from there to Varenna.I am a little confused regarding milano-malpanso and milan central? Intrepid...it sounds like I can go from the central station to varenna and then fairy to Bellagio? Thanks. marilee

LoveItaly

marilee, if I understand your confusion properly..there is an airport shuttle bus that you can take from the Malpensa Airport to the central train station (Centrale) in Milan. I cost either 4.5 or 5euro per person. Figure an hour (depending on traffic) from Malpensa airport to the central train station. The shuttle runs about every 30 minutes. The storage for luggage in underneath the bus. The same shuttle busses run from the central train station in Milan back to Malpensa airport.

Steve_James

Marilee - For train times between Milano Centrale and Varenna go to:

www.trenitalia.it

(Get off at Varenna-Esino station).


You can find ferry timetables between Varenna and Bellagio on:

http://www.navlaghi.it/italia/navicomo/indicecomo.htm


Hope this helps ...

Steve

marilee12

Thanks for all your help. I have found the information for Milano to the varenna-esino station and will ferry over. The only other train information I can't seem to find is going from Rome to Sorrento. I put in sorrento into the website and it states it is the wrong name? Thanks. Marilee

Steve_James

Marilee - You will find Rome-Naples train times on

www.trenitalia.com

From Naples you have to change train - the Naples-Sorrento line (Cirumvesuviana) is a private line.

[At Napoli Centrale follow signs downstairs for the Circumvesuviana].

You can find the Naples-Sorrento timetable on:

http://www.massalubrense.it/circum.htm

Departures for Sorrento are pretty much every half hour throughout the day, as you can see ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

ira

Hi M,

If you give us your whole itinerary, we could help you with all of your questions.

marilee12

THanks.....here is my itinerary, but you will tell me I am doing tooooooo much....but here goes. We fly into Milan, spend the night by the central station and see the last supper the next day. Take the train to Varenna and then ferry to Bellagio, where we stay 4 nights. Train from Varenna to Venice where we stay 4 nights. Venice to florence where I need to go to the Santa Maria Novella station (can't find it on the train route?) where we spend one night, then have a driver to tour us through florence the next day ( I know....not enough time, but I like scenery more than museums) and he will drive us to Umbria. We will pick up a car for 4 nights in umbria then trying to decide if we leave car there, take a train, or drive close to Rome and leave car outside of the city. (we drove in Munich and vienna in the town and it was difficult) We will be in Rome for three nights, then need to go to Amalfi coast (positano) to finish our vacation. After we leave Positano, we will go to rome, spend the night at the airport and leave the next day. Hope that wasn't too confusing. Also, would love recommendations regarding the best car rental agency. THe prices look rather expensive for a few days? THanks.Marilee

marilee12

In umbria, we will be by cortona.......THAnks. M

WallyKringen

Two questionnable things on your itinerary: The Last Supper has been reported as having a waiting list of 6 weeks or so. Book ahead, way ahead, since you have only a tiny time window.

In Florence, you should walk the old city - it's not about museums, you don't have to enter any, but to take off for Umbria and not see Florence while you stay there, I can't fathom that. The historic center is not far from the train station (the principal station in Florence is called Santa Maria Novella, S.M.N., after the church next-door that is dedicated to this particular saint).

It's pedestrian-friendly - you should at least walk to the Duomo then down to the Uffizi and on to the Ponte Vecchio - as a minimum!

WK