Hershey

Is there any hope for my daughter and her boyfriend? They arrive in Milano Monday 3/24 AM and leave in the afternoon of Friday 3/28.

They just want to sit around and relax but eat well.

Do you kind souls know if it is possible to find a place (under 200 Euros) that would be accessible to someone on crutches? Any place have an elevator? Taxis and boats are OK. Just don't want to walk any more steps than necessary.

Thank you.

BTilke

Speedy recovery to your daughter, most of the towns I've visited in Lake Como have fairly steep streets (Bellagio, for example).

Hopefully someone will come up with a suggestion that fits your daughter's situation. If not...perhaps heading just a wee bit north to Lugano in Switzerland might help. The Hotel (Albergo) Pestalozzi definitely has rooms in their price range (including some with gorgeous views of the lake), has an elevator, and the downtown of Lugano is fairly flat, including the pretty city park. The train station is up on a hill, but there is a funicular that will take them to the lower, flat part of town or it's a short taxi ride.
http://www.pestalozzi-lugano.ch/eng/...articolo=16520

In the area, it's easy to take boat cruises, the local tram, funiculars to the top of various peaks, and so on, all things not TOO difficult to do on crutches.

Also, as they're traveling in low season, they might find more things are open in Lugano than in some of the lake Como villages (although with such an early Easter this year, perhaps more places are opening early).

davidjac

What your daughter does is up to them but why would anyone want to go to Lake Como just to sit around. Would not some beach resort be a better option.

Lake Como is not cheap and most of the towns except for Como itself are hilly.

David J

Jean

Menaggio is fairly flat and has a broader range of lodging options. It will likely be slim pickings in Bellagio and Varenna this early in the year.

Hershey

My daughter and her boyfriend (age 34) are with a group that is traveling on to Cinque Terre. They were looking for a flatter place to stay until the group returned for the flight back to the states on the 28th. They could just stay in Milano but they are from Philadelphia and wanted to get out of the city.


They would much prefer to be hiking in Cinque Terre but due to the foot injury, he would prefer to "sit around".

NeoPatrick

www.albergometropole.com

This nice hotel sits right on the lake in Bellagio. They show lakefront rooms with balcony for your dates for 135 euros per night. It is an easy flat walk of only a few steps from the ferry landing or the other boat landing. I can't think of a more pleasant place to sit and do nothing than there. And there is also an elevator and a nice lakefront restaurant downstairs.

Jean

The automatic booking link for the Metropole shows no availability March 24-28, 2008, so it's possible the hotel is not yet open for the season. Or you could try contacting them directly.

www.albergometropole.com

NeoPatrick

This is weird. Earlier today I found availability for those dates, and now it shows rooms available for the 24th, but not for the 25th and 26th. Obviously the hotel is open, but they must have filled their last rooms for those two days within the past few hours??

hausfrau

I was going to suggest the Metropole as well. It is right on the water, so easily accessible. Hopefully you'll be able to find an available room there, although it may be that their lakefront rooms are full. You might want to contact them by phone or email just to be sure.

Hershey

Thank you Patrick, Jean and hausfrau. My daughter is going to try calling the Metropole tomorrow. They are in Amsterdam right now.

BTilke, although they don't want to get that far from Milan, I enjoyed looking at your link and I think I may be interested in Lugano in the future.

Thanks everyone.

i_am_kane

Hershey, This is the e-mail address I have been using for the Hotel Metropole:

[email protected]

They usually respond quickly, except over a weekend.

Weadles

What about going to Stresa instead? It's a short ride from Milan, with some lovely lakefront hotels on a very flat main street. I don't know if the usual boat excursions to the Borromean Islands ( sp? just off-shore from Stresa) are operating in March, but if they are, that would be a wonderful and easy day trip or two.

mari5

We stayed at the Metropole in Bellagio a few years ago, and yes,,it is literally "steps" from where the hovercraft from Como docks.,, on a flat surface. /with an elevator. Most the rooms actually HANG over the water!> Perhaps if you phoned the hotel and explained your situation they would Come up with a room. Outside of this one area, and there IS some shopping on the flat...there are steps going up from this hotel and the dock. However; if I remember, they are those very wide, deep, steps. and not tall!
Some restaurants would be up those steps in Bellagio.
The town of Como, is fairly flat, and there is a square which looks onto the lake. with Restaurants and a WONDERFUL gelato place. I think there is a hotel Swiss (or something) that looked nice and is right on the square.

BTilke

Although I am all for vacations that involve hanging out and relaxing, I would get very bored (and irritated) being confined to just the flat part of Bellagio for several days. It's the noisiest, busiest part of town and while the lake view is stunning and my best meal in Bellagio was at the Hotel Florence's lakeside restaurant, some of my favorite memories there include going up the steep side streets and little passages and poking around quiet Pescallo. Plus the incredible views from the hills.

Hershey, getting to Lugano is really no more time consuming than getting to Bellagio. The boat from Como to Bellagio takes a decent chunk of time.

NeoPatrick

But one should not go to Como if going to Bellagio. Take the train from Milan to Varenna, then the boat takes about 5 minutes to get from Varenna to Bellagio. Infinitely a better way to get there. Lugano is considerably more complicated and longer to get to, and like Bellagio, I enjoyed going up the hills there too. I think the hills just need to be sacrificed wherever you go with a broken foot.

BTilke

From Milan, there is nothing at all complicated about going to Lugano. It's a straight shot on the direct trains, no changes whatsoever, not to another train and not to a boat (there are some train routes that involve a change, but it's very easy to catch the direct no change trains). From the train station to the flat part of town, it's an easy, short and cheap ride down a funicular that you catch right at the station.

As for Varenna, yes, getting to Bellagio from Milan by that route is shorter, but I thought you then had to walk down a hill from the station to the boat dock. No? And I thought the boat schedule was a bit more limited in April.

china_cat

I think Weadles had a good suggestion. Stresa is much flatter, and easier to get around. The hotels seemed to me larger, with elevators, and the area with the restaurants was relatively flat, not hilly like Bellagio. It's worth considering, in any case.

NeoPatrick

Varenna does have taxis, just like Lugano. So no, you don't have to walk down the hill at either place if you don't want to.

melspring1

I will add to the seconding of Stresa given the situation. They will eat well.

Jean

The daughter and boyfriend will be wherever in less than 48 hours. Presumably, their decision has been made.