Catherineanncecelia

We are posting a new thread because we are still so undecided on where to stay for 7 nights between Cortona and Varenna on L Como. AT first we thought Lucca and Cinque Terra but changed our minds because we have never been to Bologna. Thought that we could do day trips - Parma/Ravenna/Ferrara... We enjoy good restaurants, photography and quaint villages and towns. How does this sound? 3 nights - Bologna 2 nights - Milan 2 nights - Lugano Then we have time in Varenna and 1 night to plan on our way to Venice. Do you suggest a night on Lake Garda or Bergamo or Brescia?????? Thank you for all your suggestions!!

bobthenavigator

I would do Portovenere and Parma, but I do not know Bologna.
Take your camera with you.

MyDreamTrip

I suggest the Cinque Terre, it is a wonderful destination. Many good restaurants, certainly very quaint with plenty of photo ops. You can take the ferry between the 5 towns as well as Portovenere and Portofino. All beautiful! (Not all towns offer ferry service to those last 2 towns.)

Lake Como is stunning! Tuscany is breathtaking, and Venice - dreamy! Enjoy!

feda

Bergamo is very nice ( the part of the city you want to visit is Bergamo Alta: the ancient city, which is on a hill) whereas the other part of the city, Bergamo Bassa,is mainly residential .
Although I have not been to Brescia I know it's very nice too.Lake Garda is nice but lake Como is absolutely gorgeous. If I had to choose I would definitely go to lake Como and skip lake Garda. Lake Como is by far the best lake I have ever seen in my life. As far as the other large Italian lakes are concerned I would say lake Maggiore comes just next and lake Garda is third place but that may just be me.
On the other hand, if your are travelling with children, you might consider the lake Garda area because there (NOT on the lake but not far from it) there is the largest funfair in Italy, with all sorts of rollercoasters and things like that,which is suitably called GARDALAND

Mimar

How are you traveling in northern Italy? Are you renting a car or taking trains? It affects our answers.

And I'm a bit confused as to your itinerary. Is this right?

'''
Day N-1: Cortona
Day N: arrive in Bologna
Day N+1: Bologna
Day N+2: Bologna
Day N+3: Transfer to Milan
Day N+4: Milan
Day N+5: Transfer to Lugano
Day N+6: Lugano
Day N+7: Transfer to Varenna
...
Day N+?: Someplace else
Day N+?+1: Transfer to Venice
Day N+?+2: Venice
...

I don't know how much time you have, but you're spending a lot of time at the various lakes. Maybe consider the Dolomites instead?

Catherineanncecelia

I apologize for not being clear. We are arriving in Rome and driving to Cortona on May 3rd. We will have a car for all of the trip except maybe Venice. My itinerary is as follows:
Cortona 11 nights - renting an apt. taking day trips in Tuscany
???????? 7 nights left to plan
Varenna, L Como 14 days - renting an apartment
???????? 1 night to plan on route to Venice
Venice 5 nights

To sum up we will have an apartment for 25 nights and we are looking for suggestions for towns, hotels, restaurants, etc. for 7 nights between Cortona and Varenna and for 1 night on the way to Venice.

Catherineanncecelia

I forgot to mention that I had not considered the Dolomites but I will look up some info. I also wanted to explain that the reason for our long stays in Cortona and Varenna was so that I could have the time to do some painting there. Originally, I had cinque Terra in our plans but opted for a more direct route.
Thank you for asking for the clarification and for your all of your comments and suggestions.

Sampaguita

"We enjoy good restaurants, photography and quaint villages and towns."

Why not consider Piedmont? Bologna is nice for sure, but on a recent trip to do the same as you are thinking (day tripping out of Bologna) we were a bit disappointed with the countryside and restaurants compared to Piedmont. You could just as easily fit in a few days en-route to Como area.

Catherineanncecelia

I'm so grateful for these new suggestions. We hadn't even thought of Piedmont. Will check it out. Can't believe how the rest of the trip fell together. Now we are going crazy trying to decide what to do with the 7 days and the one from Lake Como to Venice. Again, we want to concentrate on "good restaurants, photography and quaint villages and towns."

MyDreamTrip

The Dolomites are breathtaking! We stayed in Castelrotto (aka Castelruth), it was like being in a fairy tale.

Catherineanncecelia

You are all so helpful with your suggestions. We are finally getting close to finalizing things.
Our complete trip now looks like this:
11 nts - Cortona for day trips,photography, sketching and painting
1 nt - San Gimignano
2 nts - Lucca
3 nts - Bologna - hubby is a restauranteur and will search out restaurants
1 nt - Lugano
14 nts - Varenna in Lake Como - more painting...
1 nt - Bergamo, or Verona ?????? on way to Venice
5 nts - Venice
Your comments were great! As you can see I have changed things around How does this sound now? We would love some restaurant suggestions...
Again, I can't thank you enough.

CUFFLNX

Going north, try Bolzano and on the way Trent. Going to Venice, stop a night in Padua.

I agree, Lake Como is the best. In Bellagio do not miss
http://www.cavaturacciolo.it/home.jsp, a GREAT win bar.

krgystn

Here are a few restaruant ideas (all are reasonably priced and great food, but not fancy):

Lucca: Trattoria da Leos
Varenna: Del Sole
Bellagio: Trattoria San Giacomo

Also, (and especially because you are an artist) while you are at Lake Como, make an effort to see Villa Balbianello.

Catherineanncecelia

I have not thought of Bolzano. I will look into that. I can't get over all of the thought and time that you put into these responses. You are giving me much homework but it is GREAT! Thanks also for the restaurant suggestions and the links.

Catherineanncecelia

Again, I thank you. Your comments have certainly helped and I have taken note of many of them. We are all set to go except the night between Como and Venice - Bergamo, Verona or other?????????
I also have ANOTHER question. Is it feasible to drive to the Dolomites from Venice? We've decided to keep the car for the entire trip and we don't mind driving.

franco

Bergamo is great, but if you've never been, I would choose Verona. I know, it's extremely touristy (but in May, it shouldn't be too bad), but it's also really full of world-class sights.

As far as driving from the Dolomites to Venice, what do you mean "is it feasible"? (Any drive is feasible where roads are ; I once knew a person who drove from Kabul to Vienna and back.) I suppose you mean "feasible in a given amount of time", but you should state how long you have.

MyDreamTrip

Drive to the Dolomites from Venice? Sure you can, it takes 2 to 3 hours. Check out Rick Steve's books on Italy or his website. Also i would look into Verona, i have never been there but i know there's a Roman amphitheatre.