Cheryl Z.

<BR>Had a wonderful two weeks in No. Italy and here is a short report to start with, and I'll come back as I remember things, and get caught up on life. (I'm still unpacking and doing laundry!) Have many interesting stories! Since specific events were bringing us to the Imola area (south of Bologna) for a few days, we thought we'd concentrate on the lakes area in the North this time. Plus we didn't want to deal with crowds in Rome, Florence. I always say Europe is an adventure, not a vacation, but this time, it really was more of a vacation. Virtually no stress. Weather was unseasonably hot but enjoyable, and perfect for us. lots of tourists but very few Americans - lots of Italians on vacation as well as German, British, Swiss and Austrian with a few Australians thrown in. Food/vino wonderful as usual. We flew into Milan, picked up rental car and drove directly to Desenzano on Garda. Spent two nights, LOVED Lago di Garda. Wonderful quaint old villages around the lake and we spent the one full day we had driving around it, making gelato stops! Stopped in several little villages and walked around, favorite was Sirmione - a must for anyone. Then on to Imola area where we spent three nights at a wonderful old villa made into a hotel. Resident "alarm clocks" included peacocks waking us early, and I mean early, but I didn't mind. They had the run of the grounds and one night, the white one had climbed the stairs to sit on a railing to oversee a wedding taking place down below on the beautiful grounds. Then on to Tremezzo on Lago di Como, stayed at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo for 6 nights, right across from Bellagio which I loved. Last 3 nights were spent in Milano and I'm gonna post separate info about that later, since I think Milano deserves a little more respect than it usually gets! Money was easy to deal with (drop the last three zeros and divide by two for approximate US amount - so l00,000 lira was about 50 bucks.) Ate in wonderful little pizzerias or ristorante's. Hotel breakfasts were always more than enough. People very friendly and helpful - example; one morning we were gonna take the ferry over to Bellagio (again) and my husband didn't have enough small lira for the tickets, just some big bills the ticket seller couldn't make change for at that point. So we were short just a few lira, he took what he could of our small lira and told us to pay him the rest when we came back that night. But my husband was able to find some coins and we were able to pay.The guy kept insisting he'd wait though! <BR>Anyway, we had a terrific time, and if it wasn't for my animals, or the fact my employees would mutiny, I'd still be there! <BR>More later, and happy to help you with your trip if I can.

Debbie Lee

Hi Cheryl, <BR>Great report... my husband and I will be travelling to Italy in Oct / Nov, and will be staying in Varenna for 2 nights. Did you go there at all? I think it's about 20 minutes south of Bellagio... Did you just catch the ferries for trips around the lake, or do you stop off at the different towns for a peruse? What did you find interesting to look at in the area... places or islands etc...I'd love to hear any input from yourself or others about the Lake Como area... Grazie e mille....

Cheryl Z.

<BR>Debbie, yes, we visited Varenna. Varenna is one of the 4 villages that are considered the heart of the lake. If you look at a map, Como is shaped like an upside down Y, with Bellagio at the crux of it. The 4 villages (Bellagio, Varenna, Mennagio and Tremezzo) are all just minutes from each other by ferry. T. and M. are on the West side, and V. on the East side. Bellagio was my favorite - great for walking around and shopping for souveniers. I also like wandering around the cobbled streets in Como in back of the waterfront - actually bought a watch there. My husband found some good Armani things at the Armani shop on the waterfront in Como, and actually turned out to be cheaper than some of the Armani we checked out in Milano later. Varenna is very small, not much to do, not much choice in places to eat and not many shops. And in nearly every village, most everything closes down for the afteroon. We took the boats quite often to other destinations on the lake too, like Como. And then one day we drove all the way around on the West side to the top, and down to Lecco, Como and back up. Another time we drove back thru Como and up the peninsula to Bellagio, then took the car ferry back to Tremezzo. What is the rest of your itinerary? Will you be going to Garda at all, or the other lakes or Milan?

Debbie Lee

Hi again Cheryl.... We will be away for 26 days all up - 28 including travel time. My husband and I are travelling from Australia, (his relly's are in Rome) and we are leaving our four children at home with my 'matrigna' (step mum). I have gathered most of our itinery information from lots of wonderful people through this Fodors site... and I am even learning Italian to help whilst there! (My hubby is Italian descent) We arrive in Roma on 17th Oct, will be there for 5 days with Zia's and Zio's and 'cugino/a's'... Then to Froisinone for one night, on down to Sorrento to stay at the Hotel Leone for 2 nights, and to visit Pompeii, Capri, the Amalfi Coast etc.. Then back up to Florence for 5 nights at the 'Il Bargellino', taking a couple of day trips to Sienna and San Gimgnano, and another to Pisa and Lucca; then off to the Cinque Terra for 3 nights... freelancing, as recommended by other daring adventureers... then up to Varenna at the 'Hotel Olivedo' for 2 nights, to Venice at the 'Albergo Guerrato' for 4 nights, then back to Rome for 3 before we leave for Australia again... Mio Sogno Italiano...' <BR> <BR>Any other hints or suggestions would be very gratefully accepted....We will be travelling by train (the "Kilometrico" ticket) and then enjoying the towns by foot... Thanks for your time and input!! Regards, Debbie Lee...

Cheryl Z.

<BR>Debbie, sorry it took a while to get back to you, I couldn't get connected to this yesterday for some reason. <BR>Anyway, your itinerary sounds wonderful and I envy you having that long. If you've gleaned your trip info from this forum then you've received excellent advice so I won't be redundant. But there is one thing that can't be said often enough - pack light! You might feel that for the length of time you're going to be gone, you might need more stuff BUT it's difficult to manage alot of bagage on the trains plus you will want to buy things. It will also be hot and you just won't need a lot of clothing. We packed very light - and I still didn't wear everything! <BR>You mention your husband is of Italian descent - so is mine (with a very Italian name) and he really gets a kick out of chatting and bantering with the waiters, bellboys, taxi-drivers. We've had some really interesting and fun experiences. For example, one night at dinner in a little place in Tremezzo, we'd ordered a bottle of white wine, and my husband noticed on the wine list the same label of a red wine that a friend had recently given us that was supposed to be excellent (and the US price of course was much more than the price there). So my husband started chatting with the owner, and discussing the other labels, where they were from etc. The owner's cousin owned the vineyard, and in the course of the discussion, he asked us to "accept this bottle with his pleasure", he GAVE it to us, and we ended up buying two more from him to take home to friends!

Kay

Hello Cheryl! <BR>Just what I wanted to hear...someone willing to answer questions about Lago di Como. We are three women friends traveling to Milan in October. We thought we would counteract jetlag with a day trip to Lake Como as we arrive at 7:30 a.m. We chose to stay in Como because we need to take the train to Venice the next morning. Do you have any idea what the weather will be like in early October. Would the ferry to Bellagio be a good idea or will it be too cold? We will be staying right on the lake in the Piazza. Is this a dangerous area? Any tips for a one day stay? Thanks

Al

Kay, <BR> From Como, it's actually a fairly long ferry ride to Bellagio. Villa D'Este is closer, and absolutely beautiful. Have lunch there. If you have a car, you could go up either side of the lake and see some of the smaller towns.

Cheryl Z.

<BR>Kay, I don't know about the weather in Oct., but even if it's chilly, Bellagio is definetly worth a visit. When you get there, you can look into getting a ferry ticket that stops at the main places (the 4 villages I mentioned) and then you just get back on when you want. If it's cute and quaint and shopping and easy walking you want, then Bellagio fits the bill. For the life of me, I can't figure out how Vegas came up with their extravaganza hotel based on this Bellagio!! I found wonderful inexpensive scarves for gifts, and also some little glassware at a neat little shop. But since this is the beginning of your trip and you're also going to Venice you might not want to get anything there. Tremezzo doesn't have much for sightseeing except the Villa Carlotta (plus the house where Mussolini was captured, up in the hills.) Varenna is pretty, castle up on the top of the hill but you probably wouldn't have time to get up there. At any rate, a relaxing boat ride may be just the ticket for you after your long flight. The lakes are so lovely with the snow capped mountains in the background. I don't recall seeing your hotel when we were in Como, but I think you'll feel very safe, and you might enjoy walking around in the cobbled streets for shopping just in back of the waterfront. <BR>Another story about the friendliness and helpfulness: <BR>We like to eat in places on the water, with views and ambiance and one night decided to just drive along the shore and see if we could find something on our own. We drove up to this one place, kinda in a park like area on the beach, and a man came towards us and in Italian he said he was closed. So we said grazie, and turned around and drove back the other way. Now, Italians drive REALLY fast, and they're right on your butt even on these really curvy roads. After we'd been driving a couple minutes we noticed this car behind us, right on our bumper, so my husband would speed up a little bit. There was no place to pass anyway. But since we were still looking for a little place on the water, we'd slow down every couple minutes to look at something to see if it was open, meanwhile this car is right on our butt. After maybe l0 minutes, we pulled over to this one place we'd been to before that had been fine but we'd just wanted to try elsewhere. So as we pulled over, my husband is looking in the rear view mirror, and this guy passes us kinda slow (for Italy) and is looking back and motioning to us. At first I thought he was ticked off at us, but it wasn't an obscene gesture, and then my husband pulled out into the road again and followed the guy. By then he was a few cars ahead of us, and then he pulled over and my husband pulled in back of him and I thought "omigod - they're gonna duke it out" - but as the guy got out of the car, I realized it was the guy back at the first risorante we'd stopped at that said he was closed. He told my husband (in Italian, but we could figure it out) that the place we'd stopped at was too "touristy" <BR>and to go a couple more miles and go to this other place. They chatted for a couple seconds, shook hands, said ciao, and we went on our way. We were still behind him , and he stopped again, pulled over, so we stopped and he came back to the car to tell us again the name, and which road to turn on as he was turning in another direction there. Anyway, long story short, we found the place, right down on the water, perfect for what we wanted, right on the beach in front of some little boats. But from the main road, you couldn't tell this place was even there! But they only had a few tables and the owner said they were full. But when we said what hotel we were at, they put out another table, seated us and we had a lovely dinner!

Holly

Kay - "Right on the lake in the piazza in Como" is a very safe area. By the time you get there, you probably won't feel like doing much more than moseying around the streets and shops of Como, and that's a lot of fun. It's really a great little town. But if you have the energy, the boat ride to Bellagio is around 2 1/2 hours "normale" (sp?) or you can take the hydrofoil and be there in around 45 minutes for a little more money. But I doubt you'll have the stamina to walk up and down those hillside streets once you get there (assuming this is the same day of your flight). Why not just enjoy the town of Como, and take a spin around the bottom of the lake for a little while, and/or take the tram or whatever it's called up to the top of the mountain right there. I haven't done that, but if it's not hazy, it would probably be spectacular.

Amanda Ross

We are planning to be in the Lake Como area next month - short trip (3 days). Would you recommend using Como as a base to see the towns in the area or is Bellagio that much better? We aren't planning on having a car. We then would like to train it to Verona and try to see Lake Garda (1 day). Is Sirmione a better base for this than Verona and is a car necessary to see the area? Any advice you can offer would be appreciated. Thank you.

Debbie Lee

Hi again Cheryl... Thanks again for your reply. I appreciate your thoughts on travelling light, but I am wondering as we will be in Varenna early November, it will probably be quite cold there... and maybe wet?? Has anyone been there about that time? Although we aim to be light packers for convenience, I don't want to be cold and wet...I was told that that time of the year is hats, gloves, coats and umbrella material... Any thoughts by anyone here??? Thanks again... DLC...

Kay

Thank you all for your responses to my question about Como and Bellagio. This is a great website! It is so refreshing to get the real story about locations rather than the merchandising hype. Look forward to hearing more stories....they are great!

Cheryl Z.

<BR>Amanda, I'd vote for Bellagio myself just because it's so much smaller and more "quaint" and that's what I like. Como is more of a "big" city. For Garda, I'd also suggest Sirmirone or another smaller village around the lake for the same reasons - more scenic, quaint, and do a day trip to Verona which we never got around to doing (and I regret - but next time!) But it's just my preference of course - we like to be on the water when we have a chance, and love views. I'd suggest a car too just for more flexibility, but since we didn't use any public transportation in that area, I can't offer any help. <BR>Kay - I think you can still pack light and bring enough to keep warm in, using layers, maybe some lightweight silk thermal undergarments too. If you bring a coat, carry it on the plane to save space in your suitcase. The best coat I ever bought I used alot in chilly, rainy weather in Spain last year and also in New Zealand. I don't like to be cold at all, and this London Fog black, hooded, long all-weather coat (washable) I'd gotten was just perfect for me, plus it looked dressy when I needed it.

Cheryl Z.

<BR>my apologies - I just realized it was Debbie who was discussing the clothing issue!

bwhyte

We just got back and had a lovely weekend based in Como. We rented a car in Milan at the end of our rail trip around Italy to decompress before flying home on Monday. Drove up the "old road" to Como and recommend the A9 -- very fast to Como. Then drove to Menaggio (sp?) stoppedin Villa d'este in Tremezzo (lovely, but smaller than I thought)and drove back for Dinner in square just off the main Piazza (will report when I find notes). Drove Sunday to Bellagio on the tiniest, windy road -- not for the faint-hearted -- if so, take the hydrofoil from Como -- it beat us there! Bellagio is lovely -- for shopping (great) and eating. Took ferry to Menaggio since Tremezzo ferry dock was under repair and drove back to Como. Had a beautiful, lovely dinner at Villa di Flora -- Raimondes (recommend a reservation if on weekend). Drove from Como on the A9 to Malpensa in under an hour and then was delayed by a general airport stike. Oh, well -- we had a great time and got home a couple hours late.

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<BR>To the top -

Rose

Hi, Cheryl. <BR>My family and I (5 people, including 2 children and a grandmother) are going to Como and Garda lakes in September. <BR>Could you recommend a hotel or an apartment hotel in lake Garda? Which one you used in Desenzano? <BR> <BR>Thank you <BR>Rose <BR>

Cheryl Z.

<BR>Rose, in Desenzano we stayed at Hotel Oliveto, a Best Western, 4 star I believe. Room/full breakfast was nice, but I wouldn't stay there again, I'd choose a smaller village elsewhere on the lake, maybe in Sirmione, or Garda further North on East side of lake, or Gardone Riviera, North on the West side. We were supposed to be "on the water" but actually were across the street with "view". I don't know of any apartmnts to recommend for a large party such as yours. When we drove around the lake, though we saw many, many wonderful looking hotels, more like what we prefer -quaint, ambiance, views. One hotel my husband found on the internet before we left on our trip was the Hotel Florida, a 4 star in Gardone. I believe the reason we didn't stay there was that they wanted a check up front, and we prefer to guarrantee by credit card. I still have the info - says Sept. is "mid-season", mentions two types of apartments that sleep 2-6 people each Type A Deluxe, and Type B, all are supposed to have kitchens. If I'm reading this chart correctly, rates for 2-3 people are $225.00 to $290.00 US with each extra person $30.00 extra per day. Web site is www.initaly.com/agri/hotels/florida/florida.htm (yes, two floridas in address). And if I remember correctly, we passed this, and I remember thinking "gee, kinda wish we'd stayed here". <BR>Hope this helps, let me know if you do stay here, and I hope you have a lovely trip. It's so beautiful, peaceful everything you could want, and pretty easy access to so much else- like Verona, Milano etc.

Rose

Cheryl, <BR>thank you very much for your response. <BR>The hotel you recommended me seems to be very nice. <BR>Today I'm going out on vacation, so I will continue my research when I come back. <BR>Thank you, <BR>Rose

Noel Abela

Hi, <BR>I came across your interesting article about the Italian lakes and since I will spend ten days in the region next August I am still undecided which is the better location Lago di Como or Lago di Garda? I was adviced that Sirmione in Lago di Garda was amazing but so is Bellagio and Como.Please help me out and if you have more information about these places please email info. <BR>Regards <BR>Noel