Ira I need your help - from KP
Jul 23rd, 2006, 01:43 PM
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Ira I need your help - from KP
Ira,
We are seriously rethinking our trip. These are the scenarios.
1. We must go to London (already booked) spend two nights in London Sat. and Sunday
2. Flight to Milan (already booked)(Monday)
3. Here is the scenario - we can either go to Lake Como (Bellagio already booked for 3 nights) however, we will not land until 2:30 p.m. and it is an ordeal to get to Bellagio unless we hire a taxi at 150 Euro's. Then we move on Thursday to Siena after leaving Bellagio and arriving in Siena late afternoon on Thursday. That leaves us only Thursday evening and Friday day and evening in Siena and then we move on to San Quirico for two days and then we get back to Florence on Monday evening to see "David" on Tuesday morning before going to Venice.
Our new plan is one of these two - so please tell us which one is best.
1. London as indicated and then to Bellagio for only two nights and leave there Wednesday morning and arrive in Florence by early afernoon (enough time to see Accademia) spend night in Florence and then early Thursday bus to Siena and have most of Thursday in Siena and all day Friday (possibly visiting a winery) and then move on to San Quirco for Saturday and Sunday and leaving Monday and leisurely drive back to Siena to drop car and training or busing back to Florence in time to see the Uffuzi and spend the evening in Florence before trainig to Venice on Tuesday afternoon.
OR:
1. Forgetting Lake Como and after arriving in Milan on Monday afternoon going straight to Florence for Monday evening. Tuesday, spending all day and night in Florence and then busing to Siena on Wednesday and spending Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Siena (with our car we will check out many little area and hill towns) then moving on Saturday to San Quirico and touring more hill towns and wineries. Monday we drive very leisurely back to Siena, drop the car and bus or train back to Florence for the evening and catch the train to Venice on Tuesday early afternoon. I suppose we could spend another night in San Quirico and drive back to Siena, drop the car and train or bus to Florence and then on to Venice on Tuesday - might be a really long day.
Please look at the choices are considering and infuse us with you wisdom - we are eternally grateful for your great knowledge of travel.
We feel torn - either have a leisurely visit to Tuscany and Venice or a more whirlwind first visit to Italy incorporating Bellagio, Venice and Tuscany.
Karen
We are seriously rethinking our trip. These are the scenarios.
1. We must go to London (already booked) spend two nights in London Sat. and Sunday
2. Flight to Milan (already booked)(Monday)
3. Here is the scenario - we can either go to Lake Como (Bellagio already booked for 3 nights) however, we will not land until 2:30 p.m. and it is an ordeal to get to Bellagio unless we hire a taxi at 150 Euro's. Then we move on Thursday to Siena after leaving Bellagio and arriving in Siena late afternoon on Thursday. That leaves us only Thursday evening and Friday day and evening in Siena and then we move on to San Quirico for two days and then we get back to Florence on Monday evening to see "David" on Tuesday morning before going to Venice.
Our new plan is one of these two - so please tell us which one is best.
1. London as indicated and then to Bellagio for only two nights and leave there Wednesday morning and arrive in Florence by early afernoon (enough time to see Accademia) spend night in Florence and then early Thursday bus to Siena and have most of Thursday in Siena and all day Friday (possibly visiting a winery) and then move on to San Quirco for Saturday and Sunday and leaving Monday and leisurely drive back to Siena to drop car and training or busing back to Florence in time to see the Uffuzi and spend the evening in Florence before trainig to Venice on Tuesday afternoon.
OR:
1. Forgetting Lake Como and after arriving in Milan on Monday afternoon going straight to Florence for Monday evening. Tuesday, spending all day and night in Florence and then busing to Siena on Wednesday and spending Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Siena (with our car we will check out many little area and hill towns) then moving on Saturday to San Quirico and touring more hill towns and wineries. Monday we drive very leisurely back to Siena, drop the car and bus or train back to Florence for the evening and catch the train to Venice on Tuesday early afternoon. I suppose we could spend another night in San Quirico and drive back to Siena, drop the car and train or bus to Florence and then on to Venice on Tuesday - might be a really long day.
Please look at the choices are considering and infuse us with you wisdom - we are eternally grateful for your great knowledge of travel.
We feel torn - either have a leisurely visit to Tuscany and Venice or a more whirlwind first visit to Italy incorporating Bellagio, Venice and Tuscany.
Karen
Jul 23rd, 2006, 01:57 PM
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I am not Ira but have been to all of those places and my suggestion is too follow your second idea. This would mean dropping Bellagio/Lake Como.
As beautiful as Lake Como is, its sort of "italy light" versus the full immersion version in Tuscany and Venice.
As beautiful as Lake Como is, its sort of "italy light" versus the full immersion version in Tuscany and Venice.
Jul 23rd, 2006, 05:51 PM
#4
From the previous replies, you can see the choice is purely personal preference. There is no "better" choice.
Do you want to see some classic Italian resort scenery? (Sorry, Chicagolori, but if Lake Como is good enough for Italian royalty to build villas for themselves and their lovers, it's not "Italy light" but more like "Italy luxe."
Or do you want to allot more time in hill towns and wineries, Florence and Siena?
Your choice. Personally, I don't like moving around so much, checking into and out of hotels, renting a car, returning a car, etc. With just a week, I'd stay in two hotels and take day trips to other towns.
Do you want to see some classic Italian resort scenery? (Sorry, Chicagolori, but if Lake Como is good enough for Italian royalty to build villas for themselves and their lovers, it's not "Italy light" but more like "Italy luxe."
Or do you want to allot more time in hill towns and wineries, Florence and Siena?
Your choice. Personally, I don't like moving around so much, checking into and out of hotels, renting a car, returning a car, etc. With just a week, I'd stay in two hotels and take day trips to other towns.
Jul 23rd, 2006, 07:01 PM
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I'm not ira either, but IMO the Lake Como area is some of the most beautiful earth I've ever seen, and I've seen some gorgeous country. It may not be "stereotypical" Italy, but who cares about it's geographic nametag? It surely is beautiful and I wouldn't miss it if I was you.
Jul 23rd, 2006, 08:34 PM
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I'd keep Lake Como, but cut down to one stop in Tuscany. Why are you staying in Siena and San Quirico? They're not that far apart. I'd find one place convenient for car touring and stay there. Also returning the car to Siena and busing into Florence seems time-consuming. Why not just drive to Florence and drop the car there?
Jul 23rd, 2006, 09:09 PM
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kpilling...I have bookmarked your post as I am having a tough time making a similar decision. Right now we are deciding if we should go to Venice from Paris and then head down to Florence - or - if we should go to Lake Como from Paris and spend a few nights in the Tuscany area before going to Florence.
We have 3-4 nights to work with between Paris and Florence. The hotels are already booked in those areas giving us 3 nights, but I can drop one of our 5 nights in Paris to allow 4 nights between the two cities.
Suggestions? And good luck planning your trip
We have 3-4 nights to work with between Paris and Florence. The hotels are already booked in those areas giving us 3 nights, but I can drop one of our 5 nights in Paris to allow 4 nights between the two cities.
Suggestions? And good luck planning your trip
Jul 23rd, 2006, 10:04 PM
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beph03
I am trying to figure our if you mean: You want to spend 2 nights in Venice and 2 nights in Florence
Or - 2 nights in Lake Como, Florence and Tuscany.
From the research I have done you will want a minimum of 2 nights in Venice. Everyone says 2 nights in Florence.
On the other hand Lake Como is somewhat difficult to get to from Milan - it involves a bus, a train and a boat all of which can take many hours. I have done extensive research on Tuscany and believe this to be an incredibly beautiful area with tons of hill towns and walled cities and wineries etc.. Also, we went to Paris last year and spent five nights in Paris. We ran out of time - we missed the Louve, the Musee D'Orsay and so much more. Paris is wonderful - I would give five days there and if you only have 4 more days, I would pick one location and spend it there. I don't know if you are including travel time in those 4 days, but that can really eat into your time.
Karen
I am trying to figure our if you mean: You want to spend 2 nights in Venice and 2 nights in Florence
Or - 2 nights in Lake Como, Florence and Tuscany.
From the research I have done you will want a minimum of 2 nights in Venice. Everyone says 2 nights in Florence.
On the other hand Lake Como is somewhat difficult to get to from Milan - it involves a bus, a train and a boat all of which can take many hours. I have done extensive research on Tuscany and believe this to be an incredibly beautiful area with tons of hill towns and walled cities and wineries etc.. Also, we went to Paris last year and spent five nights in Paris. We ran out of time - we missed the Louve, the Musee D'Orsay and so much more. Paris is wonderful - I would give five days there and if you only have 4 more days, I would pick one location and spend it there. I don't know if you are including travel time in those 4 days, but that can really eat into your time.
Karen
Jul 23rd, 2006, 10:09 PM
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Mimar,
We are staying in Siena at a farmhouse and then moving to San Quirico because the place in San Quirico sounds wonderful. We will be touring in that area anyway and decided why not try out this place. As far as driving back to Florence, we are slightly anxious about driving anywhere near a city. The country roads are one thing, but I have heard Florence is not a good place to take a car. We are however still considering dropping the car in Florence. We are so undecided about the about are itineary. We just don't want to feel as though we can never relax and enjoy where we are. We are both huge lovers of the countryside and beautiful scenery and wine and wine tasting. That is why Tuscany is our first choice, with Venice being the second choice, Lake Como is a bonus is we can fit it in. HELP!!!!
Karen
We are staying in Siena at a farmhouse and then moving to San Quirico because the place in San Quirico sounds wonderful. We will be touring in that area anyway and decided why not try out this place. As far as driving back to Florence, we are slightly anxious about driving anywhere near a city. The country roads are one thing, but I have heard Florence is not a good place to take a car. We are however still considering dropping the car in Florence. We are so undecided about the about are itineary. We just don't want to feel as though we can never relax and enjoy where we are. We are both huge lovers of the countryside and beautiful scenery and wine and wine tasting. That is why Tuscany is our first choice, with Venice being the second choice, Lake Como is a bonus is we can fit it in. HELP!!!!
Karen
Jul 24th, 2006, 01:02 AM
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I suppose it is all subjective but:
"it involves a bus, a train and a boat all of which can take many hours...."
this may be part of the "problem" in that the bus to the RR station in Milan can take an hour; the train to Verenna takes about 1.5 hours; the ferry from Varenna takes about 15 minutes
IMO that is not "many hours" but I guess others disagree.
I think the mid-lake area of Lake Como is worth the effort for what you get in return.
"it involves a bus, a train and a boat all of which can take many hours...."
this may be part of the "problem" in that the bus to the RR station in Milan can take an hour; the train to Verenna takes about 1.5 hours; the ferry from Varenna takes about 15 minutes
IMO that is not "many hours" but I guess others disagree.
I think the mid-lake area of Lake Como is worth the effort for what you get in return.
Jul 24th, 2006, 04:01 AM
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Hi kp,
I think that your second itinerary is much less stressful.
You can't see it all.
Lake Como will be there for your next visit.
I strongly suggest that you drive to Venice and drop the car at Piazzale Roma.
It is not in the city. It is just at the end of the causeway leading into the city. From there you can take a vaporetto to your hotel.
Check the route San Q/Venice via Ravenna at www.viamichelin.com and www.mappy.com.
Enjoy your visit.
I think that your second itinerary is much less stressful.
You can't see it all.
Lake Como will be there for your next visit.
I strongly suggest that you drive to Venice and drop the car at Piazzale Roma.
It is not in the city. It is just at the end of the causeway leading into the city. From there you can take a vaporetto to your hotel.
Check the route San Q/Venice via Ravenna at www.viamichelin.com and www.mappy.com.
Enjoy your visit.
Jul 25th, 2006, 07:44 AM
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Regarding going to Lake Como, which Milan airport are you coming in at? Malpensa is farther out than Linate.
On Como you could stay in Varenna instead, which would eliminate the boat leg. However, the boat ride from Varenna to Bellagio is short and very pleasant.
As for Florence, it's inconvenient to park a car in Florence and the streets are a little convoluted, but a drop-off near the train station shouldn't be too difficult -- especially if you're already experienced drivers in Italy.
On Como you could stay in Varenna instead, which would eliminate the boat leg. However, the boat ride from Varenna to Bellagio is short and very pleasant.
As for Florence, it's inconvenient to park a car in Florence and the streets are a little convoluted, but a drop-off near the train station shouldn't be too difficult -- especially if you're already experienced drivers in Italy.
Jul 27th, 2006, 07:09 AM
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At this web site www.promobellagio.it under How to reach Bellagio, is information about getting to Bellagio from Malpensa. Included are some private car services, which might be cheaper than a taxi.
