skibunnyjan

We are looking at combining a brief visit to the Italian Lakes in June 2015. We would only have 6 days ( I know not enough but what is? We are travelling from Oz & have a bit to include!!) We would be travelling via Milan ( by train, after cruise) so Milan would require 1 nt/2day stay, then onto a base in the Lakes. We will NOT have a car, so will rely on ferries or buses. BTW we are planning to fly home from Milan.
Appreciate ALL suggestions; realise we will not see all & thus would like to base ourselves at most desirable place to experience what we can.

kybourbon

Where does your cruise end? Do you plan to see anything in Milan? If so, I would put the Milan stay at the end of the trip.

>>>so Milan would require 1 nt/2day stay<<<

This is backwards. 2 hotel nights gives you one sightseeing day in the location.

Take the regional train from Milan to Varenna and stay there or somewhere else midlake (you can get ferries from Varenna.

annhig

what kyb says. It makes sense to go straight to the lake [como?] at the end of your cruise and then end the trip in Milan putting you in the right place for your flight.

JulieVikmanis

Agree with KyB. Stay on Lake Como and plan to take steamer/ferries between towns. Varenna is probably most convenient since that's where the train station is. We like the Albergo du Lac there. fabulous views. From there you can take steamers/ferries to Como town, Lenno, Lecco, Menaggio, Bellagio. With some effort to take trains or buses you can probably also do a day trip to Lake Maggiore (Stresa) or Lake Garda (Sirmione) but there is plenty to do just staying on Lake Como.

flanneruk

You really cannot visit an area you call The Lakes without a car, unless you're in a packaged tour.

Trains from most lakes lead into Milan (or, in some cases Verona or Turin): there's no real lake-to-lake train, and most schedules to the bigger cities are medieval (virtually all trains from the towns along Maggiore into Milan average about what the first ever intercity train achieved almost 200 years ago)

Local bus services are generally awful going on non-existent, and mainly offer connections between towns along the same lake, or with their hinterland. The local population (most people round most lakes live as close to Milan as most London commuters live to their offices) relies mainly on cars - so most road transport can take forever (though a lot of lakeside driving round Lake Como is on faster roads with terrific views).

Ferries - and occasionally buses - are great ways to travel round the larger lakes. Both modes of transport are surprisingly slow, and there's no difficulty at all spending 6 days entirely around Lakes Maggiore or Como and doing something different - and reasonably enjoyable - every day.

There's also little point straining yourself seeing more than one lake. With only six days, I wouldn't waste the time. If you want to see why not, in a pleasant way, try finding a bus from Lake Como to Lanzo d'Intelvi and walk up to Sighignola (it was possible to do this by public transport 40 years ago, but I don't know if it still is)

There, below you, are lakes Lugano and Maggiore. Jolly lovely (better now than in the 1970s), and well worth the journey from Como to see from the top of a mountain. But would they really have been worth training for hours to see from ground level?

vincenzo32951

>>You really cannot visit an area you call The Lakes without a car, unless you're in a packaged tour.<<

That's true if you're planning on trying to visit multiple lakes. And given that you've decided it will be a "brief visit," then you probably wouldn't have a lot of time to see multiple lakes.

The summary is that most of what's been said here is true. Take the train to Varenna, use it as your base to visit other sites on Lake Como, and return from there to Milan. And yes, it makes sense to go to Lake Como first and then to Milan.

Sojourntraveller

"so Milan would require 1 nt/2day stay"

Amusing concept. I take it math was never your strong suite.

You arrive in Milan sometime during day 1. You spend perhaps a few hours of that day IN Milan. The following morning you check out of the hotel in Milan having spent your 1 night there. You then do what? Spend all of that day in Milan and then take a train to a lake in the evening? Congrats, you have actually spent 2 days moving to spend 1 night in a hotel. Good use of time. Not.

As for which lake, you give no indication of any interests on which anyone could base a suggestion as to what lake to head for. Transportation seems to be your only concern. You write, " would like to base ourselves at most desirable place to experience what we can." Yet you give no indication of what defines 'desirable' or what you wish to 'experience'.

Jean

Harsh.

Sojourntraveller

Harsh but true?

SkipHudgins

Without a car, I would agree with others that Como is a great choice. A second choice would b Stresa on Lake Maggiore.

dreamon

If you want to visit the other side of Lake Como (i.e. the opposite side to Varenna) there are buses from the train station in Como. Also check the ferry routes online for the lake.

I would say that Lake Como is the most popular lake for foreign visitors (particularly Australians and Americans) and it is beautiful but there are quite a few in the area. A glance at google maps will show that they are dotted over quite a wide area. I would check a guidebook and google images to decide which one is the most attractive to you.

I have been to this area a few times and always used bus and ferry. But I haven't tried to explore multiple lakes in a short space of time.

neckervd

All 3 big Lakes north of Milan are somewhat similar, but Lake Como is most popular with Americans. Lake Lugano has the best public transport (trains and buses to everywhere every 30-60 min) and most railways and lifts to viewpoints.
Lake Maggiore is very close to Milan Malpensa airport.
People who are able to read timetables can easily move between the 3 lakes by public transpoort. Most important lines:
Trains:
Milan - Como: about every 30 min
Milan - Lugano: about every hr
Milan - Stresa - Verbania (Lake Maggiore) about every hr
Lugano - Locarno (Lake Maggiore): every 30 min
Milan - Laveno (Lake Maggiore): about every hr
Milan - Varenna (Lake Como): every 2 hrs
Lugano - Ponte Tresa: every 20 min
Malpensa airport - Laveno - Luino (Lake Maggiore) - Locarno: every 2 hrs
Como - Saronno - Laveno (Lake Maggiore): about every hr
Como - Saronno - Malpensa airport: about every hr
Bus:
Como - Menaggio - Colico: every 1-2 hrs
Menaggio - Lugano: about every 2 hrs
Ponte Tresa - Luino (Lake Maggiore): at least every hr
Verbania - Ascona - Locarno: every 1-2 hrs
Car ferries:
Varenna - Bellagio - Menaggio: about every 30 min
Laveno - Verbania: about every 20 min

i_am_kane

neckervd,

I am in total agreement with your posting. We traveled by train in May, 2014 within a period of 16 days:

Venezia/Santa Lucia Station to Peschiera train station on the eastern side of Lago di Garda. Hotel was in town of Garda.

From Peschiera a 5-minute train ride to Desenzano train station on the western side of Lago di Garda where we boarded a train to the City of Como - got off at San Giovanni train station. Hotel was in the City of Como. During our stay in Como, we took a round-trip train ride from Como's Nord station to Milano for a day trip.

From Como's San Giovanni train station, a short train ride to Milano Centrale where we boarded a train to Stresa. Hotel was in Stresa.

Early flight dictated that we get a driver from Stresa to Malpensa Aeroporto.

Traveling by train was simple and straight forward.

Sojourntraveller

My own favourite in the area is Maggiore on the Swiss side. Ascona and this hotel: http://www.hoteltamaroascona.com/de/galerie

But whether it would appeal to the OP or not, who knows, there is nothing provided to base a suggestion on.