caroline65

We are a family of 5 finishing our cruise in Venice in July 2013. We have 6 nights left before we fly out of Milan. We thought we could have 3 nights in lakes area, 2 in Cinque terre and 1 night in Milan before we fly out in morn. Need advice- are we trying to do to much? Should we drop Cinque Terre? If doable what order should we do it in?Children"s ages are 15, 13 and a vey capable 5! Any ideas would be fabulous?

DAX

If you're not planning to return to Italy for a long while, I'd say do both areas. I have flown out of Malpensa airport by driving directly from Stressa in Lake Maggiore which can also be done by taxi to The airport, so you can skip Milan completely.

caroline65

We won't have a car so we would have to taxi it.How long would it take to get to Milan? We have to be at airport by 10.00 in morn. Is this a bit risky?

downtownbrown

To make sure I understand: You plan to leave the cruise in Venice but spend no time there, going directly to the Lakes or CT (in either order)?

If I were doing the trip, I'd probably spend the first two nights in Venice, go to the Lakes for 3 nights, then one night in Milan, given that you have to be at the airport fairly early the next day and you have 5 people to pull together. Skip CT. JMHO.

caroline65

Sorry i should have said we had 2 nights in Venice before our cruise.

Rubicund

I agree with skipping CT. I've always thought that it's over-rated. Nice views and a couple of nice villages with walking and that's it.

As far as the Lakes are concerned, I've always had a leaning towards Garda. It's easy to get to from Venice (change at Verona) and you can get to Milan on the same rail line easily from Pesciera del Garda. Choose a base for your stay, maybe Sirmione or Desenzano and use the ferries.

caroline65

Ok thanks for your advice! I was going to Lake Como as I have heard so many people say how beautiful it is.Do you think Garda is prettier? Is it as busy as Como and are there lovely gardens to visit?

goldenautumn

Lago di Como is infinitely prettier, especially if you don't have a car to access the prettiest parts of the lake. However, Lago di Garda has Gardaland, Italy's big amusement rides park. Would your kids be entertained? Also, Verona is 30 minutes away from the Lake Shore, and it does opera in in its Roman arena at night. It's a big, big deal that people adore -- but even if you all don't go to the opera, hanging out in the evening in Verona's super friendly piazza is just plain fun.

What ports is your cruise calling in -- and how much luggage will you have? Negotiating the steep staircases of le CInque Terre in July with your luggage might not feel worth it if you've just spent a week visiting greek islands or other olive-tree laden locations and crystal blue coves.

goldenautumn

-- sorry if my first sentence isn't clear.

The prettiest parts of Lago di Garda are not on the southern end of the lake, which is the only part you can get to without a car.

The famous views and gardens are in Lago di Como -- but unless your kids are really into fancy formal gardens, it has not got a lot to hold their interest once you all have seen the view. On Lago di Garda you can rent bikes, kayaks, go to the amusement park and go to Verona.

If you spend a last day in Milan, be sure to walk around on the roof of the Duomo.

caroline65

Ooh,decisions,decisions!Kids would def love all those things Garda has to offer but I'd love the gardens of Como! Our cruise does go to greek islands and I don't want to spoil our relaxed mode by having to travel for such a long time to see CT. However if it's amust see spot then I don't want to miss out on it.This is the last part of our 6 week trip so we will probably be starting to tire!What would you do?Verona sounds fab and thanks for Milan tip!

goldenautumn

Le Cinque Terre is not a "must-see" and in July it is really difficult to be out in the blazing sun all the time.

Consider giving yourselves 3 nights around Verona/Lago di Garda and 2 nights on Lago di Como. On the morning of your flight out, have a taxi transfer from Lago di Como to Malpensa. For five of you with luggage, the costs won't be unreasonable (and a hotel room in Milan won't come cheap, so you can make up the difference there).

If you are not too tired to take a day trip into Milan from Verona, great. But it's not a "must either" if you are having fun in Lago di Garda and Verona.

isabel

I agree with the splitting the time so you can see both Lake Garda and Lake Como. The main question I'd have is how much luggage are you going to have. Five people with cruise luggage could be a LOT. Between trains and boats you can get further up both lakes. But if moving is going to be a tremendous hassle I'd suggest lake Garda and base there and then you can do day trips (without the luggage obviously) up the lake to the 'pretty' parts as well as to Verona. I think both lakes were equally pretty but I do remember some stunning gardens in Lake Como. But they are in Varenna which is up by Belagio - half way up the lake. The two 'entry' towns on both lakes - Como on Lake Como, and Desenzano on Garda are not the most appealing parts. I did love Sirmione.

Here are my photos of both lakes (Cinque Terra is also in this gallery but I agree with the others that given your time you would do better sticking to the lakes).

It is possible to take the bus from the town of Como to MXP airport but I think the schedule is limited so you'd need to be sure it would work for you. I think all that stuff is on the airport's website. I would probably spend the night in Milan and actually I'd get there mid day so you can spend a few hours checking out the Duomo and surrounding area.

caroline65

Thanks everyone, especially goldenautumn and isabel for all your advice. I think we will skip cinque terre and split time between lake garda and lake como.How far is lake garda to Verona? If we were to take a taxi from Lake como to airport do you know how long it would take and any idea of cost? Also can anyone recommend a place to stay at either of lake areas or Verona?

caroline65

Isabel, your photos were stunning!Can't wait to get there!

goldenautumn

It is about 30 minutes train ride between Peschieira del Garda and Verona. I think you will more easily find family accommodations in Peschiera del Garda. If you decide to stay there, look at a map ahead of time and notice the layout of the town. The boat docks, the train station, and the amusement park are all in different locations. They are not so far apart that you can't walk between them, if you might prefer to be closer to the train than the docks, or vice versa.

If you opt for Verona, it is best to pick a place somewhere in the general vicinity of the piazza Bra, preferably between the piazza and the train station.

Overall, using the hotel websites of booking.com or venere.com to find out availability for your dates and to read recent guest reviews is the best way to go about picking hotels. You will find maps showing the locations of the hotels.

Even if you stay in Peschiera del Garda, you should plan for at least one evening in Verona so you can see the life of the town around the piazza Bra at night. Figure on going about 4pm one day, which will give you enough time to walk around the castle, and perhaps the Roman theater too (look at a map), and eat some gelato.

For your size group with luggage, I would expect a ride to the airport from Lago di Como to be 120e or so. It takes about 90 minutes, depending on which side of the lake you stay on. You might appreciate staying in the town of Menaggio, which is generally livelier and gives you the shorter trip to the airport.

There are two ways to get to Menaggio from Lago di Garda or Verona. You can take the train to Varenna (which involves a switch in Milan), and then take a taxi or 15 minute downhill walk to the ferry docks for a 10 minute ferry ride to Menaggio.

Or you can take a train to the town of Como (switch in Milan) and from there take a ferry ride of about 40 minutes up the lake to Menaggio. Ferry tickets cost about 20e pp. (as I recall).

caroline65

Thanks so much goldenautumn for your wealth of knowledge!