Jeanette

My husband and I are spending 13days in Italy/Switzerland. So far the itinerary is thus: 3 nights -Rome<BR> 3 nights - Florence<BR> 3 nights - Venice<BR> 2 nights - Lakes region<BR> 1 night - Zurich (to depart)<BR>I'm confused on driving times and highways between Lake Como and Zurich. Does anyone have a place to stay at Lake Como or Zurich? I'm concerned that we're doing too much, but we are flying into Rome and out of Zurich. I'm so grateful for any guidance. We leave March 23. Thanks!<BR> <BR>

Rex

It's moderately ambitious, but not bad, I might say 4 Rome, 2 Florence, 2 Venice, 3 Lake Como - - but that's how much sugar in your coffee. A very personal choice.<BR><BR>I like Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio, for Lake Como, but there are other good choices, and many people will say Bellagio instead.<BR><BR>For driving directions and times use www.viamichelin.com and watch out for a substantial drop charge to leave an Italian car in Switzerland.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Rex

Whoops. that's LIKE how much...

Wayne

Jeanette---<BR>If I had known earlier, I would have said you should reverse your itinerary and start in Zurich, leave from Rome. Main reason is to avoid high car rental costs in Italy and high drop-off charges for your car. But let's not agonize over that now; you'll probably have a charge of $150 to $200 to leave your car in Zurich; if it comes out less than that, consider yourself lucky. Personally, I never rent a car in Italy because of the excessive costs, caused primarily by mandatory insurance. Anyway, if you go to Lake Como, I'd say Varenna is your most romantic and scenic spot; Albergo Milano is a nice hotel right on the lake. However, as you noted, driving time to Zurich is going to be rather long; but your advantage is that you will have autostrada/autobahn most of the way. From Varenna, the time is greater than from the west or south end of Lake Como. I would suggest you stay in the lovely village of Morcote, on Lake Lugano, rather than somewhere on Lake Como. You can still drive around to all the lake areas--Como, Maggiore, Lugano, even Orta, in a day to get a flavor of the remarkable variety in the Italian lakes. In Morcote, there's a great hotel with an incredible restaurant on the lake shore called Olivella au Lac. My only other suggestion is to say that probably the better allocation of days is 4 nights in Rome and only 2 in Florence; otherwise I like your itinerary and have done almost the same one myself. Have fun.

Jeanette

Thanks for your responses. Rex, I'm having trouble locating Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio. Any website suggestions? Wayne, you were exactly right, it's costing us $120 to drop off the car. Do you have a highway route you would suggest from the Lake area to Zurich? We plan on spending our last full day driving to Zurich. Wish I had known about this website when we started planning our trip. I appreciate your input, guys!

Wayne

Jeanette---<BR>The exact driving route from the lake area to Zurich will depend a bit on what area of which lake you will be staying in. But for simplicity, I'll assume you are in Morcote. One reason I suggested Morcote, besides the fact that it is a jewel of a village, is that you can hop on the autobahn in less than 10 minutes and be on autobahn the rest of the way. From Morcote or from anywhere on the south half of Lake Como, or from anywhere on Lake Lugano or Lake Maggiore, you get on autostrada A2 as quickly as you can and head north. Eventually, A2 merges into A4 around Lake Lucerne, then A3, and then you have to go through Zurich and on to Kloten airport on the north side of town (or wherever your hotel is). Driving time only, once you are on the autostrada, is about 5 to 6 hours. Rest stops and side trips would add to that time. It's really not a bad drive, and the scenery in some spots along the way is spectacular. Drive carefully and enjoy the trip.

Rex

Hmmm - - this what I posted before, but I see now that the company has changed the URL slightly. It is http://www.palacehotel.it/ghv<BR><BR>rather than Fghv - - as listed below<BR><BR>Author: Rex ([email protected])<BR>Date: 09/04/2001, 06:01 pm<BR>Message: This might not be the place you are seeking - - it may be that the hotel right next to the ferry stop is named Grand Hotel Mennagio - - but I didn't think it had "Grand" in the name. Could you be looking for this instead? <BR><BR>Grand Hotel Victoria <BR>Lungolago G. Castelli, 7 <BR>I-22017 Menaggio (Co) Italy <BR>Tel: 011-39-0344-32003 <BR>Fax: 011-39-0344-32992 <BR>e-mail: [email protected] <BR>web: www.palacehotel.it/fghv.html <BR><BR>Best wishes, <BR><BR>Rex <BR><BR>You might want to read the entire thread on which the message above was posted, as it it talks about other hotel choices there also:<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=1319110&<BR><BR>Many more threads if you simply search "Menaggio" on this forum.<BR>

Rex

Oh, one last little detail you might not think to check out:<BR><BR>http://www.palacehotel.it/ghv/ghvphoto01.htm<BR><BR>You can charter this motorboat from the hotel for a few hours, or all day.<BR>

Nancy

Hi Wayne,<BR><BR>We're trying to a Northern Italy/Switzerland trip mid June. Landing in Milan and want to take a train - do the trains go to Lake Como or do you think Lugano is a better bet?<BR><BR>And if we stay in Morcote, is there any transportation to the other Lakes? My husband doesn't want to rent a car.<BR><BR>Thanks for posting Jeanette - definitely do three nights in Venice if you've never been.<BR><BR>

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to the top<BR>

Jeanette

Nancy-I'm just "getting into" Venice. Any suggestions on must see? I keep hearing we should just wander and enjoy. Is it a good idea to visit another island like Murano or Burano? I appreciate any information. Also, Rex or Wayne, if you stayed in Bellagio do you have suggestions on a hotel? Thanks again. I'm following your leads.

Rex

Venice is worthy of your buying (or borrow from a library) a book - - too much to tell here. If you're impatient, the website on http://goitaly.about.com/cs/venice has been widely cited as just about as good as most books (at least it was during the time it was run by Durant Imboden - - he has since moved on to http://europeforvisitors.com/venice - - looks like he took a lot of his material there with him).<BR><BR>As for a hotel in Bellagio - - I have only stayed in Menaggio - - a 7 minute ferry ride across the southwest leg of Lake Como from Bellagio - - info cited about 304 posts "up" in this exact same thread.<BR><BR>But IN Bellagio itself, plenty of other people swear by Belvedere (I think that's right) or du Lac. And if you're made of money, there's the Serbelloni (I don't think that that's the official full name of it - - and not to be confused with Villa Serbelloni).<BR><BR>Varenna has its fans too - - just seems less convenient to me.<BR>

Jeanette

Rex, just found the Grand Hotel Menaggio. Wow!!! I love it. I had looked at the duLac and Serbollini also. However, if they have availability, I like the looks of the Grand! Thanks again for your input (got a kick out of the thread you referred me to). Should we plan on just parking the car and taking the ferries everywhere, or can you meander along the shore of the Lake? I'm glad someone recommended we spend an extra night here. We enjoy the countryside, which is why we are driving for a good portion. Hope we won't be sorry. I'll look into the websites you mentioned. I just really enjoy personal recommendations. Thanks once again.<BR>Jeanette

Nancy

Hi Jeanette,<BR><BR>Venice is such a unique spot - that the next time we go back I want to spend a week!<BR><BR>Buy the 3 day boat pass, it's about $17.00 and a great bargain. I recommend going to Burano (lace making, scenic fishing village). You can see plenty of glass on Venice. We also went out to the furthest Island (the name escapes me now) - Not a whole lot out there.<BR><BR>Take the ride to the top of the Bell Tower at St. Mark's Square - even if the line looks long, it moves along fairly quickly. The views & photo op's are incredible.<BR><BR>Ride across the canal on the local gondolas at the Traghetto stops - about 50 cents to cross - great way to interact with Venetians.<BR><BR>Definetely wander the back streets - one morning we woke up to see someone's household belongings being transported via boat/barge.<BR><BR>The church near the train station was beautiful - as the "Frari" was worth the visit.<BR><BR>You can't go wrong - except for the one rude waiter who wouldn't let me have the risotto as my primi - he kept saying for 2 only. So finally my husband ordered it so I could have it.<BR><BR>Have fun.<BR>

Rex

Jeannette - - since you read the thread referenced above, I assume that you are clear on the Grand Hotel Menaggio versus the Grand Hotel VICTORIA Menaggio (where I have stayed - - but you cited the former).<BR><BR>The GHM might be better located (50 yards from the ferry landing); the GHVM has the motorboat whose picture I displayed. It's possible other private motorboats are available at GHM or other hotels.<BR><BR>As for use of your car - - yes, I thinkk you might use it - - for Tremezzo, Cadenobbia etc. We didn't go exploring north of Mneaggio though I had meant to get around to that - - there's a place I wanted to go see (future accommodations possibility - - a villa being converted to a B&B).<BR><BR>And I was with someone who didn't walk very good - - so we actually took the car over to Bellagio and back (on the ferry, of course) - - quite unnecessary - - but perfectly do-able if you wanted to do so.<BR>

Rex

topping, again... for Jeannette<BR>

Patrick

Why not just leave the car in Italy at the Lakes region and take a train to Zurich from there? The trip is spectacular and it sure doesn't look like you'd need the car again anyway. Taking the train into Zurich and spending a night there, then taking the train from Zurich to the airport where it leaves you off right inside the terminal is a lot easier than dealing with a car drop off anyway.

topper

How about some good old threads, about actual questions, back up to the top.<BR>