litespeedchick

Hi all -

I need lots of advice for my upcoming 5 day trip. (very short because my husband is self employed)

We land at MXP and I have reserved a Ford Grand C Max which I plan to drive to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Easy to find my way with a map? Hotel OK? While we're there we plan to rent bikes two morning, boat over to Belaggio and tour Villa Carlotta. What is not to be missed? Great restaurants? Is the restaurant on the island (I'm blanking on the name right now) is too touristy? We are shameless foodies.

If by chance anyone reading is a cyclist, please suggest low-traffic, mountainous routes from either Tremezzo or Cernobbio. I think the rental bikes will fit in our rental car.

After spending Wed, Thur, and Fri morning around Como, I have a delimma. Drive to Milan and spend the rest of Fri and Sat exploring Milan? Or drive to Genoa for Friday, then back to Milan for Saturday. OR....give up the rental at MXP , take the train in to Milan for Friday, and then do a guided motorcoach excursion to Genoa. FYI, neither of us have ever seen the Med.

Suggestions for sites/restaurants in Milan/Genoa greatly appreciated.

I know that's a lot, I appreciate any help anyone would offer!

sandralist

I doubt you would enjoy the excursion to Genova if the weather is not optimal -- and if it is optimal, several thousand people in Milan will have exactly the same idea as you to head to the Med for the weekend, so you are likely to find yourself in a severe traffic jam, topped off with lousy parking situations by the seaside.

If you are determined to see the Med, and don't want to leave until mid-Friday, then maybe the best plan would be to drop off the car at Linate airport, take the airport bus to the train station, and get on the train to Genoa. If you are on a train by 3pm, you can easily make to Genova for an evening stroll and dinner.

For such a short time, you are more likely to have a picturesque experience and memory of the Med if you stay in Nervi, Bogliasco or Camogli, or Santa Margherita Ligure.

I have never taken a motorcoach tour, but I don't think the many hours on a bus would be comfortable, and unless you are determined to have a short introduction to the history of Genoa, the point of coming to see the Med would be, I think, to see how pretty it is, and you don't need a guide for that.

Staying in Milan or Stresa your last night before you plane departure is necessary unless you are taking 4pm Emirates back to the US.

Dukey1

That hotel is more than OK IMO and you shouldn't have any trouble finding it even if you somehow get temporarily lost on the way up. Just follow the lakeshore and if you happen to cruise past that botanical pile otherwise known as Villa Carlotta (on the left) make a fast U-turn because you just passed the hotel!

sandralist

PS: I would make a hotel reservation by the seaside that you can cancel, and a back up one for Milan that you can cancel and keep both until you know what the weather will be. There really is little point in spending a lot of time traveling to the point if it is raining.

DebitNM

We just spent 2 1/2 days in Milan after 11 nights in The Lake District. We really liked it a lot, despite hearing from a few people that it wasn't visit worthy. I guess it depends on what you like to see and do.

GH Tremezzo won't disappoint.

Curious why you are renting a car since you don't have all that much time to be driving around. Train to Como and then Fast Boat might be easier after a long flight to Italy.

PalenQ

Boats around Lake Como are nicer than driving on congested IME highways - from the boat you can see both sides of the lake - services are frequent and day or longer boat passes are a good deal if taking more than a few.

HappyTrvlr

We usually have a driver take us from MXP to Bellagio after our international flight.
You don't need a car in the Italian Lakes.

daria

I would skip Genoa, just because there is plenty to see in Milan and you will loose so much time moving around back and forth to Genoa that could otherwise be spent enjoying yourself. Or, as someone else mentioned, just forget Milan and do a picturesque town on the med that is not too far.

I would leave the car when you leave Lake Como (if possible), or, better yet not rent one at all. As was mentioned, you can get around to the different towns on the lake easily by boat. And it is easy to get there from Milan (and back again) by train.

I always check tripadvisor for hotel reviews.

My absolutely favorite experience on Lake Como was Villa del Balbianello. It is stunningly beautiful. It is not to be missed. Way better than Villa Carlotta (which is also nice). When I visited, we had to reserve in advance.

Fyi, if you want to see the Last Supper in Milan, you should check to see if reservations are still required for that too. They were when I was last there, but that was 10 years ago.

Lastly, my husband and I are foodies too. We did not go to the island, and there were no not-to-be-missed restaurants in Lake Como at the time. But, I would strongly suggest that you get the Slow Food Italy book for restaurant recs (maybe there are some restaurants in it in that area now). This book is written entirely in Italian, but if you are foodies, you want it. We deciphered what we could, but basically just went to the restaurants it had listed for any given town. It is very selective and for some towns there will not be any listings, or maybe only one. For example, the last time we used it there was only one restaurant listed for entire the Cinque Terre. But, what a place! We love this book and eat so well even though we mostly can't read the reviews at all! Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/8884993547/...=I6BWKKKUH66KN

Buon Viaggio!

ekscrunchy

One of my favorite restaurants was in the hills above Tremezzo, La Fagurida is the name. You almost need a car to get there unless you splurge for a cab or unless the hotel has a service. Another good one is Silvio just south of the town of Bellagio within walking distance from the town.

Restaurants often focus on one of two local cuisines: Land-based (La Fagurida, which does not serve pasta as I recall) and lake-based (Silvio) with most spanning the gap and offering both fish and meat.

The island with the restaurant is Locanda dell Isola Comacina; I feared it was too touristy but there is a poster here who really liked it. They serve a set meal of several courses that includes lake trout and chicken.

Here are my notes from a visit of a few years back; lots of food details:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-much-else.cfm

neckervd

Biking around Tremezzo:
there are tons of (strenous) mountain and city bike trails in the area.
Best starting places:
Arcegno, Menaggio, Cardano, Porlezza, Nesso.

litespeedchick

I'm thrilled to have received so many great replies. Thanks!

On the car issue, I had originally thought the same...that I didn't want to suffer w/ a rental car when we would be so tired and did not need one at the lakes. BUT...the rentals are so cheap...no more expensive than the transfer from MXP. And...because I don't know the area, it worries me not to have the option to transport the bikes to where we might want to start our ride. Since Chris Horner (American Pro cyclist) got run over in a tunnel going around Lake Como, I'm nervous about riding on the main road.

I did not think of congestion headed to the coast...makes perfect sense. The trip is late September, does that make any difference?

Thanks, I suppose I'll just concentrate on finding great stuff to see in Milan. Even more than wanting to see the Med, I'm concerned that Milan will be too much like any big modern city, and not enough of the ancient things we can never see in the US.

DebitNM

Milan isn't like a big, modern US city. Just one look and you know you aren't in the US.

Plenty of great things to do. A bit of research on the kinds of things that interest you will surely turn up enough to fill 2 days.

The Last Supper tickets must be bought in advance so keep that in mind. They sell out very quickly when they are released. I bought mine at 2am [US] time, [which was 2 hours after they went on sale in Italy] and there was little availability that fast!

Museums, The Duomo, wandering through different neigborhoods, take a walking tour -- https://frogwalkingtour.wordpress.com/ find the existing canals, go to the Castle and much more.

sandralist

>>I did not think of congestion headed to the coast...makes perfect sense. The trip is late September, does that make any difference? <<

In a way, it makes it worse, because if it is a hot weekend in Milan (which it can be in late September) or even if it is just beautiful weather by the sea, everyone will have gone back to work in the cities after the August vacation, and there will be a huge temptation to make a dash for the beach for one last suntanning session if the weather is nice.

As for "ancient" things to see in Milan you can't see in the US, in addition to Leonardo's Last Supper, there is a beautiful Michaelangelo in the Sforzesco castle, among other things, and there are also incomparable centuries-old treasures in the very eclectic Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Caravaggio, Rapheal, Napoleon's glove, Leonardo's codex), plus there is the chance to walk amid the spires on the roof of the Duomo. There are few antique jewel-box opera houses in the US like La Scala (almost all the opera houses in the US are modern), so you might enjoy a tour. With a bit of research, you can turn up some interesting churches and abbeys with exceptional pre-modern architecture.

But if you would rather immerse yourself in an antique, pre-modern Italian city, consider visiting Bergamo or Cremona.

neckervd

Never thought about bike transport by Lake Como boats (not hydrofoils, of course): a very pleasant manner to begin or to end a day trip!
http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/c_faq.asp

litespeedchick

thanks all! I'm directing myself to learning more about Milan, and possibly Bergamo. Would you consider Bergamo a "large city" to the point that I might not want to drive into the city center?

also, when would you leave your hotel on Sunday morning to catch a 10:30 am flight MXP to JFK? How would you go? Whatever I do, my plan is to drop the rental car at MXP when I get back from Como, etc. and take the train into the city center, so I need to decide whether to take the train back to MXP or get a taxi to be sure I make it on time.

Thanks again!

litespeedchick

daria, I thought you might be interested to see the price on the updated version of that book:
http://www.amazon.com/Osterie-dItali...low+food+italy

DebitNM

Train from Milan to MXP takes 30 minutes to get to airport. I would allow 3 hours before flight departure at the airport.

sandralist

Do you really need to drop off the car at MXP? If you drop it off at Linate airport it is less time consuming, both getting there and getting into Milan centre from there.

A taxi from Milan centre to MXP is wildly expensive compared with public trans. Taxi is 90 euros, whereas public trans runs under 18 euros.

Your choices for an easy trip to the airport on Sunday morning are to stay near Cadorna station (and the Last Supper/Sforza castle) and take the Malpensa Xpress train to Malpensa (35 mins). Or stay near the Milano Centrale train station and take the bus (50 minutes) or a TreNord commuter train (50 mins too).

I would plan to arrive at the airport 2+ hours before departure time, but some people like a full 3.

If you decide to book a hotel near Cadorna, and if you drop off your car at Linate, then I recommend a taxi from Linate to your hotel. If you are coming from Malpensa, take the Malpensa Xpress from the airport into Cadorna Station.

sandralist

I should add that if you drop off your car at Linate but book a hotel near Milano Centrale station, then take the shuttle bus from the airport to the train station if you can walk from the station to your hotel.

DebitNM

We stayed near the Cadorna station so we used that one; worked great. And I am one who likes 3 hours for international travel, although we were through to the gate early. The lines for security were quite long, took about 25 minutes. Monday, last week, aroung noon.