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Venice/ Lake Country:Which airport is best?

Venice/ Lake Country:Which airport is best?

Old May 4th, 2005, 04:29 PM
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Venice/ Lake Country:Which airport is best?

Hi, all,

Rethinking our 30th anniversary trip...I'd love to return to Venice, perhaps with a few days in the Lake Country, and a swing through Florence/Siena area...

Should we start/end in Venice or is there an airport closer to the lakes? How long is train to the lake area?

Is this too much to crowd into 10 days?
Any & all opinions very welcome at this point! Thanks!
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Old May 4th, 2005, 04:38 PM
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An airport closer to the lakes, such as Como, would be Milan.
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Old May 4th, 2005, 05:38 PM
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Thanks for your reply. How many days would you recommend for the lakes? Before or after Venice?

Thanks again!
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Old May 4th, 2005, 05:48 PM
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If you want to visit Venice, The Lakes (One place) and Florence/Siena, then you have:
one day jet lag and setup,
two days at the entry city,
one day travel to the lakes,
two days there,
One day travel to exit city,
Three days there.
That seems resonable (not too hectic/ panicked)

You might look at open jaw price Venice and Florence (to help with planning).

For convenience to the lakes:
Milan for all flights across the Atlantic and most others. Some smaller European carriers go to Bergamo. (We are flying from Bristol, England to Venice).
 
Old May 4th, 2005, 06:05 PM
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Don't know where you're flying from, but Venice makes a good place to recover from jet lag. You might start in Venice, go to Lago di Garda, then Tuscany and fly home from Florence.

Or you could fly into Venice, go to Florence/Siena, then on to Lago Como, and fly out of Milan.

How many lakes did you intend to visit? And, yes, I think it's too much for 10 days, especially if you have jet lag. But I'm an advocate of Slow Travel.

Look up train times in www.trenitalia.it or on the German train site: http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en
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Old May 4th, 2005, 06:32 PM
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Thanks so much for all your great feedback--some good ideas to research further.

We'll be flying from US-east coast. I'm not too sure what open jaw pricing is? Sounds interesting...

I think I'd like to just pick one lake area for this trip. Are there any special places you recommend?
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Old May 5th, 2005, 05:41 AM
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> I'm not too sure what open jaw pricing is?<

Fly into one city and out another to your original departure point.

In general, the fares are very close to doing a RT.

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Old May 5th, 2005, 06:06 AM
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One "open jaws" plan would be to fly into Venice and fly out of either Milan or Florence (if you decide to include Florence/Tuscany in your plans).

I think you have to sedt some priorities on this trip. Do you want several days in Venice, several at a lake, and then a couple in Tuscany?

If you want to go to Lake Como then I would suggest the so-called mid-lake region (Varenna/Mennagio/Bellagio) as one possibility. This can be reached by rail from Milan (to Verenna) in 1 1/2 hours by rail. However, Lake Garda might be easier to do.

I do not think this is "too much" but I think that depends on what you like to do and how fast you like to move..all very personal in other words.

I think at this point it would be very helpful if you consulted a map so you have a better idea of the geography involved in this potential trip.
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Old May 5th, 2005, 05:03 PM
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Thanks Intrepid 1, that's just what I've been thinking. It looks as though the lakes area is one point of a triangular area of mid-northern Italy, with Florence & Venice as the other 2 points.
I'd really like to see Bellagio, but haven't really researched the lake area yet. It sounds heavenly. I think we'll stick with just one lake this time--and have a reason to go back!
Train times look best between Florence/Milan (2 1/2 hr) and Milan/Venice (3 1/2 hr). Of course, there is additional travel time to actually get to the lakes. It seems do-able. We'll be flying from the east coast, probably out of NYC or Philadelphia.
Thanks for the recommendations on which areas to visit--I'll look into them!
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