Back from Northern Italy - Lakes

Old Jun 16th, 2003, 06:47 PM
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Back from Northern Italy - Lakes

My wife and I just returned a week ago from a 2-week trip to Northern Italy:
-Milan
-Bellagio
-Verona
-Cinque Terre

Here's an overview of the trip/hotels - feel free to post any questions.

First 2 nights:
We flew into Milan from NYC. Stayed at the Marriott (since we were using points). We got in on the last Sunday of May, when they have the monthly antique fair - it was very nice. On Monday we rented a car and drove to Foxtown (in Switzerland) hoping to find some good shopping bargains...my advice: Don't waste your time! There's not much there. On Tuesday we went to see the Last Supper - that was worth the stay in Milan. We got tickets online prior to going through www.italywithus.com. Helen got us the tickets and they were waiting for us when we got there - definitely recommend her site for pre-purchasing Last Supper tickets. We also did the Duomo and all that Milan stuff.
In summary: We could have done Milan in one day - two days is simply too much for Milan in my opinion.
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Old Jun 16th, 2003, 06:59 PM
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Next 4 nights:
We then drove to Bellagio - stayed at the Hotel Belvedere (based on postings here). GREAT hotel, definitely get a room w/ a lakeview. We stayed in one w/ a balcony. The ones on the first floor have a terrace, but the balcony is nicer. The restaurant is awesome too. One day we went to the next town and were able to rent (without license) a small outboard engine boat. We cruised around the lake for 3 hours. Amazing. I recommend you do that. We drove around the lake cities (Cernobbio - eat at "Il Gato Nero" restaurant - OUTSTANDING view and very reasonable prices - you'll need a car to get up there though). My only bad thing about Bellagio is that it took us 45 minutes to get into Como so we can get on the Autostrade. But, it was very small and quiet. Not at all touristy as I was led to believe.
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Old Jun 16th, 2003, 07:13 PM
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I'll wrap up the rest later.
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Old Jun 17th, 2003, 04:48 PM
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Hello! I am going to Italy for the first time in September and am also arriving into Milan (in the morning) and then renting a car and driving to Lake Como where we are staying at Villa D' Este. Since you have been to Bellagio and Cernobbio, I was wondering if you could let me know if you went to Villa D' Este and if there is enough to do there to stay 3 days...we could also stay at the Villa Serbelloni(?) in Bellagio but don't know which is better. We have heard so much about Villa D' Este and just wanted to know if it is in a good location and if that area is ok to be in for 3 days. Also, if we arrive in the morning to Milan, do you think it is difficult to drive out of Milan as I have heard horror stories about it. Should we have a shuttle or other transportation take us to Lake Como and then get a car there? Thank you and hope to hear about Cinque Terre soon! We will go to Portofino as well and are staying at the Hotel Splendido. Did you like it there?
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 06:43 PM
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weedso -

Yes, we stopped by at the Villa d'Este. Cernobbio is beautiful and the hotel is fantastic. You will have plenty to do. My recommendation is to find a place that will rent you a motor boat and just cruise around the lake for an afternoon - great experience.
If you are flying into Milan Malpensa, you don't need to go THROUGH the city of Milan, just drive to Cernobbio - ONE WARNING: Make SURE you follow the signs and use the Autostrada (GREEN signs). Many times we'd see names like "Como" on the blue signs and take that route, but those are LOCAL roads and take forever. If you plan your trip around the autostrade you'll be totally fine. Driving was not as bad as it was made out to be on this board, in my opinion; just be careful but that's everywhere.

Cernobbio is more accessible than Bellagio by car. I think you'll find Cernobbio and Bellagio similar, so either way you'll be fine. The Villa d'Este was too expensive for us (we went there to check out the lunch menu, and it was 3 times more than anywhere else- that's how we discovered 'Il Gato Nero' - good move). But the hotel looks amazing.

You'll LOVE Portofino - great place!

Enjoy, and let me know if you need any more details.

Pablo
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 06:49 PM
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OK, on with the trip: From Bellagio we went to Verona for 2 nights (stayed at the Gabbia d'Oro - beautiful hotel, and the prices were 50% b/c it wasn't Opera season - make sure you ask for a room with a view or light - we were facing a brick wall - we get that at home in NYC).
We had been to Florence before, so we didn't enjoy Verona that much b/c it's very similar to Florence in my opinion. So one day drove over to Venice and spent the day there - it was waaaay too crowded, but beautiful as always.

From Verona we drove to Cinque Terre and stayed at the Hotel Porto Roca for 3 nights- overpriced, but you pay for the view. The room was very small (AND they charge you $2 to 'rent' beach towels). I don't recommend you stay there frankly, but do check out the restaurant for the view.

Cinque Terre turned out to be much more beautiful than expected. We did the smallest hike (we're not hikers)...and then took a boat to each of the towns. One day we took the train (which goes through each Cinque Terre town) to Portofino - really nice little place - you should check it out if you're around. One thing the Porto Roca won't tell you is that when you park your car in the public parking (you need to do this, then they send a taxi at their expense to pick you up) YOU have to pay for the parking (about $10 per day - not a big deal but they should tell you beforehand).

Then drove back to Malpensa and left beautiful Italy. Until next time...

OK, let me know if you have any questions.

Pablo
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