just returned from 10 great days on lake como. bellagio is the only place to stay. dulac is a great 3 star hotel and bilacus is a great restaurant.

Delighted to hear that, as we'll be staying in Bellagio for a couple days next week. We're staying at the Belvedere. Any suggestions of must-dos or must-sees or other restaurants besides Bilacus? Thanks in advance.

I actually preferred the town of Como myself - Bellagio wasn't very interesting as a city, although the views were nice.

I love this forum cause you get different views from people all of which help make you decide whats best for your own tastes. Jack and Chelya could you tell me if you travelled and or stayed at any of the other lakes. We are in the process of planning our July 2001 trip and are doing this area of Italy for the first time. We are also renting a car in Italy for the first time. We are looking at a week for the Lakes total. Could we do 3 nights in the Stresa area and then 3 in Como Bellagio area. Would you recommend anything else? <BR>What are the secondary roads like? Are the mountain roads difficult at all? <BR>Look forward to any replies on the forum or to my email. <BR>Thanks

Jack, <BR> <BR>I totally agree with you regarding Bellagio. My husband and I stayed 2 nights there at the Hotel du Lac, and absolutely loved it! We enjoyed the restaurant at Hotel Suisse. From Lake Como, we went to Stresa on Lago Maggiore. We stayed at the Hotel La Palma, and liked it, but we liked Bellagio better. Would love to go back!!

Locarno, Ascona & the whole area (Ticino region of Switzerland) of Lago Maggiore.

Lynn,I envy you going to the Lakes. We were in Italy a couple of years ago. Landed at Milan, rented the car from Avis (reserved stateside) with out a problem. Drove directly to Lago d Como. Well, we almost mistakenly drove into Switzerland, but that's another story. The secondary roads are very good, a little narrow lakeside, but should give you no problem. We stayed at Hotel du Lac for 3 nights, then spent another 2 weeks driving all over Italy(well, anyway, Venice, Florence, Rome, Amalfi, Tuscany, Portofino, etc.), including Rome and Florence (there's an experience). We ended our trip with a night at a hotel in Stressa (cant recall the name) and drove to the Milan airport from Stressa, no problem. Regarding driving, I really cannot recall it being any more of a problem than country or city driving in USA (can't imagine driving a car in NYC, but have no problems in San Francisco). In the country, can get a little unsure of your where-abouts. But a friendly villager will usually point out your location on your map. <BR> <BR>Oh, yes. Good maps are essential. The ones from the rental agencies are pretty basic. Invest in some good detailed Michelin maps before you get there. You can go anywhere. Generally, streets and highways are well numbered. It also helps to know how to spell north, east, south, and west in Italian. <BR> <BR>As to the two lakes, we found Lago d'Como much more scenic and charming. But that was our introduction to Italy. Stressa was at the end of a tiring but wonderful trip. I have some friends that swear that Stressa is much more romantic than Como. Well, you'll have to find that for yourself. Plenty of fans of both lakes on this board. For us, we loved Lago d'Como. The night we were there, it snowed, and we woke to a beautiful dusting of snow about half way up the mountains. Cleared later that day to a stunningly blue sky. <BR> <BR>We stayed at the Hotel du Lac, took the ferry over to the famous gardens (never forget ol whats-their-names). Would liked to have had more time to ferry/drive around the lake. Maybe someday will go back. Hope this helps, we loved Lago d'Como and the beautiful little town of Bellagio. <BR> <BR>BillJ

Bill J---when you drove from Stresa to Malpensa airport, what time was your flight?? I would like to try the same thing, but I have a 10 am flight, and will need to return a rental car--is that 'doable'?? <BR> <BR>thanks.

To DeeDeeCee: Our departure time from Malpensa was 12:15 pm, so did not have to get going super early. Seems like we left the hotel in the 9am range. There was construction on the Autostrada, so our hotelier gave us some secondary roads, which were maybe a little vague, or maybe I missed a sign. We went through some really pretty forested areas, found a gas station for the obligatory fill-up, and found the airport in plenty of time. The Avis check-in process went very smooth. (Personal note: I like to use the major car guys when I'm abroad, even though they cost a little more. I always reserve ahead from stateside.) and we had time to kill in the airport, which is very compact as we remember. <BR>With a 10am departure, you are pushing a little in my opinion. You would have to get going pretty early. Can you email your hotel and get an idea of time needs? I just did that for an upcoming trip to Germany, and they gave me an estimate to the airport. Boy I hate to stay at "airport hotels" on the last night of a trip, but sometimes it can't be helped. Good Luck.

Just back. Another vote for the "Bellagio is it" camp for Como. Bilacus is nice, but I preferred the food at Silvio's (just outside the main part of town). I couldn't get a room in Bellagio, so I stayed at Villa Flora in Torno - hated it, and was shocked at how much nicer Bellagio was. Had a look round everywhere else, and went back to Bellagio every day! The road IS tricky - got my wing mirror cracked! Other than that, roads were great. <BR> <BR>I thought Menaggio, Tremezzo et al were disappointing. If I go back, I would drive straight to Bellagio. In general, I found Maggiore nicer than I expected, and Como not as good. Is someone EVER going to try Hotel del Lago in Cannobio and put a posting about it up here? I was too tired to go there for dinner, so I'll have to go back! They only have showers, which put me off staying, but it's one of two or three top quality restaurants on the lake and rooms are only 190,000 lire. Why didn't I go! <BR> <BR>I would make time for Orta - it was my favourite of the four lakes I saw. Stayed at Villa Crespi - room was great, but dinner was desperately stuffy - "swing a little" as Frank Sinatra would have said. However, I would recommend the hotel - it's a one-off. There's a really nice little restaurant down in town, up the little lane leading away from the square - you walk in and it's clear they give a damn. I think it was called Olivo (it's also a small hotel). Their porcini risotto was better than mine - not true of every cook in the lakes, IMHO! <BR> <BR>As for the Swiss areas, I would go there too - they really are different! Como to Lugano is half an hour, and I would think that the drive from Lugano to Locarno might be quicker than Como to Stresa if you wanted to do Como and Maggiore. <BR> <BR>Stresa to Malpensa is REALLY easy. Malpensa itself is a dream. Car drop off is virtually in the terminal. I would think a local would reckon on being able to catch a 10 o'clock flight having left home after 8.

Jack, We just got back mon night after 2 weeks in Itlay. Flew into Milan, train to Florence and then cooking school for a week just outside of Florence. We then met friends,rented a car (Hertz from the states) and drove to Siena, Tellaro on the coast, Lake Como and then Lake Maggorie. We had a great time and loved all locations. We stayed the last 2 nights at Ranco on Maggorie for a flight out of Malapensa. We knew that by the time we got there we would be really tired and we wanted to just rest and relaxe for our re-entry to work. It was just perfect. We stayed at Il Sole di Ranco. A small wonderful property on the lake. It began raining as we drove up and rained for 2 days. We didn't take the ferry anywhere (it stopped right there at the property) but we did bundle up and take several walks in the downpour, read, relaxed, talked about what a great trip we had had. And had 2 of the best dinners we had in all of our time in Italy --- we ate our way through the country. We had a 1:00 flight, left the hotel at 10:00 and arrived at the airport @ 11:00. Car return was easy. Right in terminal. Lines for checking in were very long, as well as for security. We only waited for 15 minutes before boarding. Have a great time. jwg

We leave on Monday for 28 days away in Italy. We will be in Varenna for 2 nights at the beginning of November, and BillJ(?) mentioned that when he was there it snowed. How wonderful!! Does anyone have any idea if it would snow as early as November? Would it be 'really' cold then? Thanks for your thoughts....

Here's another solid vote for Bellagio, a delightful town and an excellent base for seeing the other towns around Lake Como. <BR>As for the driving, it's very narrow, curvy road from Come to Bellagio. It was either 20 miles or 20 kilometers, I forget which. Either way, though it took us well over an hour! Beautiful scenery, but oh so slow. <BR>We stayed in the Belvedere Hotel, which we recommend very highly. It's a little out of town (but an easy walk to the center and harbor), with the room balconies offering a magficent view of the lake and the mountains. Wonderful, efficient, friendly staff. <BR>We too recommend Bilacus for dinner, especially if you can sit outside. We were able to 10 days ago. <BR>Once in Bellagio, leave your car and use the very convenient ferries. Make sure to go to Verenna--a most charming village with its magnificent Villa Montastero--and to the Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo. <BR>Three days was too short a stay!

We stayed Hotel Verbano right in Isola dei Pescadores (SP?). We loved it. They only have 13 rooms and ours had a terrace right on the lake with a view to the east. It's the only hotel on the tiny island and public boat service stops at 7pm. Dead quiet at night. Their restaurant was good too. We found Stresa charming and we found a great gelato in the piazza! We traveled there & back by train which was a breeze. Only note; if you need to get to the shore before the public boat service starts, you must hire a private boat. It's wasn't too expensive. Also, have the boat drop you at the dock close to the train station, not the main Stesa dock. There are no taxis to be found at 8am. Call ahead.