First time Italy
 

My adult son aqnd myself are planning a trip to Milan and Lake Como etc. Where do we begin

Borrow some guide books from the library. Search this site for those places.

The guidebook suggestion sounds flippant, but it isn't. A small "Milan top 10" type book is as good a place as any to start.

What you wish to see really depends on your interests. Don't get caught up in "must sees". For Example - If Renaissance art, or Leonardo da Vinci interest you, then go and see "The last supper", but don't get caught up in going to see it because you feel that you should.

On Lake Como, most tourists like to stay in the midlake area. The usual towns are Bellagio, Varenna nad Menaggio.

As suggested above, books are good. You might want to look at the larioonline.com website.

What interests do you have?

My friend's aunt owns a B&B on Como, it's called Albergo Milano Varenna. I havent stayed there but my sister did and she loved it. The website has some pretty detailed info. www.varenna.net , however, they are closed until 3/01/08

carol that is great. I would second the idea of going to the library and check out some books as well as some DVDs or tapes about traveling to Italy. I would also suggest you give some thought to the time of year you want to go as that will have some (and it can be significant) bearing on the cost of the trip. For example, if you go in the winter months you might save some money on airfare, but the trade off is that some hotels in the Como area will close after the end of October and some sites you want to visit may have limited hours.

You will also want to consider transportation. Are you comfortable with using trains etc? Or do you think you would want to drive and could be able to? All good things to think about, and the initial research will help you start to get a handle on it.

Also, do not discount the idea of a tour type visit for your very first time (like Trafalgar, etc). Many people here will pooh-pooh that idea but many people do those and are quite happy with them. They tend to be regimented but much of the routine worries are taken care of as part of the deal (transport, hotels, lots of the meals, an escort, etc).

Go, have fun. You will love Italy.

:)

The tour books are great but depending you style you can also learn a great deal via the internet... and of course talking talking talking.

Check out www.slowtrav.com and their section on Italy. Especially the info in "Italy:Instructions for Use", their hotel and apartment reviews, trip reports, and then the message board. Lots and lots of good info from people who travel there a lot.

My husband and I are also planning our first trip to Italy! For Lake Como, I have found the following guide books useful: AAA Essential Italian Lakes, Drive Around Italian Lakes & Mountains with Venice & Florence: Your Guide to Great Drives (Thomas Cook, 2007)) and Travellers Italian Lakes Including Milan (2007). I borrowed these books from my local library.

BTW - I will probably buy the AAA book to take with us. The 6th edition will be available for purchase in February.

Hope this helps! Have fun planning!

2010

The cathedral in Milan was one of the highlights of my trip to Italy. Pay the small fee to climb the stairs to the roof (it's cheaper than taking the elevator, and it's really not that many stairs). The statues on the roof are awesome, and many of them can't even be seen from the ground. There's a great view of the city from up there too.

Joley,

It was good to hear your thoughts about the cathedral in Milan! I want to go there on my next trip. How many nights did you stay in Milan?

Thanks!
Marsh

>My adult son aqnd myself are planning a trip to Milan and Lake Como etc. Where do we begin?

Fly into Milan.

Train to Lake Como....