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Help with vacation to Lake District, Milan, Venice

Help with vacation to Lake District, Milan, Venice

Old Feb 14th, 2015, 10:13 AM
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Help with vacation to Lake District, Milan, Venice

I'm trying to figure out what itinerary would work best and provide a good deal for the money. My travel dates are flexible, anytime between Mid-September to Mid-October 2015 and would be 8-9 days in the country. This is a mother-daughter trip and we don't mind walking a bit. I'm debating on my arrival and departure destinations. I definitely want to stay a few days in Lake Como. I'm not sure if seeing other areas like Stresa could fit in. The other days would be in Venice/Milan depending on where we fly in/out. We would be flying out from Washington DC.

Here's what I've been thinking:

Arrive Milan - stay 1-2 nights
Take train to Venice stay 3 days
Take train to Lake Como and stay the rest of the days and head to Milan for departure (not sure how reliable train schedules are for flying out)

OR

Fly into Venice stay 3 days
take the train to Lake Como stay 4 days
Train to Milan and stay 2 days and fly out from there

Would you recommend I book flight and hotels at the same time or separate?

Thank you
Hannah1 is offline  
Old Feb 14th, 2015, 10:23 AM
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I think flying into Venice and out of Milan is a better choice if it makes sense financially, Definitely book air first - since there can be huge prices between options and date and it's the biggest expenditure. You can always find hotels (unless you wait until a week or two out and have unrealistic expectations).
nytraveler is offline  
Old Feb 14th, 2015, 10:33 AM
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I agree that flying into one city and out of the other is the most efficient. If you use the multi-city option when booking tickets, the costs are usually pretty comparable. But if for some reason that doesn't work and you'll fly both in and out of Milan, I'd suggest heading directly to Venice after landing, then putting all your Milan time at the end of the trip before departure.
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Old Feb 15th, 2015, 07:18 AM
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The train connections between Lake Como and Milan Malpensa airport are rather good:
Varenna - Milano Centrale - Malpensa: every 2 hrs, 1 change at Milano Centrale
Como Lago - Saronno - Malpensa: at least every hr, 1 change at Saronno.
I suppose you know that there is no fine weather guarantee in Sept/Oct: thick fog over the lakes or rain cannot be excluded. Most hotels along Lake Como will be almost empty but still open at the beginning of October: there will be no accommodation problem at all. Lake Como boats run until Oct 11th, car ferries all the year round.
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Old Feb 15th, 2015, 07:58 AM
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having just come back from a week in Venice where i only just scratched the surface, personally i would forget about Milan and go for Venice and Lake Garda; if you chose October, I'd forget about the lake, and concentrate on Venice.
annhig is offline  
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