We are a group of five adults planning to stay in Bellagio/Varenna for a few days. We will then like to drive somewhere for the balance of our trip, another four days, but not sure in which direction to head. Any suggestions? Thank you !

When is your trip? Any particular interests? Have you been to Italy before? Where do you depart?

The choices are endless so perhaps we can help with a little more information.

To the west, Milan and the Piemonte; to the east, the Dolomites, Verona, Padua, Vicenza and Venice.

You could take Happy's advice. Also note that driving east will put you in the Veneto area, which has a lot of nice wineries to visit and stay overnight. It's not the same as Tuscany, but nice nonetheless.

I personally can highly recommend the Alice Relais winery.

We have been to Italy this many times. Venice and the Dolomites our favorites, not looking to return nor travel east. We were thinking of leaving Como perhaps driving south maybe even west to the coast. Not sure of what. Might be of interest between Como and the coast, Not looking to spend any time in Milan, except this is our arrival and departure city.

Not to be snide, but when you say in your OP, "We will then like to drive somewhere for the balance of our trip, another four days, but not sure in which direction to head," it would have been helpful if you mentioned the direction you **don't** want to head.

Your post seems to indicate you were wide open to any suggestions.

Snideness aside, this is what you need to know about driving in Italy:

http://driventoit.blogspot.com.au/

Route planning on viamichelin.com

So the last night you will be either in Milan, or at a MXP hotel for an AM flight. That implies a drop-off location where you can dump the car and take a train.

The Piemonte area, esp. the Langhe Valley around Alba-Asti-Bra. Maybe a day in Torino and then the last night near Malpensa.

What Jean said. It might make a difference what time of the year you're headed there though. For Como, I'm guessing sometime between May and September?

The Dolomites !

I don't know about driving as I did it by train but you could drive to La Spezia and then do the Cinque Terra. It is beautiful and you could get some nice walking in.

Vincenzo, You are correct, I should have indicated a general direction for the remainder of our trip. We have decided on a stay in Cinque Terre and are now looking for a good base from which to explore. We will have a car which we will drop off in Milan when we depart. We are in our late 60s and hiking is not first on our list. We are also thinking of an Airbnb, but not sure what town to use as a base. We realize we may not be using the car a lot during our stay. Bob the navigator, you have been an awesome fountain of knowledge to us for past trips. And we actually used many of your suggestions when we drove thru the dolomites on several vacations. Any thoughts on CT?

I should have mentioned we are going in April, the week after Easter

If you have a clear day in Varenna, you can drive up to the Balcony of Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL1IUisXy9w

Only takes an hour or so.

Car won't do you any good in the CT though. And a big part of the appeal of the CT are the hiking paths. But the flat, lower ones are mostly closed so you can take a boat ride.

If you have a car, you will have to park above one of the villages and hike or take a bus down to one of the coastal villages, which can be very steep path.

Are you sure ypu want to go to the Cinque Terre to stay when you aren't interested in hiking? I recommend that you stay in Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli and do a day trip to the CT. We have been to both areas several times and much prefer Santa Margherita and Camogli.

We realize we may not be using the car a lot during our stay>

Well if not hiking there ain't much to dwell on in those tiny mobbed villages but there are nice day trips by car (or train) - like to Portofino and places up and down the coast. Even Genoa is close - a really neat city IME.

Thanks for the feedback. Actually even with the car we were thinking of staying in Puertovenero or Lerici, and taking ferries or public transportation to some of the other seaside villages. Any suggestions as to a good base from which to explore?

Porto Venere is nice, a destination in itself. I don't know if it's easier to reach by car than La Spezia.

You can take the ferry from the CT to PV for about 40-50 Euros so I assume the price would be similar to go the other way.

You can also take the train into CT to save some money, to walk around, have lunch.

But yeah, Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure is worth at least a day trip. I took the train from Monterosso to SML -- an hour each way -- and then walked from the train station to Portofino, which is along the flat road. Takes about 2 hours and you see many beaches and coves. You can also take the bus on this route either way or both ways. You will see a lot more walking though.

Then from Portofino, you can take a boat ride around the promontory or you can hike up to the castle up on the far end of the port for a great view. 5 Euro to go into the castle or mansion up there.

>>You can take the ferry from the CT to PV for about 40-50 Euros <<

Are we talking about different ferries? I took the one from Monterosso that stops in all the towns except Corniglio and ends in Porto Venere. I think it was about 30 euros round trip. It's nice trip when the weather cooperates