Lake Como & Venice - must sees, dos and eats??
 

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are headed to Lake Como and Venice this weekend and I was hoping you could help us out with some recommendations on must sees, dos and eats while we are there. We will be flying into Zurich monday morning and then taking the train to Lake Como. We are staying in Bellagio at the Hotel Firenze and will be there for 3 nights. On Thursday we will train over to Venice where we will stay at the Hotel Danielli and fly back home to the states on Sunday. We are both in our 30s and I am actually pregnant (in my first trimester) with our first child, if that helps with any recommendations. Thanks in advance for your help and advice, we GREATLY appreciate it!! :)

I think you mean Hotel Florence.

This may help as well:
We spent a leisurely week in Bellagio---as per our game plan---but did manage to include these day trips around the lake. It was our 4th trip to Lake Como:

• A day trip to Varenna and the Villa Monastero gardens. Do not miss the surprising San Giorgio church.
• A day trip to Menaggio for lunch
• A day trip to Lenno and the nearby Villa Balbianello. Do not let them tell you the walk is easy—it is :30 and up and down hill. Take the boat.
• A day trip to the city of Como and the local museum---a pleasant day.
• A walk to the Villa Melzi gardens south of Bellagio.

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=4442

I did manage to swim in the local indoor pool at the hotel and the girls managed to shop every corner of Bellagio—they are good at that. We also ate well in Bellagio. Here are our four favorite places—in rank order:

• Ristorante Bilacus—I had a wonderful veal dish.
• Trattoria San Giacomo—just across from Bilacus and less $$$
• Antico Pozzo—nice selection and reasonable
• Barchetta—this was a real surprise and worth a visit.

After four visits to Bellagio, Barchetta remains our favorite place to eat. We have enjoyed several birthday dinners there, very special. We also liked Alle Darsena di Loppia, located at the south end of the Melzi Gardens in Bellagio. Loppia is a tiny hamlet.
Also highly recommend taking the ferry across the lake to Lenno and then the water taxi to Villa Balbianello as mentioned above. Our favorite of the many gardens. Lunch in Lenno by the water.

Be prepared to have rain from Monday evening until Tuesday evening. Wednesday and Thursday should be fine.
So plan your trips accordingly.
Train connections from Zurich airport (dp ..40 and ....43) to Como every hour. Change at Zurich main station only for departures from airport at 8.40 and 10.40, at more places for the other departures.

Above, I consulted the official Italian weather forecast for Lake Como. In the meantime, I had a look at the Swiss forecast for the same area: they announce fine weather!
Let's hope!

Try to catch a Vivaldi concert one evening in Venice. There's a good one at the church in St. Stephen's square--we loved it!

In Bellagio, have lunch at your hotel's lakeside terrace. Gorgeous setting and the food there was by far the best I've had in Bellagio.

We stayed at the Danielli recently, it's a great location. The lobby is amazing. The bar is expensive, as you would expect, but 16 euros for a small glass of wine was a bit over the top I thought. And they charge extra for Wifi in your room.

We loved Il Ridotto, which is on the square right behind Danielli, but I doubt you could get a table this late, it's very small. Amazing food.

Yes, do have lunch at the lakeside terrace at your hotel! Beautiful setting, great food.

I liked the shops in Como - see if you can pick up some smart maternity clothes. And there's always the shoes.
There was an outlet in Cernobbio, close to the Villa d'Este (another amazing place for lunch), that had great shoes and bags, with discounts. Coming out of the Villa d'Este on the way to the village, on your right. Can't miss it. Todd's and other top Italian brands.

as you are pregnant [and congrats, BTW] i suggest taking it easy, and using the vaporetti as much as possible.

one lovely trip is to take a boat across the lagoon to Burano, and then the little ferry to Torcello to see the ancient Basilica with its mosaics. there are nice restaurants on both islands; in a restaurants on the main street of Burano one April we ate moeche [little crabs which are deep-fried] for the first time:

http://theveniceexperience.blogspot.....u7qpQdTw.dpbs

if they are still in season do try them - they are delicious!

another nice experience is to go to the Rialto market and after inspecting all the wares, to have breakfast in a nearby cafe. [that is, if you can tear yourselves away from the Danielli!]

Thank you all so much for the information...this is very helpful and we are so excited. Just keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather!! :)

Como experts- we will be in the area in early August with our 2 boys, 13 and 10 for 3 nights. Any advice on where to stay? And highlights for families??

We are staying in Varenna for a week. Arrived yesterday. Lots of rain ever since and the forecast doesn't look good. We are in an apartment opposite the San Giorgio church and I can hear the bells ringing as I am typing. It is 4 degrees Celsius. Trying to decide whether to have a lazy day or brave the rain.
Thanks for all the good advice everyone.

Sun came out. Went for a beautiful walk along the lake. Returned to apartment to do the washing and as soon as we started to hang it out it started to rain again��. Had lunch downstairs in Alberto del sole, very nice pizza and pasta.

In Bellagio, 15 Euro will buy an all day ticket an the boat that visits I believe 5 additional lake side towns in mid lake (that is where you are). The towns include Varenna and Mennagio. You can use it as a hop on hop off or just take the ride which lasts about 2 hours.

We also agree that a meal, lunch perhaps at your hotel's lakeside cafe is very nice. They have a fruit, yogurt, ice cream and pine nut concoction that is delicious.

But it rains despite this ticket.....

That should have been Albergo del Sole.
Thanks for the advice about the hop on hop off ticket. Hopefully the whether will be better tomorrow.