GAC

Viking: sorry for my previous reply. I believe you meant day passes on Lago di Como, not Lago Maggiore. I'm not aware of such for Lago di Como. However, you can purchase a combination ticket for the r.t. ferry ride, plus admission to the villas in EITHER of Bellagio or Varenna. The savings is only a few Euros, at most.

daria

Thanks for your responses everyone! I checked out the ferry schedules and it looks like the last ferry from Bellagio to Varenna is at 10:20, which is a little too early for a leisurely 9:00 dinner, which we will probably want to do.

Does anyone else have opinions about my original questions? (Except the ones about the ferry schedules.)

Patrick, you are probably right. ?Bad? was not a good choice of word. I only meant that there are varying degrees of quality. I will check out the place that you mentioned! I had a similar experience in Rome with a spaghetti with plain tomato sauce. It was probably the best pasta I?ve ever had, but the sauce appeared to consist of nothing but tomatoes! That?s why I love Italy!

daria

ttt

e_roz

Just to confuse you, I'd reconsider and stay in Varenna. We just stayed there for our honeymoon. hotel www.varenna.net, they offer dinner usually and it's supposedly great, unfortuantely it wasn't available when we stayed there in June. Il Cavatappi run by Mario only has 5 tables and he has 2-3 choices. It was wonderful! There is also a great pizza/gelato place along the water with music. We met a couple staying at Hotel Olivedo, they were required to dine there but said it was fabulous so it worked out! The ferries run all day and we easily took it over to Bellagio. You may eat a bit earlier here than in most towns because the atmostpher is lazy and people turn in earlier I suspect. 4 nights is a bit more lazy time than I would want but it is very beautiful!!

daria

Thanks e_roz! I will definitely check out Il Cavatappi. This is such a hard decision! Btw, congratulations on your marriage!

I am now thinking that maybe we will stay in Varenna for one night and then move to Bellagio. Although I normally wouldn't want to do so much moving around, we will be arriving from Milan. I've read that one of the best and fastest ways to get to Lake Como is to take the train directly to Varenna from Milan. Since we would surely want to visit Varenna anyway, I am thinking staying there our first night there and then moving to Bellagio might work. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Jean

I would never stay anywhere for just one night, but you're the one checking in, checking out, unpacking, packing, checking in again, unpacking again.

You do realize the ferry ride is only 15 minutes between Varenna and Bellagio, don't you? All that checking in/out, packing/unpacking will surely take more than the 30-minute roundtrip ferry ride between towns...

daria

Good point Jean! I guess I was just having so much trouble deciding that I started to think about a compromise. But, it's true that we will be so close to Verenna if we stay in Bellagio, that it really doesn't seem to make sense to break it up.

Does anyone else have any more advice about my original questions?

Californiagirl

We stayed in Bellagio in June 2003 for three nights and we also visited Varenna as a daytrip. The major plus of staying in Bellagio is the food... Silvio (outside Bellagio) is definitely a great seafood place... I actually stayed at the albergo there (bare bones but great views) and we ate there twice and still talk about how great the food was. (The seafood antipasto platter, the seafood ravioli, the fried perch, and the lasagna were menu standouts.) I also liked the food and atmosphere at the Hotel Florence, a waterfront place in Bellagio (saffron risotto with sauteed perch filets). I had been told that the food in the Como area was unremarkable, but I would disagree based on these two restaurants, anyway.

For non-food reasons, I think I would've preferred Varenna though. Bellagio's shops are overpriced and uninteresting. The place is packed to the rafters with seniors' tour grups from the UK and rich Americans. (The weird thing is that I saw almost no Germans, French or any other tourists -- just Brits and Americans!) Varenna is not untouristy, but I just found it less overpowering than in Bellagio. Also, the waterfront walk there is really charming and I think it'd be very romantic to stroll there in the evenings.

daria

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate your help. I was still hoping to hear from Bob the Navigator, but perhaps he is on vacation?

cmt

I'll be staying in Varenna for two nights. I chose it because I loved the photos I saw of Varenna and because it seems especially easy to reach by public transportation.

viking

Just got back from a Varenna stay; gosh, what tiresome hill-climbing to get around, and the town's so small heaven help you if you need services that there's only one of (often closed). But Bellagio is just too touristy - at least Varenna has the huge garden complexes and remote hilltop castle to soothe the soul. Mennagio has a lot to offer on the flat with it's plaza's and you can even walk to the distant Villa Carlotta gardens, but the town's a little plain. Much prefer Lake Garda towns, actually.

I would dissuade anyone from gravitating to the Milan-Varenna rail line unless they're short of time. Take the 2 hr ultra scenic ferry ride to pleasant Como, and take a train from there. Most of these ferries skip Varenna though, but other ports are just 5 min ride from Varenna (mid lake day pass is 7.5 euro IIRC).

benjy2

Question about Varenna transport and the ferry from Como. We will be arriving about 2 pm into Milan and need to travel to Varenna same day. How long does customs take? Would we be better off taking the bus/train to Como and the ferry, or taking the bus to Milan and then the train?

Patrick

In reply to Viking:
Could you name an absolutely wonderful place that isn't "touristy"? The reason you saw Bellagio as the most touristy is simply because it offers the most. And I strongly suspect that like many others, you merely visited it in the daytime when you were one of those tourists adding to the crowd. But if you stayed there at night, you would discover a less crowded, less "toursity" and wonderful place.

cmt

Benjy: Do you mean there's a bus or train from Malpensa to Como? I'm arriving in Malpensa Tuesday and need to go to Varenna. I thought I needed to get the shuttle to Milano Centrale and get the train from Varenna from there. Is there a way to avoid going to the train station in Milan? Please tell me what you know about that.

Andre

CMT,

There's direct (though infrequent) bus service from Malpensa to Como.

Check out these links:
http://www.sptcomo.it/servizi/malpensa2.asp
and
http://www.sptcomo.it/servizi/malpensa_03b.asp

Hope this helps,
Andre

Jean

To Benjy and CMT: Viking's directions are confusing. You have essentially two choices to get from Malpensa to Varenna:

1) Bus to Milano Centrale station and then train to Varenna; or

(2) Bus to town of Como, ferry or hydrofoil to Bellagio and then ferry to Varenna. (One bus line to Como continues on to Bellagio, but I think this would take longer than the hydrofoil although it would be cheaper overall.)

To Viking: Yes, Bellagio is touristy. And Rome is touristy. Venice is touristy. Florence is touristy. Cinque Terre is touristy. Amalfi Coast is touristy. Can you deny yourself these wonderful places just because they're touristy?

cmt

Thanks for the bus info. My scheduled arrival at Malpensa is 7:55 a.m., and the bus to Como leaves at 8:30 a.m. It seems unlikely that I could get my baggage and clear customs and figure out where things are in time to get that bus. But it might've been a good option under slightly different circumstances. The train will be OK--maybe unpleasant to go have to go Milano Centrale and wait on line for train tickets, but then it will all be over soon.

Hagan

CMT,
I believe there's a bus from Malpensa that leaves around 9:30, isn't there? We just missed it 2 years ago and had to wait 1 1/1 hours!
We just returned again from Varenna a few days ago. This time, we trained from Switzerland into Milano Centrale, and then took the 1 hour train ride into Varenna.
Whatever way you get there, it's worth it! We get the 1-day mid-lake pass and go to Bellagio and Mennagio, but we're always glad to get back to Varenna. You see more locals there, and instead of shop after shop, the streets are actually lined with private residences.

We stayed 3 nights and were able to take in the Monastery Gardens, walked to the Castle Vezio (very strenuous!), ferried to the other 2 major towns, and just relaxed in town. However, many of the people at our hotel were staying 4 or 5 nights. I can't imagine tiring of those vistas. Hope you have beautiful weather and a wonderful time.

benjy2

Thanks for the info. Checking the bus schedules, I think we will train to Varenna on Wednesday. The bus seems to run less frequently.

jmw

Have a wonderful trip, cmt! Come back with lots of detailed descriptions, please. J.