My husband and I will be on an organized tour with other friends: 3 nights Rome, 3 nights Florence, 2 nights Venice, 1 night in Milan - flying home from Milan. My husband and I have 5 extra nights before flying home. We are trying to decide between Cinque Terre and Lake Como for our 5 nights. We did not think it would feasible (or relaxing) to try to combine both in 5 nights. Any advice on which to choose, or if combining would be the way to go??? Any hohel recommendations would be appreciated also.

You could easily do both. We were in Italy in May 2003 and did a route similar to yours (but longer). We spent a 2 nights in the Cinque Terre (in Vernazza) and 2 nights on Lake Como (in Varenna). You could add a 3rd night to either. In Varenna, we stayed at a very nice little place called Albergo Milano (check out http://www.varennaitaly.com/index.html). I would recommend using the train. It's great for both locations and most of the Cinque Terre is not car friendly.

Kean- thanks for the info on CT & Varenna. We are doing the same trip this June. & the same Hotel. Did you take the train from Varenna thru Genoa, or Florence?... which is quicker?

Sounds like a lot of running around.... Lake Como is fantastic. In 2004 We stayed for 10 days at the Hotel Villa Cipressi (www.hotelavillacipressi.it) and had a wonderfull time. Great gardens and a lovely patio for breakfast or dinner. The views are just stunning. Varenna is small and peacefull and a perfect place to enjoy the end of a vacation. Day trips by ferry to Belagio and Menaggio can provide a shopping and site seeing before returning to the peace of Varenna. We had dinner at the Albergo Milano and was also impressed.

Lake Como is more upscale than the Cinque Terre. The primary tour options are for boat rides to various towns, some walks, etc. Many nice places to stay here, but the price range is also wide.

The Cinque Terre is more a low-key vacation, although it has become much more popular in recent years. Here, it is all about hiking, rugged scenic views, small towns that were quite isolated until the '30's, etc. You can get water taxis or take the small train betwee towns. I loved our stay at the Porto Rocca in Monterossa, the lategest of the towns and with a small pebbly beach. The Porto Rocca requires half board in season, but the food and staff are wonderful. They also have a private concession section of chairs and umbrellas on the beach for their guests.

I would do 2 lake locations in 5 days. Start at Lake Como for 3 nites--mid-lake of course--and then drive to Lake Orta for your last 2 nites. That is closer to Malpensa and a magical place. See www.orta.net

Jim - All of our travel was by train. We took the train to Varenna on Lake Como from Venice via Milan. After a couple of nights in Varenna, we took the train to Lago d'Orta for another couple of nights (a very nice quiet lake). From there, we spent one day in Milan on the way to the Cinque Terre - again on the train via Genoa. It was a fair bit of moving around, but everything is close and there are so many beautiful parts of Italy to see. What's right for you depends on your travelling style.

Those of you who stayed in the Porto Rocca, did you reserve your room ahead of time? Where can I find out more information about this place? I can't seem to find anything...

Thanks!

www.portoroca.it

good lord I must be an idiot

I swear google didn't come up with anything!!

thanks bob

You did not mention what time of the year you would be traveling. If this is a summer trip then either would be fine. You will find Lake Como to be nice and cool versus the CT being much warmer. Both climates are very agreeable in the summer particularly if you are from LA which I assume is the case based on your email address. I am from New Orleans so we know something about hot and humid weather. I liked Bob's suggestion about two lakes vs. trying to make it to the CT and then back to Milan for your flight home.

Madame X:
We are considering a 4-stay at the Porto Roca in Monterossa. Due to an 11am flight home from Malpensa, we feel we need to get closer to the airport for our 5th night. Anyone have suggestions for a decent hotel near the airport? Some reviews I have read have nothing good to say about airport hotels. A few reviews suggested staying at one of the closest lake towns to Malpensa. If so, any suggestions on hotels/towns?

Hotel Cervo--3 star
Villa Malpensa--4 star

Several sites recommended staying in a lake town vs. the non-scenic airport area. Since Varenna has direct buses to Malpensa, we are hoping to stay there. Several hotels (Eremo Gaudio, Villa Caprissi, Hotel du lac) are sold out - any ideas of others in Varenna or other town with direct service to Malpensa, instead of training through the city of Milan?
Thanks,

Don't you mean Stresa has the direct bus?

We were in Varenna last week. Albergo Milano was closed for constuction but will probably be open in late spring. We stayed at Villa Cipressi and had wonderful room with balcony. I have been to both Cinque Terre and Lake Como and prefer lake como. It was just too crowded and busy for me in Cinque Terre and I visited I thought in off season in October. I like to do Lake Como at end of our trip get nice an relaxed before long flight home to west coast.
http://www.varennaitaly.com/english.html
lists royal victoria and couple of others. There is also Hotel Bellavista in Menaggio.