Lucerne, Como, Cinque Terra Ideas
 

We are traveling in July to Zurich and are planning to travel to Lucerne for one night and then plan to spend the next 4 nights seeing Cinque Terra and Lake Como. Where is the best place to stay? Is it possible to stay at one home base for the 4 days and see both? I am guessing no, what is the best town in CT to stay and is one night too short a stay for Como? After CT we are meeting a group in Cortona for 4 days and then back to Zurich for one night and flying home. My biggest concern is moving around too much and not enjoying the trip to the fullest. Any advice?

How are you traveling? The travel times between these points are long by car or train.

IMO, the best of Lake Como is closer to the middle of the lake which takes a little longer to get to. If you were thinking of staying the one night in the town of Como, I'd say don't bother. The town has its own sights, but you wouldn't have time to see the lake.

Personally, I wouldn't visit the Cinque Terre in July because of the crowds, but that's me. There was a recent announcement (or proposal?) that visitors to the CT be limited by some sort of scheme. You should try to find out more about that. The train from the CT to Cortona would take 5:30/6:00 hours with multiple changes. Driving would take 4+ hours (subject to summer traffic).

One alternative to the CT: I'd take the train from Zurich to Chur and change to the Bernina Express for some spectacular scenery. At the termination in Tirano change to the train to Varenna (for Bellagio, Menaggio, or Tremezzo by ferry) and stay mid-lake Como for a couple of days at least.

"what is the best town in CT to stay and is one night too short a stay for Como?"
All depends on what you plan to do at these places.

We've visited the Lake Como area twice and enjoyed each visit. The last time was in 2012 and spent 4 nights in Varenna at the quirky Hotel Olivedo, which was very nice. The quirky part was the owner. Traveling around the lake on a steamer was a great way to sightsee.

Skip Le Cinque terre and stay elsewhere. That's my opinion, unless you truly adore tourist jammed areas.

Anyway, the Lake Como area is beautiful.

Buon viaggio,

We visited both places a couple of years ago in the summer and loved both.

Our favourite CT town was Vernazza as it was just so gorgeous. There's some wonderful quaint shops as well as some decent humble restaurants. Foccacia for breakfast here is to die for.

The highlight of the CT for me is to walk/hike between the villages. Depending on the route, you can make it easy or difficult. One thing for sure though is whatever route you choose you will be rewarded with spectacular views.

Lake Como is another picture postcard destination. We stayed in Borgo la Terrezza which was superb. You're out of the way here - you'll need taxis or use the shuttle to get down into the town.

If you've got 4 days to play with I would either suggest a very lazy visit in each of the places if you really need to see both split 2/2, but you'll take a good chunk out of your time travelling, or spend the time in CT hiking through the towns. Not going to lie, it will be packed with tourists but also remember it's packed because it's so wonderful!

Have a great trip!