I will be going to Italy at the end of September for a business trip. A colleague and I will be arriving at Malpensa on Thursday morning and will have three days to ourselves before we have to meet the rest of our group when they arrive at the airport on Sunday morning. The entire group will be spending the following week in Verona, Chianti and Florence.

My friend wants to see the Last Supper and I want to go to Lake Como. I thought we could go straight to Lake Como from the airport, spend two nights in a town on the lake and take the train to Milan on Saturday morning to go see the Last Supper. We could sleep in Milan and then go to the airpost on Sunday morning.

Is this doable?

If so, where on the lake should we go and what would be the best way to get there?
If not, would we be better off just spending three days in Milan?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Will you be arriving on Thursday morning from an overnight flight, say from the U.S., perhaps?

FWIW, there is a bus from Malpensa direct to Como. It will deposit you at the port and boats depart all the time. I've stayed in Bellagio and enjoyed it.

It is do-able to stay in Como and day trip to Milan. This is what we did. We stayed in Varenna which is a trainstop and could get to Milan Centrale in 60 minutes. From there you can subway anywhere. I liked doing it that way as it is more peaceful on the lake.

as far as Last Supper, do you already have tickets?

Yes, we will be arriving from the US and no, we don't have tickets to the Last Supper yet.

Day trips either way are possible. I only like to be in Lago di Como if the weather is nice -- which it often is in September -- but it can make a lot of sense to book Milan and day trip to Bellagio for lunch when you are certain it's a great day weather-wise. But if you don't like abrasive cities, Milano is certainly that in most places. It has glam-flash and a lot more to enjoy than the Duomo and Last Supper, but if you'd rather be at the lake rain or shine -- go!

Is there some reason the two of you have to stick together?

Hubby and I were in Italy for 2 weeks last September and went all over Italy...Lake Como was by far our favorite place! We stayed at this amazing hotel in Bellagio called the Belvedere Hotel. If you go to Tripadvisor, you can see my pictures and comments. (My sign in is ENL in South Florida and I wrote the posting on March 5th, 2010)We went to other towns on Lake Como and loved Bellagio the best as there is much to walk around and see and do with shopping and restaurants. You can take the ferry easily to the other towns to see them and then spend your nights in Bellagio. We stayed in Room 106 at The Belvedere. The room is SMALL but the terrace and the view are magnificant...trust me on this one...you won't be in your room long as the terrace and walking around Bellagio and Lake Como are so much fun! I would not spend much time in Milan. There is not much to see and Lake Como is SO beautiful! Can't wait to go back one day!!!

Oh...you can easily take the train from Milan to Varenna. You have to bus from the airport to the Milan train station and then catch the train to Varenna and ferry to Bellagio. Hubby and I missed the train we were supposed to be on and had to wait 2 hours at the train station for the next one...really was no fun. If you have the money and want to get to Lake Como quickly...take a taxi. We regretted not doing that as we would have loved to of spent an extra 3-4 hours in Bellagio. It is that nice. We were there for 2 nights and wished we would have stayed for a week. We will definitely go back and will stay at The Belvedere!

You definitely want to get Last Supper tickets ahead of time. Time slots do sell out. Plus, if you get your preferred time slot, you get to plan the rest of your quick jaunt with ease.

I'm exhausted after an overnight flight unless I get lucky and catch at least four hours of sleep on the plane. Lake Como is the perfect place to get over jetlag.

If exhausted, the fastest, easiest and calmest way to get to Lake Como is by taxi or car service. Sharing the cost with a friend helps but if you can't afford the price, then I would take the Malpensa Shuttle to Milano Centrale and catch the first train to Varenna. If you arrive Malpensa at 8:30 AM, you could be in Varenna between Noon and 1PM, depending on the Varenna-Esino schedule in Sept. Check-in for most hotels on the lake is 2:30 PM. I'm sure if they're not busy, you could get lucky with early check-in.

I would stay in Varenna because Varenna is the only town linked by rail to Milano Centrale and the views of Lake Como from Varenna are the best. The sun sets on Varenna and, IMO, no other town offers that sunset magic. I also think Varenna has better choices for food.

Bellagio is lovely but it's the most touristy city on the lake. I've tried almost every restaurant there but nothing quite excites me. To get in and out of Bellagio, you need to rely on a boat schedule and/or an expensive car ride, if you want to travel quickly. Considering how brief your visit will be, I recommend limiting any requirement to stick to too many schedules. Your time on the lake will fly fast. Varenna offers you the most bang for your 15 minutes of joy.

You can easily do this.
There is a bus route direct from malpensa, or, I prefer to get a train from Malpensa to Saronno, then to Como Lago station.
I have stayed at lake como and gone to see the last supper in one day.
I advise saying in Menaggio, you can stay there as it is beautiful, or you can catch Ferry links all around the lake.

I would also consider going on a mountain walk, as once you get towards the top the view is staggering. If you don't like walking, then you can catch a bus from Menaggio(or wherever you stay) to Argegno, and there is a cable car up to Pigra, a village 1000m up, with a nice cafe at the top, and an amazing view for the duration of the cable car trip and when at the top. There is then a walk back down to argegno, or back with the cable car.

Menaggio also has a very popular lido, with crazy golf, and an excellent pizzeria all on the lake side.
Hope this helped

Hi Kara2!

In Milan there are a lot of things to visit: the Cathedral, the Brera Gallery, the Last Supper, Sforza Castle, the Palazzo Reale, ... So I suggest you to spend three days in Milan.

If you are looking to a place where to stay, take a look to Hotel Garda http://www.hotelgardamilan.com/ It's well connected with Malpensa Airport by airport shuttle buses, Central train station and 2 metro stops. From here you can reach all the main attractions. Hotel Garda is a nice 3 star hotel with very good breakfast and clean and recently renovated room.

OK, I assume you want accuracy so it is time to be a little picky

The train time from Varenna-Esino to Milan VARIES: it can be anywhere from just a little over 60 minutes to a full 1.5 hours. All those trains are regionals and no reservations are required in either direction. In the afternoon they fill up with commuters who generally travel no further north than Lecco.

If you decide to stay "mid-lake" which I would very STRONGLY recommend vs. staying in the city of Como AND you choose to stay in either Ballagio or Menaggio then you need to ADD in the ferry time to/from Varenna AND that 10-15 minute walk (all downhill FROM the train station to the ferry dock) as well for your day (or other) trip to Milan.

In terms of how "exhausted" you may or may not be after the overnight flight (why IS it that everyone here simply ASSUMES all posters are like myself and cannot sleep sitting UP on an aircraft??? I do absolutely wonderfully in business/First and I'm partnered with a person who can sleep in about any postion)..but exhausted or not, get a cup of that ridiculously strong Italian coffee and hop on the train north...I guarantee once you start out you won;t be asleep for long.

Enjoy the trip...Lake Como is a wonderful relaxing place...my friends think it is boring and that's exactly why we keep going back!!!

Various points -

1. There is no longer a regular bus service from Malpensa to Como.
2. There are two routes to Como
a train from Malpensa to Sar

Various points -

1. There is no longer a regular bus service from Malpensa to Como.
2. There are two routes to Como
a. The Malpensa Express train from Malpensa to Saronno and then from Saronno to Como Lago
b. The Malpensa Shuttle bus to Milano Centrale (main station) and then a train to Como San Giovanni station
3. Book the Last Supper visit ASAP and work things around it. If staying in Como or Cernobbio (see below) take the train from Como Lago to Milano Stazione Nord exiting from the side exit i.e. on the right when you arrive in the station - this is the shortest route to Santa Maria delle Grazie where you will find the Last Supper refectory.
3. After your visit walk into the centre along Corso Magenta and Via Meravigli to reach Via Dante which will lead to Piazza del Duomo. Just after the Archaeological Museum in Corso Magenta there is the Church of San Maurizio linked to an old monastery. Go inside and view the magnificent frescoes many of which have been restored and are in the process of being restored. The church is in two parts - one for the public and behind the altar a section - now open - for the inhabitants of the monastery. Further along the road at the beginning of Via Meravigli you will find the delightful traditional Milanese coffee shop Marchesi.
4. Depending exactly when you arrive it may well be that hotels in Milan will be expensive as there are a lot of trade fairs in that period. Milan hotels are quite expensive for what they offer as they know that they can always fill themselves with the trade fair business, fashion events etc.
5. Rather than Como, Varenna, Bellagio etc I strongly recommend you consider Cernobbio which is well connected by bus and boat to Como and elsewhere on the lake. It is a comfortable 30/40 minute walk to Como.
6. Being near Como gives you the chance of a side visit to Lugano which is only 35 minutes by train from Como San Giovanni.

If you give me an idea of what your budget is I can make specific suggestions.