Just a note about Varenna:

I almost never left once I got there! That said, I have no idea where one parks a car there, and I would think it's rather inconvenient for a day trip to Milano, but I've never looked it up on the train sked.

For car convenience, I'd check out Menaggio -- although that would mean either ferrying to Como to catch a train to Milano (my choice) or ferrying to Varenna to catch the train. And then at some point, one has to come back, so double check the ferries run late enough.

I suspect other travelers get up earlier in the mornings than I do -- especially in places as seductive as Varenna.

I've enjoyed being in Stresa -- both going out to the gardens and palazzo of Isola Madre, and the palazzo on Isola Bella, as well as taking the funicular up to heights and taking in the views. I've never checked out the lobbies of the grand hotels, but suspect it's evocative of another era of tourism. And I understand the music festival is first class.

But today, because of those grand hotels that belong to a bygone style of traveling, Stresa is a pit stop for tour groups on coaches, and it has depressed the quality of the cooking there. And it has little of the stunning scenic beauty of the other lakes.

But Stresa is quite convenient to Milan, since the train goes there. Although leaving Stresa, if I were heading south in a car, I'd want to time my departure to avoid the morning rush into Milano. Last spring there was construction on that stretch and the traffic was just at a standstill.

Even I'd get up early to beat that.

When mentioning simple cooking, I was referring to Luina (a husband and wife small restaurant). I agree with you about Pappagallo.

L'idrovolante is on my list for next May and I know where it is located since I've used that particular dock previously.

If kettamic is interested in hiring a car for the ride to back to Milano, as a frame of reference from Stresa to Malpensa (45-60 min. depending upon the route the driver takes, the cost is usually 80 euro -may be cheaper to Milano.

Thanks. It looks like kettamic will have picked up a car upon arrival at Malpensa, but wants a relaxing place to briefly perch for a bit and use public transportation for a day trip into Milano. Stresa is easy to get into from Malpensa, and I would think plenty of parking right at the hotels. But continuing on with the trip from Stresa, I would want to be going someplace else other than the direction of Milano by car -- maybe I'd head for Piemonte, depending on the time of year.

The Hotel du Lac in Varenna has its own parking lot, and the hotel is an easy, mostly level walk to the ferry dock. Many rooms have lovely lake views, and there is a beautiful terrace off the lobby/breakfast room.

http://www.albergodulac.com/english.html

But Varenna is not an easy destination without reservations.

If you're interested in the Cinque Terre at all, go for it. It is so memorable and the view of the colorful houses in the cliffs (seen via the boats that can take you between the villages)is breathtaking.

We stayed in Levanto--we had a rental car and it was easy...train one day through the villages, the boat/ferry, the other day...just hung out in Levano upon arrival..enjoy

When I went to Varenna, I picked up a rental car at Milpensa and drove to Varenna. I haven't driven to any other lake towns, so I can't compare the difficulty of driving to Varenna versus other towns.

That said - I didn't find it particularly difficult to drive to Varenna (well, for driving in Italy. Driving anywhere in Italy is an interesting experience.)

I liked having a car there to drive around the lake & up to Switzerland.
We rented an apartment which had a parking space so finding a parking space wasn't a problem.

The train ride from Varenna to Milan takes about an hour. The only difficult part of it was trying to figure out how to get the ticket machine at the Varenna station to work.

I'd go for Pavia. It's a very pretty town and a quick train ride from Milano. It's also more on the way to Parma than going north to Stresa.

Thanks for all the advice. We have returned from Italy and had a great time. We ended up going into Milan on our final day. We booked a room at the Hotel First by the airport for our last night. We arrived at the hotel at 11 am on our final day, unloaded the car and returned it to the airport. We then took the train from the airport into Milan for the afternoon. It was a short and pleasant walk from the train station to the main attractions. It worked out great! The Hotel First shuttle service picked us up on our return to the airport.

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