Peggyann

Trying to set up a fall 2004 trip and even with my good maps, am having trouble deciding the best itinerary. Is it easy and not too long(Less than 3 hours) to travel from Milan airport to Bellagio by car? And then we want to get to Venice for four nights and then to Florence for four nights. We are trying not to drive from Milan to Florence as we have done this twice before and it's a tough drive. The order of things is not critical but flying home from Venice is easy. So, Milan to Bellagio by car, Fly local airlines Milan to Florence, train from Florence to Venice. Is this doable? If anyone out there (Steve?) has done anything like this, I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks to all the good folks on this forum.

HowardR

It'll take far less than 3 hours to go from Malpensa Airport to Bellagio by car. If you're lucky and there's no traffic you can make in an hour or so. If there is traffic, it could take two hours, as it did for us.

buongiorno

By the time you get to the Milan airport to check in and hang around waiting for your flight and then fly to Florence and get there and get to your Florence destination you could already be there by car, it's less than a 3 hour drive and there are plenty of things to see along the way. You can go through Parma and Bologna, two great eating towns. Don't go through the flying hassle.

Peggyann

Howard R- That's great to know. Two hours give or take is good news. Thanks!
To Buongiorno- Yes, you are right about the flying hassle. Maybe we'll stay a night in Parma or Bologna to break up the drive to Florence from Bellagio which seems to approach 5 or 6 hours. Thanks for the suggestions.

Bob1

Driving from Milan to Bellagio.

There are 2 ways to go. Look at the map.

One way is up the east side and looks the best as there is no water/ferry ride to mess with. We did that way going to Bellagio and found the road very narrow and traffic bad. One lane in a few spots. Slow way to travel.

The other route is on the west side. You have to take a short ferry ride at the end to get to Bellagio. This route is quicker. We took that route to go to Milan airport from Bellagio and it was amazing how much faster it was than the other way! We only found this out from hotel staff once we were already in Bellagio.

Hope this saves you some time. Great area to visit!

HowardR

Bob1 is correct. I was remiss in not mentioning that in my first post. The narrow part of the road comes after the city of Como. We were lucky and didn't encounter much traffic. However, I can see it being a potential problem at certain times of the days and/or year!

Peggyann

To Bob 1: Thanks for the critical piece of advice on the route to the West. The ferry you mention, does it run frequently and do we need to reserve?
HowardR, grazie, also for seconding Bob1. Any recommendations for hotels in Bellagio? We had a huge trip planned for mid Sept '01, and did not go. Picking up where we left off. I think we had reserved at the hotel Florence. Any thoughts??

TravelsWithStDavid

We have driven both routes between Bellagio and Como. The ferry is much quicker. You take the road through Cernobbia and drive to Mennagio and it is a very quick boat ride to Bellagio. We stayed at the Hotel Florence which is right on the lake. The rooms are not all the same and only the ones on the front have the view of the lake, so ask for one of those. The ones on the second and third floor are quieter because the bar is under the arcade right out front. We were last there two years ago and they were in the process of redecorating the rooms, so it should be delightful by now. The location is superb.

HowardR

Peggyann, I strongly recommend the Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio. An excellent facility with a wonderfully accommodating, helpful and efficient staff. Plus, you get a great view of the lake from your room.

Peggyann

To HowardR and TravelsWithStDavid" Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be contacting these hotels this week. You are "ouomini gentili" or something like that!!