Milan to Bellagio - Need a Car?
 

We're flying into Milan next month and have a car reserved to drive to Bellagio - where we will stay two nights and are then scheduled to take the car back to Milan and catch the train to Florence.

My question is - do we need a car at all? Is there public transportaion from the Milan airport to Bellagio and then back to the train station to catch our train to Florence? We had decided we didn't want to take the car into Florence traffic, plus we enjoy trains. Would we have need for a car for our one day of sightseeing in Bellagio or could we stay busy with the town and the ferries? Also, any comments on Hotel duc Luc would be appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

You will not need a car if you do not plan to keep it afterward.

IMO an alternative would be this: take transportation from the airport to Milano Centrale railway station.

From there, take a train to Varenna-Esino. Trains leave about every two hours and the trip to Varenna takes about an hour and a half.

At Varenna you can either walk downhill from the station to the ferry dock or take the very short taxi ride.

Ferries leave frequently for Bellagio and the trip over takes between 10-15 minutes depending upon whether or not the ferry stops in Menaggio first.

There is no reason to worry about train reservations for the trip from Milan and most of those coaches have only sedond class seats.

The lake views begin at lecco so sit on the left side of the train facing forward.

You should have no trouble at all using the ferries once in the mid-lake area and you can ask about a ferry pass at the ticket booth in Varenna.

We stayed in Bellagio about two weeks ago. We took the CPT bus from MXP to Como (the town/city). Then, took the boat service from Como to Bellagio. (The boats are either 75 minutes or about two hours- depends on whether it's a fast service boat or not).

A car will not be an advantage. You probably will not use it while you are at/in Bellagio. The roads up the Bellagio peninsula are rumored to be inconvenient. Most hotels in Bellagio do not offer parking, altho' some do.

There is supposed to be way to go by train from MXP to either Como or Varenna, but we have never done that, so I can't advise you.

Enjoy your trip.

Agree with others that will not need a car.The method Big Red suggests of the CPT bus from MXP to Como would work out best so long as it does not not go by way of Milan .

This would save a great deal of time since it is about 45 minutes from the airport to Milan alone.
Or, ask your hotel what they suggest, perhaps they can arrange for a car and driver to pick you up. After a long flight that could be a really comfortable way to go.
When done at Bellagio, a ferry train combination would lead you on to Milan.
You definitely do no want to drive in either Florence or Milan if you can help it.
We prefer and enjoy trains,also, for this kind of schedule.

I rented a car (thinking we'd at least go to Lugano one day) and left it parked at the hotel the entire time. We only used it to drive to Como to pick up the train to Venice.

The next time I'll likely just have a driver. If you are going to Lake Como for a long time it may be handy. However, for a few days you don't really need it as you will be on boats the whole time.