Hi! My friends and I are doing a 2 months backpacking!

Best situation
Venice 3days> bellagio1 night> train back to Milan> take berina express to chur, Swiss( will take 6 hours for Milan to Swiss I think) > stay in Swiss for 3 days> Munich 3 days> Salzburg> hallstatt

The above is the itinerary if we cut 1 day from Munich, while spending the extra day at bellagio at lake como.

Few questions for the experts here.
1) is it wise to reduce Munich to 3 days for bellagio?
2) is 1 night sufficient for bellagio?
3) the journey looks a bit tedious since bellagio is really out of the way for us to Take the Berina express. Is there a better way to incorpate bellagio? Say when we are in Swiss then take a day trip?
4) is berina express really worth it for the scenery in early August?
5) with 3 days in Munich, will I lose out a lot compared to 4 days?

Btw, We are going Rome, Florence before Venice if it helps.

Cheers

Clare

When you are in Bellagio, just take a ferry to Varenna and you will find the train going up to Tirano without the need to go back to Milan - just to return in front of where you already were.

I think you already identified the problem as Bellagio is somewhat of an outlier and harder to get to.

I'd say that Bellagio is not a feasible day trip from Central Switzerland after the Bernina Express has taken you that much North already.

Maybe you can find alternative routes from Bellagio to Tirano (the Southern terminus of the Bernina Express), maybe by boat/bus instead of going back via Milan.

If you just want to see the Lakes region and are not specifically focused on Bellagio, you could take the (much easier) train connection from Venice to Lugano.
And the Bernina Express BUS from Lugano which serves as an extension of the train's route and will take you through most of the Lakes region on its route to Tirano.

If none of the above was feasible, I'd shave off a day from Munich so you have at least one full day in Bellagio. 3 days in Munich is a good time to see the major sights, unless you were arts enthusiasts who plan to spend a full day in each of the picture galleries (Pinakotheken) alone.

Fellows, if our friend wants to do the Bernina Express, the fastest way to get to Tirano is by train along the eastern shore of Lake Como.

The train line runs from Milan-Lecco-Varenna-Colico-Sondrio-Tirano. So the easiest plan would be Venice to Milan and then sleep a night in any place between Lecco and Colico - Varenna being an obvious choice as you can take a ferry and visit Bellagio anyway. The next morning the trip resumes from there and goes all the way to Tirano, Bernina and Chur. No backtracking, no buses, easy connections. Also the trip along the Bernina is long and leaving early in the morning, already midway up the lake, makes sense.

Still a very tight program; as I always write, if weather is good it would be a magnificent trip; if weather is not good you are losing time and money. Early August is a good season and good weather is likely, but still consider this in your planning.

Asps is right - very tight. And when the trip is over you'll remember the good times and not miss somethig you didn't do.

That said, I would second Cowboy1968's comment to consider Lugano, which is lovely, fun, gives you a good feeling of the Lakes and is easier to get to and from.

Lugano is a beautiful place on its own - but the way railway lines, mountains, lakes and national borders are laid, is IMHO a less than optimal place for people that want to ride the Bernina train.

I would have guessed so, too, until I stumbled over this offer from the Rhätische Bahn re. the Bernina Express BUS:

http://rhb.ch/Bernina-Express-Bus.2189.0.html?&L=4

It is at least a scenic, direct drive - but obviously the boat/train connection from Bellagio to Tirano should be very scenic, too. And the boat may add another flavor to it (even though the crossing is a pretty quick one).

Whoa whoa! I' impressed! Thanks everyone for the input and ideas! @asps @cowboy1968 @nononora For now, I think the best idea is to stay in Varenna given that it is along the way and one of the more popular options around.

However, the price seems very steep as well! If we were to stick to our budget, we might have to choose Via interna, Tremezzo OR Via ai Mulini, Abbadia Lariana. Sorry to bother you guys again, but is anyone here familar with these two places? If it is too time consuming or far or nothing much to do there then probably we will have to pay for the Varenna option