tcreath

In May we will be picking up a car in Switzerland in the beginning of our trip. After spending time in Switzerland we will drive down to Lake Como but are planning on driving back to Lugano to drop the car before we train to Venice to avoid the high drop-off charges.

Our initial thought was to spend 3 nights on Lake Como and then drive to Lugano, drop the car and catch a train to Venice. I priced a car on Auto Europe which gave me the address for a drop off location somewhere in the city 2-3 km from the train station. This doesn't sound like a bad walk but with our luggage I don't know if we want to be traipsing around town. Are there taxis that will take us to the train station?

Because we only have 2 nights in Venice, another thought was to scrap one of the nights in Lake Como for Lugano. This would give us some time to see it but would also allow us to catch an early (7 ish) train to Venice.

Thanks for any advice!
Tracy

Budman

The nice thing about pick up/drop off in Switzerland is you can use your Plat M/C and deny the CDW insurance, and you will be covered thru your M/C.

We were not impressed with Lugano when we took a day trip there last May. It was just like another big city. Of course, we didn't get to some of the small lake town because of the short time. I would opt to spend the extra night on Lake Como.

We stayed in Lenno at http://www.albergolenno.com/inglese/ There's a ferry stop right there to get to the other lakeside town of Bellagio/Varenna, free parking in an underground garage, and walking distance around the lake to Villa del Balbianello.

Since you will have a car, you could drive down to the Island of Comacina and have a great dinner. http://www.comacina.it/isola/isle.htm

bobthenavigator

Tracy, Good advice from Budman.
I have rented cars 3 times in Lugano. The office will likely be a VW dealership in the east part of town---a good distance from the train station, but they can call a taxi for you. The station is on hill above town.

tcreath

Thank you both for your replies. I greatly appreciate it!

So it would be better to stay on Lake Como for the 3 nights? I don't know much about Lugano but I'm not really looking for big cities on this trip (with the exception of Venice) so maybe its not for us. My oly concern is hoping to catch the 7 am train, which arrives in Venice around 11:00 or 11:30. Otherwise I'm going to loose precious hours in Venice on an already short visit there. Do you think its possible to wake up early that morning, drop off our car and take the taxi to the train station to catch that early train?

Thanks for the hotel rec! I think someone (Bobthenavigator, was it you?) already recommended it and it looks lovely. I just sent in a price quote and will anxiously await their response!

Tracy

Budman

Will the car rental place be open that early? The roads to Lugano are very narrow and move slowly. (

PalenqueBob

Switzerland-Italy trains: www.cisalpino.com, the company that runs these trains

i think there may be the odd direct Lugano-Venice train without having to change in Milano's sprawling station.

Personally i liked Lugano a lot - of course i didn't stay in the fairly ho-hum town centre but took a bus up into the hills and boat rides around the lake. a rather pleasant if dull city