Hi Everyone,
Just booked a cruise that starts in Venice for this coming June.
I would like to fly one week before the cruise in to Milan and take a train to the following areas and return on the last day to Venice via over night train to catch our cruise.
I would appreciate it very much if i get help planning the week, IN WHICH ORDER and HOW MANY DAYS IN EACH AREA please.
Lake Como, Cinque Terre and Portofino, possible Tuscany if time allows.
We are avid travellers and have travelled in other areas of Italy via train and rental car and have seen Tuscany too but only one day on a side trip from the cruiseline.
THank you in advance.

From Milan, take the train to Como. Decide if you want to stay there, or take a boat a bit more to the north, such as Bellagio (I like it).

Retunre to Milan, and take train to Genua, Rapollo. I would stay there, and make day trips by local train to one or two towns in the Cinque Terre region, and also by bus to St. Margherita Ligure and Portofino.

From Rapallo, take train to Venice - - either via Milan or La Spezia. I wouldn't take night train. You can see a lot of the country from the train.

Rapallo is a seaside resort with many good hotels and pensione, good restaurants, good train connections. I have stayed there many times. The villages of Cinque Terre are just a short train ride away. You can take the train to one, walk to the next and return to R. by train from there.

You're contemplating some of the most popular places at the beginning of the high season. I suggest you make some inquiries about lodging availability in your budget range. Portofino in particular is very expensive. Lake Como will be more booked up on weekends than during the week.

There isn't a realistic overnight train from any of these destinations to Venice. The one from the CT involves a gap of 3 hours in Bologna between midnight and 3:00a. You'd be waiting inside the train station. The latest departure from, say, Varenna on Lake Como is at 7:00p, arriving Venice at 11:40p.

The order you do these would depend on lodging availability, what time you land and what you're willing to do after you arrive at (I hope) Malpensa.

Malpensa to Varenna-Esino (Lake Como) is 2 hours and only one change. From Varenna, as long as you arrive early enough in the day, it's an easy ferry ride to Bellagio and Menaggio. Or you might also get to other towns but would have to take 2 ferries and, again, this depends on the time of day. If you'd rather stay closer to the town of Como, the train ride from the airport is a little shorter but still involves one change. Then, you'd likely ferry elsewhere on the lake (again, if you arrive early enough in the day).

Malpensa to Santa Margherita Ligure (closest train station to Portofino) is 3.5-4 hours. The bus to Portofino takes another 20 minutes.

Malpensa to, say, Vernazza in the CT would be about 4.5 hours. You could stay in the CT and just go to Portofino as a day trip. It would take about 90 minutes each way, and you'd have one less hotel to book.

You'll lose the better part of one day (4-5 hours) traveling between Lake Como and either Portofino or the CT.

I prefer Lake Como over the CT. Others may prefer CT. I probably wouldn't pick only "water" destinations if I were joining a cruise later.

Well, I was thinking just the opposite route: ending at Lake Como for ease of getting the train from Milan to Venice.

Personally, I don't care for Rapallo. My favorite town in the area is Portofino, but since it is quite expensive, my choice is Santa Margherita Ligure, from whence Portofino is minutes away.

The towns of La Cinque Terre will be an hour or so by train from the Golfo di Tigullio towns in the previous paragraph. You might one to chose one area, CT or Portofino, and day trip to the other.

Maybe go from Milan to SML/Portofino for 3 nights, then CT for 2 nights, then Como for 2 nights, or any combination thereof.

I am unaware of any overnight train across northern Italy. The longest route between Genova and Venezia, with two changes, takes only a bit more than 5 hours.

In any case, no matter which itinerary you choose, the train times are not long and they don't run in the middle of the night. If you insist on traveling at night, you will find yourself arriving in Venice at an ungodly hour (like 2 am), with very little services available.

Thank you all so much for replies. We arrive in Milan 9:00am and planning a train ride to a base city, would you suggest going to Santa Margherita Ligure and staying there for 4 days and do side trips to all Cinque Terre villages and Portofino as a day trip everyday via train and another 3 days in Lake Como area and then a take a train ride to Venice on the day of cruise?
Few years back we did the same thing in Amalfi Coast and choose Positano as our base and did day trips to all other cities i the area and found Positano the best place as a base.
Would you plan it differently? we love small colorful towns and don't mind going to different hotels every few days or so if the town is worth staying in. Would you suggest another city as a base? please advise.By the way , i checked hotels in few cities in the area and there are still many vacancies for mid June including Lake Como.
Also, For Lake Como, where would you suggest for a base for a relaxing 3 days? thanks
Thank you

I did a vaguely similar trip, although not from a cruise:

Portofino is but a leisurely walk, or a quick bus ride, from SML, as Jean notes above. My choice for a base would be Camogli, but only if you want to see the villages and towns near there.

YOu can take the train from Camogli on one day to visit the CT:



http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-much-else.cfm

You should figure out what you want to see/do on Lake Como and see what town is geographically central and ferry convenient.

Based on my interests, for a short-ish stay on Lake Como I would want to be in the mid-lake area. I prefer Varenna and Bellagio or within walking distance of either. If a weekend, I'd pick Varenna over Bellagio.

You can check ferry timetables here (currently showing spring schedules through June 2nd):

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/c_orari.asp

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...estions-ab.cfm
My trip report is old, but it may still be relevant for your decisions about Lake Como and CT. As you will see, we based in Levanto for CT and it worked really well.
I think you are trying to do too much in a week.
Skimming my old trip report brought back great memories of one of my favorite trips and I still recall the agony of planning our bases.
It also brought up bad memory of someone who hijacked this thread and skewered me. Hope you can ignore that part.

Thank you so much everyone. Alison, i will read your report as soon as i get off work tonight, thanks. I am looking for a base in CT , not sure where to stay, looking for a cute, lively, colorful place