Ten Days In Milan
 

Hi All
We have more or less finalized our plans - and a usual we need help. We will have about 10 days in the Milan Area. We arrive on March the 22nd and depart Milan for US
on the second of April. We want to do a couple of days in the Lake Como (or Maggiore (sp?) area and then go to Siena for 2 or 3 days. The plan is to rent cars (if advisable)
and otherwise do the train.
Would appreciate any advice on trains, cars, weather, Lake Como (or the other one) and Siena. Also, does anyone have a favorite Hotel in any of these areas? They all look
wonderful on their websites but I doubt if the weather in March will lend itself to an outdoor pool.
Any tips as usual will be very appreciated.
Thanks

Shrink

Trains are fine to reach either lake - and once there boats go all over though March is off-season so maybe not so frequently as in summer. For lots on trains check www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. Three train routes to Como - if going to Bellagio take trains to Varenna-Esino and ferry to Bellagio. Or take Nord de Milano trains to Como Nord, right at boat docks and also has buses to Bellagio; and Trenitalia has service to the main Como S Leandro station with buses to Bellagio and all over.

That said a car would be great since you are going to Siena and though can go buy train or bus if planning to drive around Tuscany simply do it all by car. Lake Maggiore loses out to Como in popularity on Fodors but IMO both are equally nice - Stresa has mainline Trenitalia trains and makes a swell lakeside base.

Don't overlook Milan itself. We spent a week there in December and enjoyed every minute of it. We then spent 4 days in Stresa, which I'd been to a couple of times previously. I prefer it to Como for a number of reasons, but all the lakes are beautiful. It's easy, and cheap, to go by train from Milan to lots of wonderful places: Bergamo, Pavia, Sirmione, Torino, Parma....

A car IMO is essential when visiting Tuscany, but you do need to educate yourself about the ZTLs.

Shrink, I only have one piece of advice. I hope you have already booked your tickets to see DaVinci's "Last Supper". If you have not, waste no time in doing so! And I want to make a suggestion, based on my personal experience.

When I booked my entrance ticket, I knew it meant a "timed entrance", not realizing that the "timed exit" was so short! You have 15 minutes to traverse the hallway and an ante room before entering the refectory itself. That total time includes laggers and tour groups, unfortunately. Everyone must be in the ante room before they open the door to the refectory. We had a tour group who took their sweet time getting up the hallway and into the ante room. So, basically, we got about 10 minutes with the painting. Simply not enough time. Had I known this beforehand, I would have booked a separate ticket for another entry 1/2 hour after the first. (You would not be allowed to stay in the room longer; you would have to exit and come back around with the next available group, which would be the 2nd group after your first ticket.) So, in other words, I had entry at 1:30pm. Had I known the situation with timing, I'd have bought a 2nd entry ticket for 2pm, so I could have more time with the painting. (It is very large, and 10 minutes just isn't enough, in my opinion.) So, there you have it. If you really want to see it/enjoy it... consider buying two entries, 1/2 hour apart. :)

Enjoy!

like StCirq mentions, no time IN Milan?

Milan is great - the cathedral, Last Supper, ornate shopping arcades...at least stay there a few days coming or going.

BOATS ON NORTH ITALIAN LAKES

All the year round:
Car and passenger ferries Laveno - Intra and Varenna - Bellagio - Menaggio/Tremezzo
Hydrofoils Como - Bellagio - Menaggio - Varenna - Colico
Stresa - Borromean Islands - Pallanza - Intra
Arona - Angera
Locarno - Magadino
Luino - Cannobio
Luino - Cannero
Como - Cernobbio - Torno
Tavernola - Monte Isola - Predore

From March 19th:
Pisogne - Lovere - Monte Isola - Sulzano - Iseo - Sarnico


From March 25th:
Ponte Tresa - Morcote - Campione d'Italia - Lugano - Gandria
Capolago (close to Como) - Porto Ceresio - Lugano
Porto Ceresio - Campione d'Italia - Lugano - Gandria - Porlezza
Locarno - Brissago Islands - Cannobio - luino - Intra - Borromean Islands - Stresa - Arona
Como - Menaggio - Bellagio - Varenna - Colico (boats)
Bellagio - Lecco (hydrofoils)

From March 31st:
Omegna - Orta - San Giulio - Pella

Connecting trains and buses between the lakes:
Train Como - Capolago
Train Como - Arcisate - Porto Ceresio
Train Locarno - Lugano
Train Como - Saronno - Laveno
Bus Luino - Ponte Tresa
Bus Menaggio - Porlezza
Bus Intra - Pallanza - Omegna

Siena is a long distance from Milan. I wouldn't travel that far unless you add another day or so. Are you just planning to see Siena or did you want to visit the Tuscan countryside too?

Ttt

sarge56; thanks for that information on the "last Supper". We are going to be in Milan the second week of September and I am sure it will be busy with outher
tourists, do you think the morning or afternoon is a better time to get in?

floridapugmom, I think most tourist places are best early in the morning.. or just after lunch, like 1pm. These are timed entrances, so I would look to see if you can book now- then you should have a choice of time slots. I know you'll enjoy the painting. It's goose-bumpy stuff!!! ) Buon viaggio!

The OP didn't come back since almost 2 weeks

Well now OP's in Italy and will hopefully report back later.

Hi All
We did indeed go to Italy. A very long trip - Turkish Air with a couple of plane changes. Wouldn't recommend that. Went from Dallas to Houston
To Istanbul and to Milan. Long ride - great price tho. (3K FIRST CLASS) Spent three days in Milan just seeing the sights. I opted out of Museums due to a major cold caught three days before trip. Rented a car in Milan and drove to Como and then on to Bellagio. Really nice and evidently we were there the last week before season since all the stores etc were cleaning up and repainting for the next weeks crowds. Did a couple of ferry rides across lake and was generally really pleased with Bellagio. On fourth day got in the car and drove to Siena. Thats a long trip to do in one day. Took a wrong turn and went to Siena via Chianti which was a winding beautiful trip thru the mountains of Tuscany, although a lot slower than the freeway we got off of. Spent three days in Siena just exploring and buying wine, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Then back to Milan for a day or so before the long flight back.
Had a wonderful trip, weather was pretty good - a little cool but no rain. I think one misses the "flavor" of Italy if you go the last week of March. Needs to be warm and sunny IMHO. Thanks for all your help. As usual I really appreciate it.
Shrink