Before I get going, thanks to everyone for all their suggestions on hotels, transportation, food, etc. All were well-received and we had no production problems on our trip. In fact, we couldn't have asked for a smoother trip. Even the weather cooperated - we opened our umbrella for a grand total of 5 minutes in 11 days!

BACKGROUND: Trip to Italy from May 2-14 with my husband, B (honeymoon). We are in our early 30's, and had no financial constraints (though of course we tried to avoid spending money foolishly).

We are not big fans of driving in Europe, hence no rental cars on this trip. We are not shoppers (probably due to the fact that we work in NYC and have access to all the shopping we need, plus prefer to spend our limited travel time seeing country-specific sights - though sometimes we can't help but window-shop). I have been to Europe many times (third time to Italy) and B has also been to Europe, but never to Italy.

OVERVIEW: We spent roughly 3 days in Bellagio, 1 day in Milan, 2 days in Venice and 5 days in Rome.

WEATHER: Mid to high 60's in Bellagio, low 70's elsewhere. Glorious weather. Totally recommend traveling these parts of Italy in early May.

PRICES IN ITALY: We did not find prices to be any worse than they are in NYC, even taking into account the weak dollar relative to the Euro. We understand that folks who live in less expensive parts of the country may not agree with this assessment, but for us, prices were generally fair. (Example: Metro/bus in Rome is 1 euro; subway/bus in NYC is $2.)

LUGGAGE: We packed light and brought carry-on luggage only. I can't even count how many times we expressed how happy we were with the decision to pack light. Given our reliance on public transporation (subways, ferries, vaporettos, trains, buses, uphill on foot!), we were thrilled that we each only had a rollerbag. No, we did not wear dirty clothes and wander around Italy reeking of B.O. We had our laundry done mid-trip (arranged by our hotel in Rome) for 12 euro. SO WORTH IT!

I must admit we tsk-ed tsk-ed a lot of travelers we saw with humungous luggage. The struggle they went through was just not worth it, in my opinion. I also must admit that I was impressed that a lot of other travelers packed light as well. These folks were much more agile and much less frustrated than those with heavy bags.

BELLAGIO: We landed at Milan Malpensa and then immediately started our trek to Bellagio. We took the bus to Milan Centrale station, which cost 5 euro each. It wasn't the quickest ride, but it was easy, pleasant and cheap. I think it took us a little over an hour; we got stuck in a bit of rush hour traffic in Milan. NOTE: if this is all of Milan you see on your trip, you will be disappointed. There are better parts of Milan that you do not see via this bus route. More on Milan later.

We had missed the direct trains from Milan-Varenna, so rather than sitting around for 2 hours, took the more complicated route (subway to Garibaldi station, one train to Lecco, transfer on another train to Varenna). I take no credit for figuring out the subway and train transfers after a trans-Atlantic flight. My husband is good at these sorts of things, and our small luggage allowed us to do this without a problem.

After arriving in Varenna, we made our way down the hill to the ferry, which would take us to Bellagio. We boarded a ferry, which ended up at Bellgio via Menaggio.

(I am posting details about how we got to/from Bellagio as I found this information useful in previous trip reports.)

Landing in Bellagio, our next job was to get to the Hotel Belvedere. To anyone staying here: THIS HOTEL IS UP A HILL. I knew this in advance (another reason for packing light), but if you are not a fan of lugging junk up a hill that feels pretty high (especially after a flight from Newark, a bus, subway, two trains and a ferry)...figure out some other way of getting to the hotel. We would have been at the end of our ropes, except Bellagio is so beautiful that we were just excited to dump our stuff off at our room and check out the town.

At the Hotel Belvedere, we had a room with a balcony overlooking Lake Como. OH MY GOODNESS. What a place to begin a honeymoon. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and very peaceful. Birds chirping, the pre-Alps nearby, the Alps in the distance...we were in heaven. We could actually lie in bed and see the mountains from our room.

We loved the hotel and our room, but another tip to those folks staying here: they have "European showers." This was B's first experience with such things, and his first shower drenched the bathroom in water; he emerged a little frustrated, commenting, "would it be too much to ask for a shower curtain? And why can't they just put the shower head up higher? I mean, they've already gone through the trouble to get it half-way there..."

Explored town in the afternoon...very nice little place. Bring good walking shoes if you go. Lots of cobblestone stairs.

Dinner was at Bilacus. We did not have reservations, but chose to eat inside anyway to avoid smokers, so did not have a problem getting a table (Italy is non-smoking inside bars and restaurants). Prices were reasonable, service was outstanding, and I had the hottest (spicy) penne al' arrabiata (don't know how to spell that) that I have ever had.

Note: the best gelato I had in all of Italy was in Bellagio, at a gellateria at the top of town. Also the least expensive!

Day 2 in Bellagio involved more town-strolling, including a stop for caffe at the Hotel Florence (down near the lake). We were the only folks in there at 10:30am, but they do pull a nice espresso there. Apparently the Hotel Florence is the big gathering place at night, though we weren't there in the evenings.

We took a stroll through the Villa Melzi gardens (5 euro each), which was peaceful and beautiful, thanks to the cloudless blue skies and blooming azaleas and rhododendrons. Not many tourists around at all, especially in a "suburb" of Bellagio called S. Giovanni, which we explored in the afternoon. It's a small fishing town with not a heck of a lot going on, especially during lunch time. In fact, we only saw 2 other people in the 1/2 hour we were there! We also explored a small "beach" between S. Giovanni and Villa Melzi...there were people hanging out there sunning themselves.

On Day 3 we headed to Menaggio. I had read some debates on this board as to whether it is best to stay in Varenna, Menaggio or Bellagio. We felt, hands down, that Bellagio was the place to stay...Varenna was too quiet for us (though pretty) and Menaggio a little too "real" (a traffic light exists in town! and people actually seem to go to school, work, etc.). We did have tasty pizza in Menaggio at a place called "Vecchio Menaggio" which was recommended in one of my travel guides.

For anyone staying at the Hotel Belvedere, just before you get to the hotel, on your left, is a very enticing little pathway (it has a street name, I just don't remember it). It has stone stairs leading down the hill. Take a few minutes and go down these stairs...it's a cute little walk. Just beware that what goes down must also come up...you'll go down toward the water, but will have to take a different set of stairs back up again.

I must put in a plug for one of our trip's most memorable meals. The restaurant is called "La Punta" in Bellagio, and it is off the beaten track (but still on the water). The restaurant is in a peaceful location overlooking Lake Como, and the staff was just amazingly friendly. And the food! Dieters beware! I had gnochetti with gorgonzola (cream sauce) and a salad. B had ravioli with "red cabbage" (actually radicchio) and assorted fried fish from Lake Como (some filets, some with heads). We split a tiramisu. This food was the best we had in Bellagio, and is worth the 5-10 minute walk away from the main town. Including wine, water and coffee, our bill came to 74 euro.

In general, we spent our three days in Bellagio taking it easy and unwinding from our wedding. It was the perfect amount of time to regroup before heading out to our next 3 stops: Milan, Venice and Rome. More on them later!

Oh...oh......oh...we to started our honeymoon at The Belvedere in Bellagio. Also flying in from Newark. We however rented a car from Milan and drive through narrow winding roads to reach the Belvedere. That was almost 6 years ago!!!
I have to agree with you
"OH MY GOODNESS" is also what I said when we walked into the room...the view, the balcony, the beautiful room!!!!

Also ate at Bilacus, on terrace. Also agree BEST gelato is in Bellagio.
Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip..especially Venice as that is where we ended.
I cannot believe it was almost 6 years ago...ahhhhhhhhhh.

CONGRATULATIONS,
Brenda

Welcome back and Congratulations!!! Can't wait to talk with you about your trip at the GTG. We're looking at Northern Italy next May.

Enjoying your report very much, hunnym!

Jim

More, please! Your report so far is very enjoyable. I could picture the view and smell the flowers. Aaaahhh... We're not going back to Northern Italy until Nov. 2006, so I'm living vicariously for now.

Conrats on the marriage!

Thanks for all the congratulations! And I'm looking forward to the GTG, too, Budman!

Continuing on with my report, after Bellagio came...

MILAN: We only spent a day there, but I was glad we had the opportunity to do so. I really liked Milan, a lot, actually. GREAT shopping - and that's coming from a person who isn't all that into shopping (and we didn't buy a thing - but the point is, we could have!). Shopping in all price ranges, from budget to mid-range to way upscale.

While I could have used more than a day in Milan, we did get around to quite a few sights. The first stop was Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper." We navigated our way there from our hotel (Starhotel Ritz, decent business-type hotel) using the subway, and it wasn't a problem. We did, however, have a good map of Milan.

The "Last Supper" is certainly worth the effort needed to book in advance. We were allowed in to the climate controlled room with about 20 other people, and had about 15 minutes to view the fresco. There is nothing in the room except for the "Last Supper" and another fresco (or painting?) on the opposing wall, and I'm embarrassed to admit I already forget the name of the work and its artist. While we were there, we heard a lot of tittering coming from folks who had read "The da Vinci Code." Stuff like, "yeah, that does look like Mary Magdalene!" and "there's an extra hand in there!" My husband found it somewhat surprising that they were selling copies of "The da Vinci Code" in the gift shop...

After our pilgrimage to art, we made our pilgrimage to food...and were off to find Peck. I had heard written on this board that Peck is "what Dean & DeLuca wants to be." Peck was smaller than I thought, very schmancy, and VERY expensive. The food looked absolutely delicious...nice cheeses, yummy prepared foods, an amazing meat section, etc...it took all the energy I had not to throw myself at the dessert case. But the prices! And I thought Whole Foods was expensive!

Undaunted, we went upstairs to the cafe area where I had an espresso at the bar, and my husband had tea. (Prices for standing up at the bar were fair.) I should point out for any espresso drinkers (which I am), this was the only time in almost two weeks that my espresso was served with a little chocolate on the side...unlike Paris, where if my memory serves me right, I more often than not got a little piece of heaven (i.e., chocolate) with my coffee.

After Peck came the Duomo which literally took my husband's breath away. (Or maybe he was just exhaling after shooing away a few rather aggressive peddlers in the piazza.) Unfortunately, the front of the Duomo was covered up with scaffolding. Also unfortunate, we arrived too late to go up to the roof, where we had been told the view is pretty good (apparently there is an elevator, so it's not like the 355 or so steps up St. Peter's dome).

Then came window shopping. We went through the Galleria, which was neat, and ambled past the La Scala opera house. We saw the Armani block, but did not go in (I wanted to see what the Armani chocolate department was like, but my husband kept me moving). We went down the fancy shopping street (forget what it's called) and admired all the gorgeous things in the windows.

We pulled in to the Four Seasons on Via Gesu (former monastery; this pitstop was suggested on this board, I think) for a drink. That was fun! We were the least swankiest folks in the hotel, but they didn't kick us out, so we were OK! (We were dressed quite nicely, though.) This was a splurge - I had a cocktail of some sort (19 euro) and B had a scotch (22.5 euro). But we received a lot of nibblies (including fried sage leaves, something I've neither seen nor tasted before) so it was a fun experience. It was our honeymoon, after all!

The next day, we'd be off to Venice. More later!

hunnym, waiting for more of your report!

Totally enjoying your report!! We will be in Milan for only 1 day too - I am hoping to totally follow in your footsteps - see the highlights and then want to go back!

Sally

Hunnym-

Congrats to you two -- hope you
two will be bringing pix this Saturday
so we can salivate!

WARNING: Negative comments of Venice will follow. Please avoid reading this section of the trip report if you love Venice.

VENICE: Our negative relationship with Venice probably started when we arrived around noon on a Saturday, apparently a very busy time. Getting off the train, finding the proper vaporetto stop (and buying our tickets) was easy.

But I was unprepared for the awful ride to our hotel. The vaporetto was bursting with people and luggage. Lots of baby carriages, too! I was not expecting the ride to take so long to reach our stop (Giglio)...it was around a 1/2 hour or so. The vap moved painstakingly slowly up the canal, stopping what seemed to be every couple of feet on either side of the canal. The vap we were on made a horrible scraping/groaning sound every couple of minutes...maybe it was just my mood, but it was a long and horrible ride.

We found our B&B, Locanda Barbarigo, easily. The people running the place seemed nice. The room we were in (Smeraldina) had a fantastic view over a little canal, and we were lucky enough to enjoy the singing gondolier (there only seemed to be one that sang anything) as he floated by in the late afternoon. I was a bit aggravated by the fact that we were not given any soap, 2 bottles of conditioner (no shampoo), no glasses to drink out of, and only two mediocre towels, one of which had a wine stain on it. I am not an amenities-crazy person...but for what we were paying, I thought we could have gotten a little more of just the basics. (Maybe I was still grumpy from the vap ride?)

After dropping off our stuff, we proceeded to find lunch, and couldn't find our recommended restaurant on the map. We then tried to find somewhere else to eat, and couldn't seem to find anything that looked good or seemed reasonable in any way. I am not opposed to spending money to eat out, but I felt that the 10 euro for a bowl of pasta e fagioli soup that I ended up with was unwarranted. If it were a good dish made with love...I could see it. But I have had better stuff out of a can...another Venice disappointment for Day 1.

After lunch, we roamed Venice. As much as we were not enjoying ourselves yet, there is no denying that it was once a very special place, and the architecture is beyond description. Venice is beautiful and very unique. But I'm not sure I'd ever go back.

Why did we dislike Venice? Because it no longer feels like a real city. It feels like a tourist attraction. The "streets" are either chock full of people heading in usually one direction (toward San Marco) or totally empty. When we were in the empty streets - places off the main tourist highway - we felt as though we were walking in other people's backyards - which is what we were essentially doing. I felt like I was intruding on people's lives.

It felt like just about everything had been dumbed-down for daytrippers (mask and glass shops on every corner). And prices jacked-up. Long lines for everything. Native (we assume) Venetians angry and frustrated with the neverending hordes. And over it all, a negative energy in the city.

It was disappointing.

We saw a restaurant that was off the beaten track that said, "No tourist menu. No pizza. No lasagne." The restaurant was definitely not welcoming to tourists...and at that point, we couldn't blame them. I'd be upset if my town were overrun with the types of tourists we saw, day in and day out...

I must admit that Venice looked much better in the evening, when things quieted down. It was cool seeing how, near the Doge's Palace, the land and the water are at about the same level. It was a neat experience to see the water rising slightly in Piazza S. Marco, via the "sewers" in the square. Even the gondolas seemed to belong, and did not appear to be merely vehicles by which to bilk tourists out of hard-earned euros...

We concluded that there are two Venices - the "day" Venice (when you can barely squeeze on to the Rialto bridge) and the much more magical "night" Venice.

Anyway, Day 2 involved the "Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace" tour. I booked the tix in advance, again well worth the effort. Interesting tour. Day 2 also involved more Venice-roaming.

Just one note on Venice - we ate at a place called Vino Vino that we would recommend. It's somewhere between a cafeteria-style and sit-down restaurant. Each day the restaurant serves something different (no menu; today's specials are posted on a chalkboard). You go up to the bar, behind which you can see the food laid out in stainless steel containers. You pick what you want, then go sit down. The food is then brought out to you. Vino Vino has a fantastic selection of - guess what - wine, at some crazy-low prices (glasses of wine for 1,30 euro!). I think the Bellini I had was 2 euro...

I hope that you all had, or someday will have, a better Venetian experience than we did. I'm not sure whether it was because we weren't in town long enough (only 2 nights), whether we were just in a mid-trip slump, whether we just ran into some bad luck or what, but it just wasn't our place. However, it is definitely a place to see once in your lifetime, if you can do so.

More to come about Rome shortly.

hunnym-
What a bummer of a Venetian experience. I can see what you mean about Venice feeling touristy - we felt the same way and we live in Las Vegas, so the irony was amusing. We also felt that some of the Venetians were grumpy, but mostly in the main tourist areas or restaurants. We found some lovely restaurants where they treated us like locals, even though it was obvious we weren't.

I think maybe you needed more time for Venice to work her charms on you. If we had only stayed for 2 days, I would have left feeling the same way you did. We stayed for 8 and about day 4 was when I fell in love with Venice. It was on an evening walk, with the full moon shining on the canals that I think I found Venice...

I'm looking forward to Rome!

You didn't mention it, but I hope you spent some part of an evening in Piazza San Marco listening to the music. I'm also not a terrific fan of Venice, but nights on San Marco were magical and erased all memories of the crowds and theme-park impressions of the day.

jbee - I think you are right about not staying long enough...

Jean - you are so right, the Piazza looks much different in the evening than during the day.

I forgot to mention that we got up really early one morning (6-ish) and took Vaporetto #1 up the Grand Canal. It was beautiful and peaceful, and possibly the highlight of our trip.

Still trying to find time to write about Rome...

ROME: We spent 5 days here, and we could have spent much more.

We stayed at the Daphne Inn, which I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend. I had picked up the recommendation on this Fodor's board. Fantastic place that just suited our needs perfectly. Elyssa and Mimi took care of everything for us - recommended walking paths, insider tips, restaurant reservations, etc. I had always considered myself to be a low-maintenance traveler, and I've been to Rome before, but this level of personal service was an unexpected luxury.

The Daphne is also situated in a part of Rome that I love - the Via Veneto area. And it's steps away from the Metro at Barberini.

I fear I've already written too much, so I'll keep Rome relatively short and just stick to highlights. We saw all the usual Rome things: Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps (and we still don't quite understand the hype around this place), Pantheon, Piazza Navona, etc.

We went to the Domus Aurea (Nero's palace excavated), which I hadn't seen before. It was fairly interesting, but not earth-shattering.

A disappointment to me was the Trastevere neighborhood, where I had not made it before. Maybe this place is better at night? We were there around noon, and there wasn't much going on...I don't know what I expected, but in the daylight, this neighborhood appeared to me to be more run-down than charming...maybe someone can prove me wrong?

Our big Rome highlight, though, involved the Vatican. One afternoon we had a Context Rome tour, which we were told was the grand-daddy of tours. We had received a 4-hour tour of the Vatican Museums/St. Peter's as a wedding gift, and boy, it was a good one. My husband and I had the docent all to ourselves. A native English speaker finishing his PhD at a university in Rome, he was personable, knowledgeable, articulate and passionate about church history (his field). The guy knew practically everything...he could rattle off Popes starting from St. Peter and everything they had done/not done. In 4 short hours (actually, we ran a bit long), he managed to teach us a new appreciation of art. I had been to the Vatican Museums before, with a guidebook, but I did not get the same experience on my own as we did with our docent.

The following day, we attended the Papal Audience. We had "newlywed tickets" (arranged well in advance) and as such were allowed to sit really close to where the Pope sits during the audience. We were grouped with many other newlywed couples (maybe 20? 30?) and received a Papal Blessing. After the formal part of the audience, the Pope eventually came around to where we were sitting, and was shaking hands. I got to shake the Pope's hand! (Unfortunately, my husband did not, but he got some FANTASTIC pictures.) That was certainly a highlight for me.

One other highlight involved a decadent meal that we had at a vegetarian restaurant (Margutta Vegetariana, or something like that). It was a 6-course feast - and absolutely delicious. Final tally, our most expensive meal in Italy, came to 97 euro, including wine and fizzy water. Not cheap, but I would be hard-pressed to find a place in New York that we could eat that well for that much.

And that's about it!

HunnyM, How long was the train from Milan to Venice? We're staying in Venice for 6 nights in October and definately want to do some day trips out of Venice. Sounds like a wonderful honeymoon all in all.

Nice & memorable honeymoon!!!

See you on Saturday.

Looking forward to it, Budman!

Swalter (Italy in October sounds heavenly!), if my memory serves me correctly, we left Milan at 8:55am and arrived Venice 11:38...so less than 3 hours.

Incidentally, there were few people on the train going from Milan-Venice, unlike Venice-Rome, which seemed packed in comparison.

Hunnym and others, would you recommend Milan if we only had a day?

hunnym - So sorry to hear you did not fall in love with Venice! For me it was the lack of cars - no matter how many people were in the street, it never felt busy/overrun. We stayed in a neat neighborhood (St. Apostoli is the main square) and were even asked into a Venetian's home one evening to 'see how the Venetian's live', so perhaps I didn't feel as much of a tourist there...

Loved the report, you have a great writing style and are able to tell the good and the bad thoroughly. Thanks for reporting back! Trav

Trav again...

what about the idea of staying in Milan for day one and exploring, then heading to Bellagio->Venice. Can you tell me your thoughts on doing it that way?

We are most likely flying into/out of Milan in October, and have thought of doing a day in Milan, then 2 on Lake Como... please and thanks for advice! Trav