We are in the typical quandry - we want to see it all, but never have enough time.

We have 8 nights - arriving in Venice and departing out of Milan (due to FF miles availability) and are struggling to pare down the sights and towns visited to both maximize our experience and not miss out on too much along the way.

Timing: Arrival October 1 - Departure October 9

Our thoughts:

Venice 3 nights (enough?)
Drive through Inner Veneto - 4 nites (taking suggestions as to where)
Last nite Milan (no Lombardy)

OR

With those 4 nights in the middle try to squeeze in a few nights in the Lombardy Lake region as well as Verona, etc.

OR

Scrap all of that and do Venice and four nights in Slovenia.

Any insights from those of you that have seen these regions would be much appreciated!

Also, will there still be activity in the Lake Como/Maggiore areas or are we too late? I read that the steamers stop running, but can't figure out exactly what week.

Thanks!

You have all good options--just pray for good weather--which we did have the last time we were there in early Oct. I see 2 scenarios:
Venice---5 nites
Stresa[Maggiore]--3 nites[ see Lago Orta]
Hour drive to Malpensa

Venice--4 nites
Castelrotto[Dolomites]--2 nites
Stresa--2 nites

The lakes are still fine until after mid-Oct.--weather being the variable.

Have fun---nice trip for 8 days.

Thanks. Can you tell me more about what you would suggest for the 3 nights in Stresa? How to spend the time?

It sounds like you don't think 3 nights in Venice is enough. Do you suggest any day trips in your 4-5 nights in Venice or just seeing the sights around town and Burano, Murano, etc?

I have been to Venice twice, and stayed 4-5 days each trip but would have enjoyed staying even longer. Just depends on what you want to see and do, I'm not familiar with your other options (but will top this post for you).

I think three night in Venice are okay, given that this is a short trip overall. The chief negative to three nights in Venice is that it's your first three nights - - so the first 24 hours is compromised by recovering from an over night transatlantic flight. But that's set.

This is strictly alternative thinking - - I wonder if the Lakes will be still "close enough" to their magical best (in May through September?) - - but there is no shortae of other destinations - - Bassano del Grappa, Trento, Verona, Padua and/or other "Palladian destinations", Sirmione (which IS on Lake Garda - - and/or other Lake Garda destinations), Bergamo, and of course, Milan itself.

There is more than enough to amaze you even if the Lakes are not weather-best-suited for your visit.

Best wishes,

Rex

If flying out of Milan, make sure to see the Duomo. Breathtaking.

Ok, I'll admit I saw this post originally, and didn't respond because I was being lazy!

To somewhat repeat other posters, it depends on what you want to do and what you enjoy on your vacations. Also, have you been to Italy before? You might want to focus on the "biggies" before hitting the smaller cities like Verona, Padua, etc. Unless you like smaller cities.

I've been to the Lakes area several times, and it's never done much for me. I think it's because we've always been there in the shoulder season, and they've been pretty quiet (which is usually a good thing), but quiet to the point of feeling lifeless. Also, we tend to be more active on our vacations, and maybe riding boats isn't enough activity for me. (Even in the cities, we're doing a lot of walking to get to and from various cultural sights.)

On previous trips you've taken, even closer to home, what have you enjoyed? If you tend to focus on cities, then you might prefer to visit Venice, Padua, etc. If you like the countryside, then schedule more time in the Lakes. If you tend to visit waterfront destinations, then you're more likely to enjoy the Lakes region.

Read up on the various areas, and see what strikes your fancy. (To add more to think about, we visited Ferrara, Bologna and Ravenna on our last visit to Italy and Venice, and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're a foodie, consider this itinerary.)

Enjoy planning!

Lexma 90, We have been to Italy before, Rome, Florence, drove the Tuscany region for five days and into Cinque Terre. We loved all of it.

We are more active, i.e. like you said, walk everywhere, so maybe you are right about the Lakes. The thing that draws me to Como and Maggiore is that I don't know when I will get back to this part of Italy and it is hard for me to let anywhere "go" and say "next time". We are good with a mix of cuntryside and cities.

I have read up on all of the places in Northern Italy and that is what makes it so hard. It all sounds wonderful.

We are not so much foodies, but like to experience the area and see what each little town has to offer.

We've been to Venice three times, last year for a full week in an apartment, and will be returning next summer for another full week. A few ideas for day trips if you want to stay there longer:

Padua: This is a great day trip easy by train, or you can even go by boat one way or the other. Much to do in Padua, including the things associated with the university, some wonderful small museums, the rather impressive cathedral of St. Antonio, and the marketplace.

Chioggia: the "poor man's Venice" at the south end of the huge lagoon below Venice. Fun to get there with a combination of boats, bus, and ferry, following the shore down along the lagoon. There isn't much to do in Chioggia, other than absorb the atmosphere of this fisherman's city -- some great non-touristy restaurants and real life markets.

Murano, Burano, and Torcello all in one day using the traghetto pass for Venice. You can also end up going to Lido and making a grand circle of it.

We did a day trip to Asolo, pretty town which should be seen either from Venice or as part of that driving tour of Veneto.

Verona is also an easy day trip from Venice.

Next summer we intend to do a day trip to Ravenna from Venice. We somehow keep putting that off.

We like the idea of staying in Venice longer and doing these trips out because no place is quite so wonderful as Venice at night.

October is late for us, so I'm not sure about the lakes, but I wouldn't think things would be closed down. I'd still vote for Bellagio over anywhere on Garda or Maggiore, though.

If driving, a stop for the old town at Bergamo is a definite also.

Patrick, I think I have decided on Venice 4 nights, Verona 1 night, Bergamo 1 night, Bellagio 1 night and last night in Milan.

I am hoping to do a day trip out to Padua if we get ambitious in Venice.

We will rent a car.

Questions for you and anyone else who reads this:

Is this itinerary do-able? I don't want to miss out on Lake Como and you yourself said Bergamo is a must see.

Also, a conveneint hotel for our last night in Milan? In a perfect world we will get into Milan with enough time to see the Duomo, Last Supper (with reservations) and one or two other sights.

Will need to drop off the car at the airport and then get into town.

Also, should we sleep in Bellagio or somewhere else near by?

I am hoping you see this!

Just a suggestion, but if you are going to drop your car off the night before, and are flying out the next morning, why stay in the city? Why not book a hotel near the airport, drop your car off, take the train into Milano Cadorna station, see the Last Supper, have dinner, and then take the train back to your hotel. The round-trip fare on the Malpensa express was less than 20 euro, and the train runs about every half-hour. We stayed at the Hotel Cervo, very close to the international terminal. They had a free shuttle from the hotel to your terminal which starts at about 6:00 a.m.

I would cut out the lakes, or at least NOT stay in Stresa, unless you just want to stay there the last night before flying home instead of staying in Milan the last night. I was in Stresa in early October a few years ago, and at that time the public bus to Lake Orta has stopped running for the season. I think I would've liked Orta San Giulio much better than Stresa, which I found fairly charmless. If you still want to spend a little bit of time on one of the lakes, would you consider Lake Como instead? I thought Varenna was very beautiful, and you might enjoy it for one or two nights, with day trips to other towns around the lake..

There are other towns and small cities in Lombardy worth visiting, for example, Mantova, Cremona, Pavia, and very close to Milan, Bergamo and Vigevano.

Re Bergamo: I think it would be lovely to stay overnight. I went there for a day trip from Milan and liked it so much that I stayed from early in the morning until dark.

If your return flight out of Milan is early as ours was this past May (7:00am departure), I agree with the suggestion of staying near the airport. We spent the last afternoon seeing the Last Supper and the inside of the Duomo (the outside is covered in scaffolding so there wasn't anything to see) having stored our luggage at the train station, then took the bus to the airport where First Hotel picked us up for our last night. Happy travels!

This is a little different question but my husband & I will be in Venice and northern Italy the first 2 weeks of Nov. What can we expect weatherwise? I'm wondering about the flooding in Venice at that time.
Our daughter just took a teaching job in Treviso (just north of Venice) and we're going to visit according to her and our schedules and available flights, not climate. Also, I will be "hanging out" an extra week around the Treviso/Venice area. Any suggestions beyond the usual sights? Also, my husband has a very early morning flight out of Venice....can anyone recommend a reasonable hotel near the airport? We are excited for our first trip to Italy!

rbrazill, Thank You! Great suggestion. I really did not know the logistics of the airport, etc., but you have given me some great insight. If you liked that hotel and it was 120 euros or less, than that is the place for us. We do not leave out until 11 am the next morning, so we will have a relaxing morning getting to the airport.

cmt, thanks for the reinforcement on Bergamo. We had ruled out Stresa for this trip anyway. Just Bellagio and Bergamo. What do you have to say about Bellagio?

CPCchief, I was wondering about the tides as well, and under the thread - "Flooding in Venice" (i think) you will find the website for the tide chart in Venice. I believe you will have flooding. There is some helpful info if you follow that thread.

The Hotel Cervo is truly an airport hotel. The rooms were clean and comfortable, but it doesn't have a lot of atmosphere. In fact, when we initially drove up, I had my doubts. It's in a strange residential industrial area, but perfectly safe. My wife said the complimentary breakfast was great (I got up too late.) I just checked their website and the rooms are 103 euro per night. Here's the link:
http://www.hotelcervo.it/english.htm

rbrazill, I just e-mailed them to book it! Thanks so much. Now on to book The Last Supper.

Since you are so knowledgeable, any words of wisdom for the Duomo? Do I need make a reservation do you know the hours that it is open to the public?

Where did you eat? Anything memorable?

I've only been to Milan once so I'm certainly not "so knowledgeable." However, I can answer some questions. You do not have to have advance reservations to see the Duomo. You can just walk in the interior for free. But as someone who generally hates paying to go up in the tower of any tourist attraction, I have to say that it is definitely worth going up on to the roof of the Duomo. You can walk around on the roof, itself, and see the architecture and statues up close.
As far as The Last Supper was concerned, we did have reservations through Initaly.com. We went in July and felt reservations were a must. If I had it to do over, I would not use Initaly. Their service charge was equal to roughly two times the actual admission charge. When you see how deteriorated the church is, that this is virtually their only source of income, and then realize that they are only getting one-third of the price we paid, it was a little upsetting. I'm not sure reservations are even necessary in October, but others may have a better sense.Look online for other reservation makers, or call the church (Santa Maria delle Grazie) directly.
As far as dining was concerned, we had one great experience and one so-so. The Trattoria Milanese came highly recommended by several tour guides. I was underwhelmed. It seemed overpriced and living off past glory. On the other hand, da Puccini, Via S. Giovanni sul Muro, 5, was an excellent find. The food was great, the service was excellent, and the wine list is superb.

I just returned from Milan. The front of the Duomo is still shrouded, but the sides and back are visible. Inside the Duomo, they have blocked off the rear so you can't see the magnificant stained glass windows up close. Last time we were there, we could walk right up to them. There are signs everywhere keeping tourists out of the side areas unless they are confessing or lighting a candle. Also on the way in - a sign of the times - security guards must inspect your bags. Quite a different experience than the last time I visited.

For the Last Supper, we had reservations. The desk clerk was a bit surly so I wouldn't bother asking. Do it online and avoid the encounter. You must be in the vestibule 10 minutes before your time. A person comes out and starts collecting tickets without making an announcement. Doors open automatically and you must be there ready to enter. Once inside the church, you have 15 minutes to view the fresco, and you can't leave until the exit doors open. It's a very odd experience.