Does anyone know the easiest way to get from Venice to Bellagio, and Bellagio to Florence and how long it takes between cities (not in one day) ? We would like to avoid renting a car or hiring car service. I know it will be a combination of trains and ferries but I'm not sure which route is the most efficient. We plan to leave early in the morning on both occasions. Thanks!

I would train from Venice to Milano Centrale and then Milan to Varenna Esino, walk down the hill from the station to the dock and ferry to Bellagio. Bellagio to Florence, ferry to Varenna, train to Milano Centrale and then Milan to Florence.

The station at Varenna is unmanned and has no ticket machines, so you can buy the round trip Milan-Varenna-Milan ticket in Venice, when you get to Milan the first time or in the town of Varenna.

I would buy all the tickets at the same time when you arrive in Venice.

The walk from the Varenna station to the ferry dock is 7 to 10 minutes.

Here's a train site that will give you traveling times.

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

Train schedules:

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

Lake Como ferry schedules:

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/com/nlc.html

Thank you all! This is very helpful.