Which airport for Bellagio?
 

We will be flying from Catania to Milan and hiring a car to drive to Lakes Como and Maggiore, probably staying in Bellagio. Any thoughts on which of the 3 Milan airports would be the best for that? Appears that all 3 have flights from Catania, just not sure which would be easiest. Also is Bellagio a good place to base for touring the Lakes area? We plan to be in the area for 4 nights, 3.5 days, then go on to Ferrara. Thank you for any input and advice!!!

Nearest would be Bergamo (Orio al Serio), but Malpensa is not too far away. Plenty of car rental options at either. I used Enterprise at Bergamo in June, and was very good and hassle free (and no scrutiny for damages on return).

What airline do you prefer? Alitalia and Meridiana fly nonstop from Catania to Milano-Linate, Ryanair flies to Bergamo (Ryanair practically owns Bergamo). Ryanair and EasyJet also fly Catania-Malpensa, Alitalia goes via Rome FCO.

Also is Bellagio a good place to base for touring the Lakes area>

When are yous going? In summer and on weekends it can be a real zoo IME - I was there in September and when the ferries can in and ejaculated hundreds of day trippers in the small town center it was elbow to elbow.

But assuming you will be out and about in the day - nothing to see in Bellagio itself - after the tourists wads have gone the town reverts to the quintessential small fishing village - though today there is more angling for tourists than fish.

Parking in Bellagio if i recall correctly is in lots on the edge of the city.

Varenna just across the lake is said to be a more calm yet also inviting city. I stayed in Como and liked it very much but most like smaller towns.

Touring the lake IMO is best by boat -can see both sides at once and with a day's boat pass you can go everywhere. Don't need a car and there are rail links to Como without going into Milan from Malpensa and probably airport transfers.

Sorry, forgot tot mention when we would be there....will in first week of May for 4 nights. We will have a car, but planned to use the ferry system for getting around from village to village. We were told that Bellagio is one of the prettiest villages at the Lake, and in fact, of all of Europe.....that intrigued me!! Ryanair looks to have the best schedules so we are thinking Bergamo would be good. Also Bergamo seems to be somewhat less expensive for accomodations and maybe not as "resorty". Will continue the research!! Thank you to all!!!

Oif you do fly into MXP, Lake Maggiore's east side is fairly close by. We always have used MXP for Bellagio too.

Was in the area last week of May into June this year, and it rained every day with mist and low clouds when it wasn't pouring down, and could see very little. Perhaps we were unlucky but being in the foothills of the Alps, the weather can be variable.

Well, Alex, we will just have to hope for the best!! Sorry you had such crummy weather, though. Still researching, but I do thank you all for the input.Bellagio still appeals, but so does Varenna. We prefer small villages, not resort type places. I think we are headed for Ferrara after the Lakes.

<i> We were told that Bellagio is one of the prettiest villages at the Lake, and in fact, of all of Europe. </i>

Well, I wouldn't agree with that. I don't think it's even as pretty as Varenna, but neither town is anywhere near the prettiest village in Europe. They wouldn't even make it into the top 100 in my estimation. The beauty at Lake Como is in the natural scenery, not the towns.

Bellagio is all about tourism, and the tourists are mostly English-speakers. The towns are chock-a-block with overpriced boutiques and shops selling ceramic doo-dads.

The most interesting things to see on the lake, apart from the scenery, are the 19th century villas, mostly erected by wealthy English and American families. These are not really my cup of tea, but they do have nice gardens. The gardens feature a lot of azaleas, camellias, and rhododenrons, and must be very beautiful when these are in full bloom. When we were there, in June, the bloom was over.

There are a few nice old churches in Varenna. Other than that, and the villas, there's nothing at all interesting in the towns. With a 24-hour boat pass, you can see every town on the mid-lake in one day. I would consider four nights there to be two nights too many. In fact, we spent two nights there, which included nearly a full first day, as we were coming from Milan. We got a one-day boat pass, which allowed us to see all the lake towns, and visit one of the villas (Villa Carlotta). By noon of the second day, we had visited a second villa (Villa Melzi, right in Bellagio) and seen everything that remotely interested us, and I was sorry we hadn't cut one night and added it to our next destination in Switzerland.

Of course, if the gardens are in full bloom, and if you like visiting old villas, you could fill the time better. There was a third highly recommended villa, which we didn't visit, but my husband put his foot down after the second. It would also help if you enjoy shopping for knick-knacks, but I still think four nights might be at least one night too many.

Bergamo is the closest airport, then comes Linate and finally Malpensa. None of them is really far away from Bellagio.

If you want to travel around the area by car, Bellagio may not be the best base, as it is on the tip of a long peninsula.
Therefore, most excursions will start and end with a car ferry ride.

For car trips all around the area, I would rather stay around Menaggio.

I was just in Lake Como in September -- we spent 4 nights in Lucerne, then went to Grand Hotel Tremezzo for 6 nights. We fell in love with Lake Como and could have stayed longer. Used the ferry system every day. The scenery is jaw dropping. But we're probably older than the previous poster (we're 75 and 61) and enjoy just relaxing and soaking in the views. I was disappointed in Bellagio mainly because I had also read it's the prettiest village in Europe and didn't agree, but it's fine to visit to shop. We also visited Varenna and it was mobbed. We loved Tremezzo -- very quiet, a few very reasonably priced cafes, and Villa Carlotta.

I would do Malpensa-Como-Bellagio, it may not be the shortest way but the view Como-Bellagio is wonderful. Of course you need to be fine with driving in narrow roads. The 30 kilometres or so from Como will probably take you an hour.

If you fly to Malpensa be sure to read how to pay for the autostrada Pedemontana:

https://apl.pedemontana.com/pagamento-rapido

There are no toll booths so you will have to pay online after you have used it, and only then you will know how much you have to pay. Don't forget because you will most definitely get a fine if you don't pay.

Bellagio is a plastic tourist town. Period. Nothing much there but, sans hoards of tourists, would be a cute old fishing village. Go elsewhere for a more real town. The Portofino of the North.

A cute old fishing village with wall-to-wall hotels on the waterfront.

<i> We fell in love with Lake Como and could have stayed longer. Used the ferry system every day. The scenery is jaw dropping. But we're probably older than the previous poster (we're 75 and 61) and enjoy just relaxing and soaking in the views. </i>

If you're referring to my post, my husband and I are about the same age, even a little older. Maybe the difference is that we're Italian and have lots of even more jaw-dropping scenery near where we live.

We don't travel to relax. We have a summer home where we go to relax (amid beautiful scenery) every summer, and, to be honest, we relax plenty at home now that we're retired. We like art, architecture, history, and, yes, nice scenery. Shopping is about as much fun for me as going to the dentist, and for my husband it's as bad as a root canal. The scenery of Lake Como is certainly nice, although it didn't actually make my jaw drop.

The scenery of Lake Como is certainly nice, although it didn't actually make my jaw drop.>

How about the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiore - they to me were awesome.

Wow!! Some great information to ponder! Perhaps we have too many nights there....the scenery is what interested us, more than the villages or villas (although I plan to see a few of the gardens) and living so near Lake Tahoe, we may not need much time to get our fill of "lake scenery"!! The comments re Bellagio are making me rethink that...I will consider one of the others mentioned...we are not fond of "tourist/plastic villages" so thank you everyone. I will rework this part of our itinerary!! We are headed from here to Ferrara and Ravenna and then on to Tuscany or Umbria....I'm rather thinking I would like more time in either of those, particularly T/U. We are locked into our flights now...into Bergamo. My husband liked the sound of that area. Onward..........

I haven't been there, nor to Lake Garda. From pictures I've seen, Lake Garda looks more scenic than Lake Como, and I've seen photos of a number of pretty towns there.

I agree about Lake Garda being to me the nicest looking lake and lots of neat places along it.

Bergamo itself is a neat town - especially the old upper town.