dodi66

Hmm-mm maybe we should look into Lake Garda instead? More research needed, for sure!! Any particular suggestions for accommodations there? Menaggio doesn't seem to have many places to stay, at least not resort type. Still need to check Tremezzo or Varenna, but possibly Lake Garda would be an option.

nochblad

bvlenci - 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 bow to you on Le Marche but do not judge a place on internet photos.

The Italian lakes are so different one from another and even different parts of the same lake. Who lives on one of the lakes - and I have lived on Lake Como for more than 30 years - thinks their lake is the best. But this even extends to believing that their part of the lake is better than other parts. As far as Lake Como is concerned the Como leg and the Lecco leg are so very different. Furthermore in over 30 years I have never been to Varenna and I would bet that this is true of most living in the southern end of the Como leg.

As far as the OP is concerned I would not recommend staying in Bellagio with a car as either you have to travel down to Como or Lecco to connect with another location or you have to take the ferry (which takes cars). Rather stay at Menaggio or Cadenabbia/Tremezzo. To visit Bellagio/Varenna take the ferry as a foot passenger.

But being on the western side of the lake you can easily get to Lake Lugano from Menaggio and then onwards to Lake Maggiore.

bvlenci

I would say that if you live near Lake Tahoe, you may just want to skip the Italian lakes. I hear that Bergamo itself (the upper town) is very nice. Maybe a few days there, and then on to Tuscany and Umbria. You might even meander into Le Marche, the prettiest region in Italy. (I'm only slightly biased!) The region where Tuscany, Le Marche, and Emilia Romagna meet, near the towns of Pennabilli, Carpegna, and San Leo, has some of the best scenery I've seen in Italy. It's a sparsely populated area, though, with no resort-type lodgings.

ekscrunchy

Here's my take, from someone who has visited Lake Como only once, for about 5 days, staying in Menaggio: You can skip Bellagio altogether. It's pretty enough but seemed to me to be mostly shops, and streets filled with tourists like myself!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-much-else.cfm

jent103

I was at Lake Como about the same time of year (early May) in 2011, so my information may be slightly outdated, but might also be helpful. We were supposed to stay in Varenna, but ended up in Bellagio after the owners of our small b&b had health problems and had to cancel our reservation. I was actually glad we stayed in Bellagio; Varenna was absolutely lovely, but seemed quite dead at that time of year, at least when we day-tripped there and went to and from the train station. Bellagio was still fairly quiet, but there was more going on. My understanding is that this is drastically different from, say, July or August, but I haven't been then (nor have I been to Lake Garda).

The friend I was with said at one point "I think people come here mostly to drink wine and look at the lake." That seemed about right to me. If that sounds heavenly to you, four nights is probably fine. If that sounds like it would get boring fast, then I'd skip it or shorten your time. The scenery is stunning; we walked the trail up to Castello di Vezio one day and went to Villa Carlotta another. It was indeed a lovely place to relax, though I'd agree with an earlier poster that if you're staying in town, a car seems more like a liability than a plus.

Here's another trip report if you need more reading material

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-to-italy.cfm

dodi66

Well, we cut the number of nights down to 3, and decided to stay in Varenna or Menaggio, instead of Bellagio....then we get all this new, wonderful information!! I had been wondering if perhaps we might skip the Lakes area in favor of somewhere else (problem is we LOVE all of Italy that we have been to and want to see what we have missed, which is a LOT!!), but hadn't thought of the LeMarche area. So, thanks, bvlenci, for throwing that in!! We love small villages, NOT resorts, charm, scenic beauty, history...all of which Italy holds in abundance!! Now we just have to decide which is most appealing. We will have been in Sicily for 3 weeks, and I am pushing for 1 week in Tuscany/Umbria, but what in between for about a week??? Have been to Verona and Padua and Venice. Maybe we need to rethink this week and look at another area altogether. From Bergamo, I mean, since we already have our flights from Catania to Bergamo.

dodi66

No, jent103, we would not be happy with "drinking wine and looking at the lake" for 4 days...we can do that here in Lake Tahoe!!! Nice trip report, with interesting information!! Ekscrunchy, I can do without the shops and the tourists like me, so will consider your advice. Loved your trip report...I referred to your Spain report for our trip last spring!! Nochblad, thanks for your input as one who resides there. Always helpful to have a local's advice!!

PalenQ

I stopped off in Menaggio and it looked like a swell lakeside town- has buses to Lugano, Switzerland if looking for a day out.

bvlenci

In that case, you could go from Ravenna to San Leo, where you could probably spend a few nights in a nice hotel. Then you could spend the next day exploring the very beautiful area to the west of San Leo, in the direction of Carpegna and Pennabilli.Pennabilli is a very interesting town, on two different tall skinny hills, Penna and Billi.

You might also consider a few nights in or near Urbino, one of Italy's Renaissance cities, with an old university and one of the best-preserved ducal palaces in Italy. Carpegna is near the Tuscan border, just east of Arezzo (another of my favorite small cities). There are also many pretty villages south of Urbino, including Mondavio and Corinaldo.

I should warn you that some of the roads in this area are fairly twisty, but we spent several days in the Pennabilli area last spring and found the driving easy, because the roads were at least in good condition.

ekscrunchy

Bvlenci: Thank you for that idea.....I might like to take a trip like that myself one day soon!

dodi66

bvlenci, some wonderful thoughts there!! My husband is set on a few days at Lake Como so I just booked 3 nights in Varenna. We then plan to drive "somewhere" for a few days (maybe 3 or 4?) including Ravenna, then go to Tuscany/Umbria area for maybe 5 nights. Rented a house in Tuscany (Casole d'Elsa, do you know it?) a few years ago, and visited several Tuscan villages and loved them all!!! I will do some research on your suggestions and if you have any more, please feel free to mention them!! You are a great help, as are all the responders!!

bvlenci

I hope you have a great trip. If I were returning to Lake Como, I'd choose Varenna over Bellagio.

bvlenci

I don't know Casole d'Elsa. I assume it's in the Val d'Elsa. We haven't spent much time in the area just west of Siena.

dodi66

Thank you, bvlenci! We did choose Varenna! Casole d'Elsa is a sleepy village, near to San Gimignano and was delightfully uncrowded....not a tour bus in sight ever!!! Beautiful vistas from the city walls and close to many hill villages that we visited. We loved it there!! Now we are on to the next phase of our trip and trying to decide between a stay in Ferrara or Parma for 2 nights and next a stay in San Leo or Ravenna for 3 nights. All look inviting, not sure which will be best. Any thoughts, anyone?? Then it will be on to Tuscany, perhaps Volterra, perhaps Arezzo, for 4 nights as a base. I like the itinerary you mentioned, bvlenci,...looking into that.