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10 nights in Lake Como/Florence/Rome

Posted by on

Hi all, we are planning a multi-generation family trip (husband, two kids, my sister, and my parents) to Italy in the second half of June from NYC. Both my husband and I have been to Florence and Italy, but everyone else is a first-timer. My kids will be 6.5 and 8.5 years old and are good walkers from living in the city. My parents are in their mid-60s, in good shape, but we are not going to hit the sights the way I did in my 20s. They want to sightsee but also relax and bask in the beauty. What are your thoughts on our itinerary below? Would you suggest that we split the days differently? I.e., More time in Florence vs. Rome?

Day 1: Land in Milan and transfer to Lake Como
Day 2: Lake Como
Day 3: Lake Como
Day 4: Transfer from Lake Como to Florence
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: Florence
Day 7: Transfer from Rome to Florence
Day 8: Rome
Day 9: Rome
Day 10: Rome
Day 11: Fly back from Rome to NY

Posted by
11948 posts

Looks good to me.
Your plan to have more time in Rome than Florence is appropriate

Posted by
1145 posts

Hello suzy_q, and welcome to the forum!

I think your schedule is actually fine and your day counts are good.

My only concern comes from assuming everyone is going to be up for coming off a flight, training an hour into the city and then grabbing a train for Varenna (or somewhere on Como) in rapid succession. I fly from the west coast and not the east coast so maybe the impact isn't as drastic but with a group of very young and older travelers this flight plus transfers may be a lot.

Don't forget to take care of necessities in Milano Centrale like getting cash, SIM cards if that's your plan getting everyone something to east and drink. Milano Centrale has a lot of services but isn't exactly what I would call 'welcoming' or 'comfortable'.

The trains to Lake Como are local regionale trains so there's no reason to buy those tickets ahead of time. Just buy them when you get to the station. However you will probably want to buy fast train tickets earlier to get better deals - especially with so many people. Get the Trenitalia phone app to look up schedules, track trains and buy train tickets.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

Posted by
304 posts

Rather than the trains suggested above to get to Como with a multigenerational group that large (I count 7?) I would look into getting some kind of prebooked car or van service direct from the Milan airport to your destination. I haven't done this, and I'm sure it would be expensive, but I know these services exist and would save you a lot of time and hassle.

Posted by
125 posts

We got a private driver from Milan airport to Varenna and it was well worth it. We were so tired and disoriented, I can't imagine doing it any other way with a large group. We were traveling with another couple and had a huge van that could easily fit 7 and luggage, if you aren't bringing too much luggage. It was $240 one way.

Posted by
2816 posts

We are the age of your parents and traveled with total of seven of us from Milan airport to Varenna. Others were 18-34 so no young children like you have. We were on three different flights so could never taken transport directly from airport to Varenna.

Two things.
First, it was entirely doable for us and we even had a detour to see the Milan Cathedral. We did end up taking a taxi back to the station to get the train to Varenna.
Second, it was 20 euros for the train from the airport and maybe 10 for that to Varenna. So that for seven was 210 euros. It would be less of course for you because you have children with you. But not a small sum and so it may be worth it to pay a little more if that will get you directly there with far less trouble.

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you everyone for your responses - what a wonderful community this is!

We are looking into doing a private transfer and splurge for this one. My parents are getting older and I don't know how many more of these trips we will do. We were in Switzerland last summer (just our nuclear family) and we took trains EVERYWHERE. I love trains in Europe but not sure it's best for seven people of different ages.

In Lake Como, we were planning to stay in Bellagio - is that a good bet? I know there are more charming towns to stay in but my research suggests that Bellagio has the most restaurants and we will need a wide variety of that to suit everyone in our group. Plus, it looks gorgeous!

Question: Given our length of time in Lake Como, besides Bellagio, what would you all recommend exploring around the area? If we had more days I would have liked to travel further to Lugano/Alps. With some initial research, I have the following on my list so far:
- Ferry/boat to explore Varenna
- Villa del Balbianello
- Villa Carlotta

Posted by
239 posts

I am another that recommends the private driver, although we fly from Australia, so a very long way.

Last time we stayed in Bellagio we had a driver take us there, and we will be going to Varenna in September and fully intend to book a driver again.

We love trains, and always use them, but you need your wits about you when trying to manage with luggage and no sleep.

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