14 day northern italy trip

Triplejam,

There is no direct train form Varenna to Venice.

You will need to take a Regionale train back to Milan (travel time 1H 3mins), then transfer to a freccia (high speed) train to Venice (travel time 2.5 hours).

Make sure you buy your return ticket (Varenna >> Milan) when you buy your tickets to Varenna.

You may check train schedules here:http://www.trenitalia.com

Once on this website, you may change it to English, by clicking on the British flag icon( top right)

You will need to know the names of the train stations in Italian, as follows:

• Milan = Milano Centrale
• Venice = Venezia S. Lucia
• Florence = Firenze S. M. Novella

In terms of your itinerary, it doesn't make sense to travel to Varenna for one night, just to return to Milan for the day and then travel back to Varenna. I would suggest spending your first night in Milan, then travel to Varenna after you visit the "Last Supper", or leave Milan till the end of your trip (since you will fly home from Milan).

I don't think 3 nights in Venice is "too long". And "too short a stay", is relative, as you can stay for a month & still not see "everything" there is to see, in any particular city.

IMHO, I think one night in Florence is definitely not long enough. I'd suggest at least 3 nights in Florence, which will give you 2 full days to experience Florence.

I've not rented a car in Italy, so will let others give you feedback on that.
Yes, you can get a car in Florence & return in Milan, however, you can easily travel this route via high speed train also.

If you want to travel to CT as a day trip from Florence, I'd suggest adding an extra night there.

Enjoy!

EDIT:
How many nights will you have in Italy, not counting travel days? 15?

You have quite a bit of jumping around.... Not sure I would do 4 nights in Varenna unless you just want to relax. Will you have a car at this point? What if you start your trip in Milan and see the Last Supper then? Or end your trip there when you return your car?

Yes, you can pick up in Florence and return in Milan.... You get your car at the airport and do not drive in the city to avoid pricey tickets... just head out to the freeway to go to Tuscany. Parking is also a pain in Pisa, so be sure to go to the well marked areas.

Venice for 3 nights will give you 2 full days there... not too much time for me. Plenty to do and see. Go to Burano if you get bored.

Are you driving to CT? Probably not a great idea. Train is much better. I think maybe the itinerary needs some work.

How about Milan to Varenna to Venice to CT to Florence (all by train)
Florence to pick up car, see Tuscany, end in Milan. I assume with only 1 day in Florence you are not too interested?
Driving in Tuscany is not a problem, just pay attention to the zones where cars are not allowed (learn the signage for these areas)
Priscilla... we were answering at the same time with lots of the same ideas... great minds:))

Fast trains run from Milan to Venice at least hourly and take 2.5 hours. But you start out with a slower regional train from Varenna to Milan (the same one that you're taking several times), which takes an hour, plus transfer time at Milano Centrale station. See schedules at www.trenitalia.com which also sells tickets, or the DB link at How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online has good schedules for everything but the Milan-Varenna line. Venice to Florence takes 2 hours.

It's no problem and usually no extra charge to pick up a car in one city of Italy and drop in another. Instead of Milan, you could drop it at La Spezia and use trains again for the Cinque Terre and return to Milan. If you drive to Monterosso, you're likely to just leave the car parked during your visit.

What time is your flight out from Milan? I assume you'll have to stay in or near Milan, rather than making that trip on the same day. Trains from Monterosso to Malpensa airport take at least 4.5 hours (e.g., departing at 6:54 a.m.) and driving takes at least 3.5 hours.

In reply to your question about how much time to spend in Varenna, it would depend on your interests. It would be a good idea to do some background research on that part of Lake Como. I spent 3 nights in Varenna about 5 years ago and found it to be a good amount of time (not too long & not too short). I enjoyed exploring Varenna itself one day and spend the better part of another day visiting a villa near Tremezzo. I visited Bellagio as a day trip on the last day. If you enjoy visiting beautiful villas & gardens, you will find lots to occupy your time. Varenna is a great "home base" for exploring that part of the lake. Enjoy!

I think Lake Como is nice but frankly I prefer Lago Maggiore and Lago d'Orta.
I do not like Milan and largely prefer its smaller sister, Torino which has a magnificent Museum of Egyptian art and e very interesting decorative art museum. Superga on the hills of Torino is wonderful and the Langhe region in the South of Torino where Barolo is made is worth the visit (3 days for Torino and the Langhe region) I love Verona and I think it would diserve 2 days. Venice (4 days) (Ravenna (1 days).
Florence 4 days
Siena (2days).
Chianti Region (2-3 days)
San Gimignano 1 day.
Orvieto (2 days)
Genoa (Genova) (2 days).
Read And see what kind of things you would like to do and make 14 days.
It is impossible to see everything of the North of Italy in such a short Time, so many things to do: you could divide the 4 days to be devoted to Venice in 2x2 (arrival and departure from Venice). If possible arrive in Venice early and depart late. You might like to divide it in this way: 2 days for the centre and 2 days for the islands and the lido.

Thank you Priscilla for all of the train information, we will be in Italy for 14 days. We will actually be in Varenna 2 nights before going to Milan for the day. The only reason I am doing it this way is because I could only get tickets to see the "Last Supper" on that particular day during our entire trip to Italy, and I really wanted to see it.
I'm sure Florence is amazing, but I'm afraid it will be too touristy. I really just want to see the statue of "David". We went to Oahu in Hawaii last year and were extremely disappointed about how touristy it was. We really want to try and see some of the "real" italy.
Terry, we don't plan on having a car until we get close to Tuscany, which I'm thinking will be Florence. Again, Ideally we wanted to see the "Last Supper" at the very beginning or the very end of our trip, but there were zero tickets available for any days of our trip except for the 3rd day are in Italy. Also, thank you so much on the tips about driving out of Florence and parking in Pisa and driving in Tuscany. The only reason I wanted to keep the car after Tuscany was from the directions I read, it was a lot faster to getting to my destinations by car than taking a train, which I would much rather do. Your itinerary for me is something to consider, I will definitely look into out.
Thank you too Laura for the great train information. I don't mind parking the car in Monterosso and not using it, I just didn't want to spend my last day in Italy traveling by train from CT to Milan by 2pm, our plane leaves at 4pm, it was supposed to be a lot faster. driving, but now I'm not too sure. I'm worried about how difficult it is to drive in Italy once we leave Tuscany, I hear it's not so great. But I live in New York, and my husband is used to driving through crazy traffic and is darn good at it. But we will reconsider returning the car in Spezia.

Thank you Susan, I have researched so much of the towns in Italy we want to go to, and seen so many YouTube videos, I feel I don't need to go to Italy any more.......lol!
Francoisedegrelle, I love your suggestions on the different places to go visit, this is exactly what I want. I don't want to go to all the usual run of the mill places.......but never being to Italy before I don't know anything else. I am definitely going to research the towns you suggested, thank you so much!!

Thank you everyone for all thereat feed back, I am truly grateful for all of it.

Of course, personal preference plays a huge role in planning. I enjoyed visiting Lago Maggiore, but, unlike Francoise, I prefer Lake Como. I won't get into the details, but feel free to send me a PM.

Part of the fun of having a car in the Tuscan countryside is to just go on an adventure. I rarely have time to do a ton of research ahead, and frankly don't want to do too much, as I love the surprises. So, just pack a picnic, jump in your car and drive, and take whatever little turn in the road looks interesting. Trust me, it is Italy, so there will always be something wonderful... and if not, then just drive on. I have found so many amazing little gems this way from fields of flowers, wineries, restaurants etc.

We stayed in Como and we both loved it. We also caught the train to Milan for the day and thought we would catch a taxi from the station to the Duomo. The Expo was on last year so everyone had the same idea to catch a taxi nearly 100 people lined up, never seen so many people lined up for a taxi. We decided to walk and stopped for a coffee and the asked the waiter how far it was to the Duomo, he suggested we walk back to the Milan Central station and catch a local train (3 stops) to the Duomo. It is a big station and I would of got lost if not for my husband. When we were buying our ticket back to Como a guy approached my husband to help him use the self serve ticket machine and then asked for money because he helped him, he saw us coming, never mind all experience....Milan is very busy and we only stayed for a few hours and then retreated. Really study street maps before you go so you know where to go.