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14 Days Venice, The Lakes, Cinque Terre and Florence

Posted by on

Hi there,
I am traveling to Italy from June 22nd to July 6 with my husband and three daughters (ages 8, 11, 13). We are meeting up with another family of four in Venice from June 23-26, then heading up to the lakes for 2 more days. After that we are on our own.
I have a few questions:

Q1. Looks like travel time from Venice to Como area is approx. 3.5 hours, is this correct? Connecting through Milan.
Q2. Not sure best way to book -- there are 9 of us at that point. Have been looking at Airbnb as hotels seem pretty booked. Which would be better for 9 of us (can break up), apartment or hotel. Would ideally like scenic place (pool would be ideal)?

We leave friends after Como (28th of June), I was thinking we'd head to Cinque Terre for a few days, then head to Florence (we have seven days essentially to explore.

Q3. Does Como to Cinque Terre (for 2 days), then Florence for 4 days sound reasonable? We have to fly back out of Venice on the 6th of July so we would likely head back to Venice area on the 5th to be to airport next day by 10:55 a.m.

Q4. Should we spend a night in Milan in going from Como to Cinque Terre or Cinque Terre to Florence to break things up a bit or is that more of a hassle?

Thanks for any advice!

Planning on doing this all by train.

Posted by
32406 posts

kg,

Regarding your questions.....

  1. Are you planning to stay in Como or Varenna (the latter is the usual favourite with most here)? If you're staying in Varenna, the travel time from Venezia S. Lucia ranges from about 3.5 to 5 hours.
  2. I usually travel solo so can't comment on apartment rentals. The others will be able to offer good information on that.
  3. Yes, a short visit to the Cinque Terre is certainly possible. However, you'll need to decide SOON which of the five towns you wish to stay in and get a hotel booking. At this late date, you may have trouble finding something. I'd suggest trying Monterosso first, as that's the largest of the five and therefore has the greatest number of hotels, B&B's etc. (and also the nicest beaches).
  4. No, I wouldn't waste one night staying in Milan, since the travel distances are relatively short.
Posted by
4 posts

Excellent. Thank you so much for this! Looking at places to book asap. Thanks again.

Posted by
6 posts
  1. correct
  2. Do as Rick says Stay in Varenna(base) ferry all around lake kids will love it, get up n out early because of inter lake ferry service availability. I stayed in Bellagio very expensive. Check market days and coordinate your lake travel so you can arrive when starts,so much fun food/trinkets. Visit a villa but don't spend all day. Pack a picnic n keep MOVIN, you'll be glad u did with such a limited stay. Rick has good place to stay in his guide and follow train directions exactly.
  3. take first am train to Milan, really a bus tour and "last supper " which is 15 min viewing.. Are best if not fashion shopper. Skip sleepover train to Rapallo n onto cinque Terre. If can't find hotel cinque Terre, Rapallo great base to get to cinque Terre train 40 min. Also can take ferry ride to there as well as Portofino and Santa margherita(my favorite).again depart early. Rapallo was my base n I left there early and was in Florence early. I bought tics trenitalia each time departing from walk up keosks day before each trip(however I travelled in sept not summer).Don't book connecting trips too closed together ie less than hour bc u will miss next train it happened to me 2x no big deal always got another one.
  4. Florence is so great if u love the Renassance ... If u need a break take a Tuscan hillside tour Siena amazing,Pisa 45 min is enough.
  5. I'm not sure travel Florence to Venice re time etc , my post before yours I flew open jaw.. If u have flexibility to change it gives u more time in other places unless there's something else you are planning on seeing before u leave from Venice.

Have a wonderful trip... Italy is my favorite country to visit!
Peace,
JoAnn

Posted by
6 posts

Also the trains you take for lake Como and cinque Terre are smaller trains not trenitalia see ricks guide.

Posted by
16895 posts

Cinque Terre trains are operated by Trenitalia and reflected on both those schedules and DeutscheBahn. Enter your specific town destination to see times. Trenitalia did subcontract the Milan-Varenna line to TreNord, but you can still see schedules through Trenitalia.com (but not through DB).

Posted by
7175 posts

There is so much in the north to see, between Milan and Venice.
Let me suggest an alternative to Cinque Terre
28 Jun Milan
29 Jun - 2 Jul Florence
2+3 Jul Verona
4+5 Jul Padua
At this late stage you may have to look 'off the beaten track', especially for a large group.
Mantua, Ferrara and Vicenza are also interesting places to check out.
Padua is just as easy to the airport for Venice as the island itself (half hour train ride).

Posted by
96 posts

With those kids I would see about taking the trip to see Otzi, the Ice Man, found frozen for centuries. I don't know how you would get there from Venice, but I sure would look into it.

Posted by
51 posts

If you are looking in Varenna, I made a hotel reservation at Hotel Du Lac, recommended in Rick Steves Italy directly with the hotel. My plans have now changed and although I am supposed to be able to cancel, (I am not going until July). The hotel refuses to acknowledge my emails about a cancellation. Just beware. I think I will stick with booking. com from now on out.

Posted by
299 posts

Try booking.com and filter for apartments. I saw several which had multiple apartments in the same building. It might be hard given it's less than 2 months out.

Good luck!

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