6 days Italy- lake como included (1st time help!)

Hello lilgracieangel, and welcome to the forum!

Since you essentially have 3 nights to work with I would recommend one city. Since you prefer Florence over Venice then I would choose Florence with maybe a day trip to see the Tuscan countryside. Florence will provide enough to see for a week so look through the different sights and decide what you "must see" and do, buy tickets ahead for those things and have a good trip. Siena is the classic day trip from Florence for good reasons.

I admire your desire to see many things (and I love Venice) but if you don't have the time concentrate on having the best experience you can rather than trying to do too many things in too short a time.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

You seem to say Como and Lake Como interchangeably. Como is an ok city at the bottom of the lake. But the more scenic towns are 2 hour ferry ride up. And those ferries are not always running super regularly and can get filled.

I would say with so few days to stay around Milan, Torino, Bergamo, and another lake or nearby Swiss lakeside towns. Florence requires some planning and is full of tourists if you are hoping for a precision high speed visit.

Renting a car from Florence and cruising the countryside of Tuscany gives you most bang for your time.

With your limited amount of time, visiting on two places makes the most sense. Your idea of Lake Como for a couple of days, Florence for three days, and return to Milan the day before departue sounds very doable. Not too rushed, but no "wasted" time either.

Thank you all for your help!!

I was wondering if maybe instead of doing more of Italy/florence doing Switzerland instead but that i know even less about and seems a bit more daunting with going in between Italy to Switzerland.

Because you have limited time, Switzerland is closer so less time will be lost traveling back to Milan. On the other hand, it is a bit more expensive than Italy. Play around with google maps and see if there is anything in Switzerland close to where you will stay on Lake Como that strikes your fancy.

-Mom wants to do one day shopping-

What is she interested in buying? Florence is known for leather/shoes. Milan for high end fashion. Venice for glass.

I like your second plan with either Venice or Florence. I love Florence even though I'm not into art. Also love Venice for its unique-ness. Can't go wrong with either of the choices. HAve fun!