My husband and I will be traveling early/mid October. We have done some whirlwind traveling lately so we want to really slow down, relax and enjoy. We fly into (LIN) and out of (MXP) Milan. We plan to spend one night in Milan,see the LastSupper and Duamo and general Milan sites. Leave Aftee one night for Varenna where we will stay before heading home-6nights. We will have a car leaving Milan for our time in Varenna. Not sure if that is necessary? Our thoughts were that we would have more flexibility. My husband and I don’t want to see our entire vacation from a train window but we are planning to do take the train for the Bernina Pass. Possibly drive to Tirano and then take the train from there. Are the roads easy and safe from Varenna to Tirano or should we take the train for the whole thing?
Also we plan to take the ferry a lot and visit lots of other towns on Lake Como, do some hiking, take a cooking class(recommendations appreciated). Are there any other day trips from Varenna we should consider or is there enough to do visiting the towns on Lake Como to keep us busy. Also we would love some things to see and do to dig a little deeper in the area. It’s easy to find all the big sites to see but we love off the beaten path things too.
So to summarize my questions-
1. Is one night in Milan enough?
2. Considering that we have 6nights in Varenna is a car a good choice to further explore the area?
3. Varenna or Lake Como cooking class recommendation?
4. Looking for off the beaten path sites or hiking that would allow us to see beyond the normal tourist sites.
5. If anyone could explain the Bernina Pass from Varenna I’d appreciate it(read som threads but I got confused) . Car vs train for first part from Varenna to Tirano. Anything to see along the way if by car?
6. Day trips from Varenna.
7. Tips or advice in general.
Posted by
10 posts
Cooking class in Varenna: Ristorante Il Caminetto. Six hours of cooking instruction from a great chef, drinking wine, and eating. It's in the RS Italy guide. You should also have dinner there one night, but not the same night as the cooking class. We've been to Italy twice and this is one of our top two dining experiences.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17580 posts
I will “second” the recommendation for the cooking class at Il Caminetto. Chef Moreno is an excellent teacher. They will pick you up in Varenna and take you back after the class, but we asked to be dropped at Castel Vezio instead, and we walked back from there. Apart from nearly getting mowed down by a mountain biker, it was a nice walk. They were doing some falconry demonstrations while we were at the old castle, which was very interesting.
You don’t say what you find confusing about the Bernina Express, but I will explain briefly. From Tirano to St. Moritz you can take either the named Bernina Express with its panoramic cars, or a regular regional train which runs more frequently. You could take the BE northbound and then return by regional train. Reservations are required for the panorama cars on the BE, and you can make them on this website:
https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trains/bernina-express
The schedule for June shows the BE departing Tirano at 10:06 am which should work for you.
https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trains/bernina-express#info
I suggest you take it as far as Pontresina, a journey of 2 hr 19 minutes. Get off there and spend time exploring the town and having lunch. There are lifts you can ride up to mountain restaurants. I can try to find a link if you are interested.
Then return to Tirano by regional train.
I do not know anything about the drive from Varenna to Tirano, but I will say we found driving on the small local roads (we were in the Dolomites, not at Lake Como) less stressful than driving the autostrada. And driving might work out better, schedule-wise, as trains from Varenna to Tirano are not all that frequent.
Posted by
Loveland, CO
117 posts
Lola & TC111, How did you make the reservation for the cooking class? I found the website for Ristorante Il Caminetto but there was no information on booking the class. Thanks in advance, Rich
Posted by
10 posts
You can email them: [email protected]
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17580 posts
It is right on their webpage:
http://www.ilcaminettoonline.com/lezioni_e.html
But email is the best way to make a reservation.