I'm traveling from Varenna to Venice and wonder if any of these cities deserve a 4 hour stop or can actually be seen in such short time.. My trip is as follows, arrive in Milan and transfer immediately to Varenna for 2 nights; then on to Venice for 3 nights, Tuscany for 3 nights (San G and Florence), Cinque Terre for 3 nights then getting a cruise out of Civitavecchia.. On the trip between Varenna and Venice I'm wondering if a stop off in Bergamo, Lake Garda or Verona are worthwhile but I would have limited time to see anything.. I'm traveling solo and just want to take great pictures and enjoy as much as possible. If you have any advice I would appreciate it!
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2388 posts
Depends on whether you're driving. If so, Verona might be a worthwhile stop. However, in my opinion, Venice deserves all the time you can give it if you haven't been there before.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Verona is small enough that you could wander by some sites and take photos.
I would really purchase 2 separate tickets, Varenna-Verona then a separate Verona-Venice. Just to have some extra time. Trying to do the hop on off is usually not worth the 4 hour limit. It can be at best very frustrating.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16899 posts
Bergamo is a detour, not on the same train line. It doesn't necessarily add travel time, depending on your preferred departure, but would add a connection back to the main line at Brescia. Left Luggage is in another building, not the train station.
Garda can't be different enough from Lake Como to stop on this trip. You'll see a bit of it from the train window.
Since you're not going to Rome, you could see a Roman arena at Verona. It's pretty close to the Porta Nuova train station and the station does have bag storage.
Although I've enjoyed both Bergamo and Verona, usually with an overnight stay, I'm in the camp that thinks you should not cut any potential time from Venice on this plan.
Posted by
OP
25 posts
thank you all, considering i'm doing quite a bit of train travel in a short time frame I should likely take your advice and just go straight from Varenna to Venice and enjoy more time there. Maybe take a short trip to Verona after I've already been in Venice for 2 days rather than stop on the way to Venice. Bergamo seems a little out of the way and Lake Garda likely too similar to Como to really warrant a stop. Thanks!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
I bet you will discover that three nights in Venice for an amateur photographer is nowhere NEAR enough time. (^_^)