Cinque terre vs lake como

You could spend 2 nights at CT and Two at lake Como.
But where are you going next? If you are flying out of Milan Malpensa airport in the morning, lake Como is too far to spend the night before the flight.

helen,

I agree with Roberto in that 2 nights in the Cinque Terre would be better. After the travel time is included, one night really only allows a few hours to see the five towns. It's hardly worth the effort.

After Milan, fly home YVR. The reason I stay in Milan because we want to go to outlet and some shopping

I think I’m hoping to see which one to visit (CT vs como). Although I watch both on YouTube, it’s never the same to experience it by oneself.

My question would be, are CT and como too much like the same, or from personal experience, one stands out more than the other. Whichever I don’t get time to visit, I would pay another trip next time

Skip CT--- spend at least one, preferably 2 nites at Lake Como and finish in Milan for you shopping spree and departure

CT and Lake Como are nothing alike. Both are special but for me I'd pick Lake Como over CT.

Since shopping seems important to you, I would go to Lake Como and save the hiking at CT for another vacation. You will have lots of shopping opportunities in the towns on Lake Como.

ok, what’s the best route from Florence to Lake como, staying 1 N ? many posts suggest stay at Varenna or Bellagio when visiting como, I want to know what's a good location to travel between one place and another. Budget 200 euro/night more or less, flexible. Please suggest area or name of hotels.

Then what transporation route from como to Milan

Thanks

ok, what’s the best route from Florence to Lake como, staying 1 N ?
...many posts suggest stay at Varenna or Bellagio when visiting como

Whichever Trenitalia schedules/trains work for you. Varenna has train service; Bellagio does not. Varenna is listed as Varenna-Esino on the Trenitalia site.

Honestly? if you can only give Como one night then I would skip it. You'll be a minimum of 3.5 hours away from Varenna by 8:00 AM train from Florence so you'll lose a good chunk of a day just getting there.

because I already booked my international flight, more expensive to change or postponed the trip.

I still want to either visit CT or como, sounds like recommend 2N stay at each place. Does CT can be 1N ?

I think I could rearrange my schedule, 2N como, 2N milan ( plus weekend shopping in Milan can be crowded, Sunday some stores close) 😞

I think most of us agree that it should be 2 nights for either the CT or Como. I'm not a fan of one-night stays most anywhere, and especially not if activities in a location are weather-dependent. The CT and Como are not a lot of fun in the rain so if the one partial day you had planned turned out to be a wet one...

For me I'd skip any nights in Milan except the night before my flight. Shopping in Bellagio is awesome as is Florence. Milan is a big "working" city. Unless I was going to see an opera or had tickets to Fashion-Week I'd skip it. I still prefer Lake Como over CT especially for such short visits.

We’re doing two nights in Florence, two in CT and two on Lake Como before an overnight train to Paris. I like following Ricks advice about minimizing one-night stands. If you’ve never been to Florence and want to see a lot of Renaissance art you might want to spend 3 or even 4 days and get the city pass for 72 Euros to 72 sites for 72 hours.

I am in Varenna now.

My choice would be to skip the Cinque Terre and spend more time on Lake Como.

If your budget allows stay at the Royal Victoria in Varenna and get a lake view room. The view itself is worth the price. As I'm writing this I'm sitting on the hotel's lakeside terrace enjoying the sun and an Aperol Spritz. Much better than fighting the crowds on the CT.

Plenty of shopping around here if that is your sport.

The CT to me seems more crowded than Grand Central Station at rush hour.

Hi Frank II, we will stay 1 N in como. What would be an ideal itinerary ( travel route) to utilize our time ? what would be the highlight or what to do, where to go for only 1N ?

thanks

If shopping is important to you, there are high end outlets near Florence that you could go to. There is the Mall in Incisa and the Outlet Village in Barberino.
https://www.themall.it/en/outlet-italy/homepage.html
https://outlets.mcarthurglen.com/en/it/designer-outlet-barberino/

Prada also has a factory outlet in Montevarchi.

we will stay 1 N in como. What would be an ideal itinerary ( travel
route) to utilize our time ? what would be the highlight or what to
do, where to go for only 1N ?

Helen, if you are coming from Florence, "route" was already addressed in my previous post above: train from Firenze S.M. Novella to Varenna-Esino. You will eat up 1/2 of the 1 day you have just getting there so after dropping your bags in Varenna, maybe a ferry to Bellagio for a look-about and then back to Varenna for dinner and a poke around town in the evening is really all you'll have time for.

I'd love to have you come back and tell us what you finally did and how your experience went...

Hi Donna,

For sure, I would probably stay 1N per my plan. Going in Sept. I’m super excited of this trip although I recently just came back from Maui.

when are you visiting ?