I posted about my northern Italy itinerary a month ago and it's changed remarkably little since (for me). I have now have the flight and hotels booked for every night. This is only about a month out, traveling in early May. Here is my plan as it stands:
Venice (3 nights)
Ravenna (2 nights)
Padua (2 nights)
Bolzano (3 nights)
Verona (2 nights)
Milan (2 nights)--day tip to Como (Varenna)
Milan Airport (1 night)
I am wondering whether I should instead stay a couple of nights in Como (Varenna) rather than doing it as a day trip. This would come at the expense of cutting a night in Bolzano, and a night in Milan. In recent trips I have tried to slow it down and not have so many short stays, so this is a blitz itinerary for me already. Bolzano kind of calls to me because culturally it's different than the other stops. It's also nice to slow down in the middle of such a quick itinerary. That said, here is what the alternate would look like:
Venice (3 nights)
Ravenna (2 nights)
Padua (2 nights)
Bolzano (2 nights)
Verona (2 nights)
Varenna (2 nights)
Milan (1 night)
Milan Airport (1 night)
The plus side is that most of my hotels are near the train station, train trips are not that long. But every time you pack up and move you lose some time. I am really bad about that, taking too go to get packed up even though I am not a heavy packer. What do you think, is a couple of nights in Como essential vs. a day trip, based upon the trade-offs mentioned above? I am leaning toward sticking with the original plan.