First euro vacation: Lake Como, Lake Annecy, or none?

You are going in high season, and unfortunately that's both in tourists and high temperatures. Lake Como will be teaming with tourists, and rooms are very expensive there. Most tourists to the Como get there through Milan which is about 45 miles away.

We prefer to stay out of Switzerland and travel the north side of the Alps--in Austria. We find travel much easier and cheaper traveling the Innsbruck area. You can fly cheap on EasyJet out of Gatwick too. You can also be in Munich or Salzburg on the train in under 2 hours.

We prefer to rent a car and drive from village to village in the high mountains. The most beautiful mountain scenery we've ever seen is on the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway south of Zell-am-See.

Hello,

If I am reading your post correctly, you are flying in and out of London and want to stay at least 5 days in London. So, that leaves you about 8 days to go somewhere else. Both Annecy and Lake Como are additional flights. So that will eat up almost two days of travel (round trip) for you and now that leaves 6 days.

It sounds like your hearts are in Italy, but your plane is landing in London. I would suggest London for 5 days then flying to Florence, Italy and the Tuscany region for 6 days. Tuscany will offer you more of an Italian Village experience than Lake Como IMO. At least 2 days in Florence and 4 days in some of the many small villages in Tuscany.

Cheerio and Ciao

Switzerland in low season is more expensive than anyplace in Italy in high season. Go to lake Como, stay in Menaggio, and visit both lake Como and Lake Lugano (Switzerland) from there. If you can fly to Bergamo (BGY), you might find some good deals and be closer to the lake than Malpensa.

I would endure any type of heat, crowd, and prices, to see Taylor Swift. Not for the way she sings (I couldn’t name a song of hers if my life depended on it) but for the way she looks. Anyhow, thank you for letting me know. Since I’ll be in Florence around that time maybe I’ll see if I can swing by Milan for the weekend.

We are going to Annecy in September. We will be travelling by public transport and will either catch a train from Geneva to Annecy or a bus. The train takes 1 and a half hours and there's a train every hour (book through SNCF). The bus takes 50-55 minutes but is much less frequent (BlaBlaCar bus and Flixbus serve this route but there seems to be only four buses a day - at 10:30 and 11:40 and at 18:25 and 19:00).

Have you considered the English Lake District? I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the Swifties convention.

Annecy is hard to come into by public transport. Not impossible, but it requires a lengthy chunk of time. I did not find it charming. We went late Sept. 2022 and honestly, it reminded me of Gatlinburg. We toured the lake, traveled to Chamonix, left Annecy without regret.

We are traveling to Como mid-October this year. I understand the desire to see as much as you can. I agree with other posters that if you want a memorable vacation, explore what England offers you this trip.

By the way,, if you do the research, you’ll find on your next trip (maybe Switzerland.?) you’ll have fun finding the best places for you to stay. We spent a week in Zurich and traveled to Murren in late September 2023 and found pricing comparable to pricing in France, 2022.

Annecy is a wonderful city and area. It has the most authentic street market I've seen in decades. Also nice lake activities and biking diversions. Also much less likely to have uncomfortably hot weather.
The Italian lakes ave really gotten too popular: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/01/italy-braces-for-record-wave-of-tourists-but-is-having-trouble-handling-them.html

I agree with the suggestion to stay in the UK and pursue another venue or two like the Lake District or even the South Coast. Weather is likely to be more temperate than either Lake Como or Annecy and less stressful without having to fly to and from the continent.

BTW, Annecy was hot when we were there in mid September last year. Ensure you have AC if you choose to go there. Ditto at Lake Como.

Annecy was very hot when I was there in 2017. Although the climate-summary charts in the Wikipedia entries for Annecy and the city of Como show lower average temperatures for Annecy, Annecy has higher summer record-high temperatures than Como, so I don't think it's safe to assume Annecy will be cooler. There's nothing cool about 100F.

I wonder whether you've investigated lodging availability in those two places. I found very little available on Lake Como for the end of August, and I was working on that booking early this year. It will probably be easier if you plan to rent a car and can stay above the lake.

Thanks everyone! I am curious, for those who have experienced the large summer crowds, is that true of all the lake towns around there? We had looked at Varenna, because I found an accommodation with AC and we could take the train straight there.

Overall, This has given us a lot to think about. I wish we had more time to plan as carefully and diligently as we are used to, but it looks like we may try to stay closer. We are taking the many suggestions this far and looking into them!

If anyone has more suggestions, we are open to that! We are continuing to look for something with some old charm, good food, and something different than we get to experience here in the US. Good scenery and good public transportation (or walkability) helps.

Thanks so much, all! Our sudden change in dates has been stressful, but getting advice has been so helpful!

Varenna and any of the towns on the ferry route on Lake Como will be crowded in July. Kind of takes away from the whole experience when you have to fight the crowds just to get on the ferry, and then fight them more when you go places. We went to Italy in September and experienced the crowding on Lake Como, so I would imagine it would be worse in July.

I agree with the suggestion of going to Tuscany and visiting some of the small towns there. You'd get more of the experience that you are looking for.

Haven't been to Annecy yet, but we will be there in a couple of weeks on our RS tour :-)

...stay in the UK...the Lake District or even the South Coast. Weather is likely to be more temperate...

Agree with Laurel about your second destination. Visiting either of the above areas will eliminate a lot of lost time in transit, and the scenery and charm will not dissappoint.

Perhaps viewing some videos of those areas will let you know if they are viable alternatives. Just food for thought.

I will be looking at videos of the Lake District.

Any recommendations in Tuscany?

I’m struggling to find that charm that I’m picturing, with the sloping cobblestone streets, incredible views, walkability, etc. I suppose I’m being too picky and need to expand my options. We have considered Edinburgh, but I was hoping for something warmer.

And any opinions on nearby lakes, such as Lake Orta, would be welcome. Thank you again.

https://www.discovertuscany.com/

I believe your quest is for charming places with nice pedestrian streets, and a place on a pretty piazza to sit and enjoy a beverage while relaxing. I like those too, but the cobblestones may be elusive. There are various types—-the rounded ones that I believe you are picturing, but also the flatter ones that are usually set in lovely scallop designs, in larger cities and towns as well as villages. I first noticed these in Bergen, Norway, when I first returned to Europe after a 30-year gap from my 1960’s student abroad days in Germany.

Like these photos:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/cobble-stone-street-bergen.html?sortBy=relevant

If you are content with those, there should be some good destinations that will give you what you seek, but in July may not be on a popular tourist lake like Como. The rounded stones covering a street exist—-maybe in smaller villages in the UK, or parts of Germany, France, or elsewhere. I do not recall seeing them in Italy or Switzerland where we usually travel.

Perhaps people can suggest some villages in Italy or France that match your dream, and won’t be slammed with tourists in July. You mentioned Lago di Orta—that looks like a good possibility. We have not been there yet, but we will be there in September. I agree it looks charming, and to me is more appealing than anyplace in Tuscany in July.

From London you would fly to Milan—-an easy flight from any of the London airports. Malpensa would be closer than Linate. Why not look into lodging possibilities there, and if you find something you like, people here can suggest some “add-ons” if you have extra time.

I've never been, but after watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS, we are dreaming of a trip to the Yorkshire Dales. I believe you can rent a car and drive from village to charming village.

I was about to say the Yorkshire Dales. IMO Grassington is about as cute as you can get. You can get around the area via bus from Skipton. You can get the train from Skipton. We spent a good week there visiting my daughter's mother in law, low key, and nice walks. It depends whether you like to settle in or go, go, go. The countryside is not for go, go, go. IMO. It's for walk, walk, walk, pub, pub, pub. LOL

OK, this is a much better link, IMO. Not sure if the other one is AI generated...

The game is afoot! We’ll call it the “Battle of the Cobblestone Villages”. Photos of the village of Orta San Giulio here:

https://www.e-borghi.com/en/village/Novara/75/orta-san-giulio

Thanks to everyone who contributed!

I thought I would round things out and say that we made a decision - and maybe we will regret it, but we just couldn’t help but also visit Italy, as we may not be able to return to Europe for quite some time. We are mentally preparing ourselves for crowds and a lot of walking!

We will split our 2 weeks amongst London and Sorrento. I have booked our accommodations for both of these locations in the city centers and have private transfers arranged to/from the airports, courtesy of our hotels. We cannot wait!

Congrats. Two nice locations with plenty to see and do in both places. Enjoy.