Help w/ middle of a north Italy itinerary

Can you cancel your Bellagio booking and book instead in either Varenna or Mennagio (across the lake from Varenna and I might have the spelling slightly wrong)?

Bellagio seems touristy. The other two locations are more "small lake country areas".

Or go to Lake Garda--read Roberto's posts on how those are a more authentic experience.

Winter resorts shoulder season (no snow) is usually May, depending on elevation above sea level of the winter resort.

Go to CT for at least 2 days, will minimize your traveling around and cut your expenses way down from what they'd be in Switzerland.

Thanks for your response! I researched a lot about which mid-lake town to stay in and decided on Bellagio... Varenna was a close second though. I picked Bellagio because it seemed to have a little more night life. We definitely plan to visit Varenna when we are there, though!

Do you think going from Bellagio to CT would be too difficult/long of a trip? It seemed like around 4 hours. I guess we would train it from Bellagio to CT, then rent a car and drive to Modena/Bologna.

Well, if you are renting a car, might as well do it at the airport when you arrive. Bellagio is way easier to get to with a car from MXP.

Having a car in the CT is a significant hassle.
That has been pretty much the unanimous report of travelers on this forum, who have been to the CT.

The best way to get to CT is Varenna, through Milan I think.
(Oh, you're not staying in Varenna, I forgot.)

In Italy, if trains go there, take the train.
Tuscan hill country is one of the few areas where a car is needed.
A care is a useless pain in the Lake Como area, because you see the views and get to the lake-side villages by boat.
And a car is useless in the CT.

CJP,

So in reality you have 7 nights & 7 days to explore Italy.

The day you arrive in Milan, you will be jet lagged, so you won't do much except travel to Bellagio, go for stroll and eat dinner.

So 2 nights in Bellagio, means that you will only have one full day there.

I remember going into Hotel Florence's lobby a few months ago when we were in Varenna & it looks like a nice place to stay.
I actually asked for their business card as a reminder for next time...

You're correct that it will take you 4+ hours to travel to CT.

Verona is an option for you and you don't need a car to get there as it's an easy train ride from Milano Centrale.

You may also consider staying in Bellagio an extra night (giving you 2 full days there) and adding the other night to Modena/ Bologna.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks everyone! I know that its a pain to have a car in Bellagio and CT. So we were planning to train it to Bellagio and if we go to CT after we'd train it too, renting a car after to drive to Bologna.

I wasn't thinking about the jet lag... Maybe we add a night in Bellagio so we have 3 nights, and then drive to Verona for a night then Bologna for 3 nights. Thoughts on that? I think it's less travel time and better for 1 night to do Verona rather than CT (eventhough I really want to do CT)

Distances for your itinerary are reasonably short, so I would argue that travel time will take about half a day when you change hotels, not a whole day. On Lake Como, there is ferry and bus service between almost all the towns, so staying in Bellagio may add an hour to travel time to/from, which is a small price to pay if that's where you want to stay.

Bellagio probably does have more night life than Varenna. It would kind of have to. There's no night life to speak of in Varenna. Then again Varenna does have the tiny steep little alleys or staircases leading down to the water. And the absolute lack of shopping. It may be for tourists but sure feels otherwise.

Bellagio does have easy access to the train - just take the car ferry or other ferry the short ride over to Varenna and the train is right there. Or a nice ride down the length of the lake to Como for the other train line.