Help with 10 day itinerary in Northern Italy

You’ve selected some lovely locations! My only comment is that I think it’s risky to be in Cinque Terre your last night and not nearer to Malpensa for your early flight. If Lake Como was your last location, you could do it.

I concur with Jean to make Lake Como your last stop, before your pre-flight night in Milan.

A thought-- train from Venice to CT; pick up car when you leave CT; meander back via Cortina ( or wherever) ; drop car in Milan & then take train to Lake Como and back to Milan the night before your flight home.

Would you consider dropping Cinque Terre? You could add the two nights somewhere else and have a more relaxing trip. I would add at least a night to Cortina to make it worth the trouble, and then the other to either Venice or Lake Como. Last August we spent four nights in Venice and thought it was perfect and five in Lake Como and again four would have been perfect.

You just are moving awfully fast.

Cortina is lovely, and so is the CT, but they are both far off the Venice - Como - Milan axis for a 10 day/9 night trip. I would also strongly encourage a hotel nearer the airport for the day before departure than the CT. For myself dropping the CT this time and focusing on the Dolomites (3 nights) (the Cortina - Badia - Val Gardena - Bolzano drive is wonderful, with excellent food and wine) and then south to Lake Garda and Lake Como plus Milan. Have fun.

I am not sure if it's worth it to spend just one night in Cortina. I suggest 3 nights in the Dolomites. If time doesn't allow, I'd skip it and leave it for another trip.

Two nights yield only a single full day. I would skip Cortina, do the trip by train; add a night to CT. What village have you picked? How early is the departing flight? At MXP 2-3 hours before, you may need to overnight at a Malpensa hotel, not needing to arrive until dinner time. The Villa Malpensa is 8 minutes away from the airport and has a good restaurant.

I appreciate all the responses. You’ve convinced me to drop Cortina and reverse my route leaving Venice, going first to CT, then to Lake Como. We actually fly back home on day 11, so I think there will be time to enjoy all three locales. (Will definitely be staying near the airport the night before our flight).

Any opinion on time savings/scenery/freedom value of driving vs train between spots? We’ve driven in several European countries before.

I think dropping Cortina eliminates the need for a car ( the best scenery is in the Dolomites).