In need of transportation from Venice to Menaggio with a stop in Verona.

Take the train to Verona
There is staffed luggage storage at the Porto Nuova Verona station

Hiring a driver is going to only make the trip costly without making it go faster.

Searching for 'bag storage in Verona" produced a plethora of results.

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated

Get to bed early the night before. It will be a long busy day. :-).

Hello jackissane, and welcome to the forum!

Venice to Menaggio is essentially fast train from Venice to Milan, local Trenord train from Milan to Varenna and then ferry from Varenna to Mennagio. The ferry ride may be via Bellagio depending on the ferry schedule.

With a stop in Verona this will look like fast train from Venice to Verona, get off and store luggage, then board the next fast train fro Verona to Milan and so forth. Since the fast trains aren't hop on and hop off you'll need separate tickets for each of these legs with enough time to transfer your bags to storage and then return for the next train. The fast Trenitalia trains tend to run hourly on this route so you would have an hour in Verona to handle your luggage.
You might compare the schedules of the two fast train companies - .Italo and Trenitalia and see if maybe there's better timing between the two if one companies offerings are spaced too far apart for this gap. This would make your Venice to Milan trip about 3.5 hours in total. Plus an hour or so to Varenna-Esino (the train station name) which is a short walk downhill to the ferry station.

The only luggage storage I've used in Verona is in the middle of the city and that won't help you, but there are other options.

When and what day of the week are you doing this? This might affect the timing and frequency of trains as well as the ferry schedule.

Just curious - is there a reason you're leaving your luggage behind for part of this adventure? Are you taking an overnight bag and then returning to Verona to meet back up with your luggage?

It will be a day of travel but it is do-able and will be fastest by train.

Hope this helps,
=Tod

Just curious - is there a reason you're leaving your luggage behind
for part of this adventure?

Tod- I assume OP means to leave luggage at station while he visits Verona then pick it up as he leaves for Milan/Varenna.

All of this is going to take some time so it would be wise to look up train schedules and see how timing might work out. But you really can't know in advance how long it will take to check luggage then pick it up- need to give yourself plenty of wiggle room.
The train from Milan to Varenna is regional so no need to buy that ticket in advance.

The historic center in Verona is a good walk from station- to save time I would grab a cab- at least into town. It is walkable but takes close to 30 min.

It will be really important to know the ferry schedule- you don't want to miss the last ferry from Varenna to Menaggio!

Tod,

Thanks for all the detailed information. We will leave our bags in Verona while we tour the city. We will be arriving from Venice, tour Verona, and then head to Menaggio for a 3 nights stay. I am not sure it will be worth the time and energy to stop in Verona. Maybe take the train from Venice with a stop and change of trains in Milan will be less stressful for two 60+ people.
Thanks again....

We did Verona on the way from the south to Lago di Garda, so we stored our luggage at the station while we toured. We weren't locked into a particular train as the ones we needed were all regionales (though we got onto one after deciding against the first class tickets and then as the conductor was coming through and some Italian kids looking panicked, I realized we accidentally had gotten onto the first class car! I rushed up to the conductor and apologized and she was very kind and just made us pay the difference, it was like 6 euro or so haha), so we took our time and went to the station when we felt like it. The only thing that might hinder your stopover is that you would probably get a freccia train, saving money by buying in advance, and be stuck with a time you might not want to leave Verona yet......but as others have said and you have already surmised, it will be long and going directly would be way less hassle.

@jackissane - I don't know why I got hung up on your wording but I understand the plan now.

I really like Verona and think it is an under appreciated city. It is a very chic, walkable, pretty city with a Roman arena and an outdoor cafe culture. I really think it is worth a visit, but that being said I'm not sure how obvious those charms are going to be if you are on a strict 2 or 3 hour schedule to blitz the city before worrying about getting back to the train station.

If you go grab a cab and ask to go to I Portoni della Brà which is the Roman gate leading to Piazza Bra with all the cafes surrounding and the Roman Arena. If that's too intimidating just ask to go to Piazza Bra but you'll probably get dropped off nearer the arena. The other big piazza is Piazza Erbe. Wander the city as far as the river and there is a taxi stand in Piazza Erbe where you can grab a cab back to the station. I'd allow 20 minutes to get back depending in traffic. Traffic isn't bad in the traditional sense but because it's all routed around the downtown area the roads around the old town are generally slower.

As noted see if you can get ahold of a ferry schedule from Varenna and that along with how early you want to get out of Venice may determine whether you think you have time for a side adventure. Both Venice and Lake Como are great so you may not be missing too much by skipping Verona but that's for you to decide.

Have a great trip whatever you decide,
=Tod