Italian Lakes itinerary, spring 2024

Stresa works well either as first stop or last stop if you are flying to or from MXP
it is actually closer to the airport than Milan is
There is a direct airport bus to Stresa that drops you right in the center near the ferry dock and hotels.
Regional train to or from Stresa to Milano Centrale takes about an hour

Hello Ellen, not a complete answer here but be aware that Milan has several airports so it's important to know which one you're discussing for travel arrangements.

The largest and most international is Milan Malpensa (MXP) which is an hour outside of Milan by train. The good news is that if you want to visit Stresa then it is shorter to go straight to Stresa from MXP than to go to Milan and then back to Stresa. Whether or not you'll be up for a journey to the lakes following your flight depends on how long your flight is, what time of day etc.

Also any trip to Florence will start with Milan since that is where you catch the fast train to Florence. So whether you're coming from Lake Maggiore or Lake Como you'll want to make the connection to Milano Centrale train station and then the roughly 2 hour trip to Florence by fast train.

Several cities on lake Como - like Bellagio - are really only accessible by ferry. That's not an issue because it's part of the experience by Lake Como is very long you just need to decide from what base you want to ferry to the different cities. Como is a largest city and it is on the base of the lake and pretty far from the smaller northern cities. Most RS fans (myself included) take the train to the tiny village of Varenna and either stay there or take the upper lake ferry to Menaggio or Bellagio to stay or at least visit.

Hope that helps, have a great trip,
=Tod

Would you want to spend a few nights in Milan?

What about flying open jaw into Florence and out of Milan?

Yes we would spend a couple of nights in Milan if fling in or out of there. And i do not know what is meant by "open jaw".

I agree with flying into Florence train to Milan, train to either Varenna (you can ferry to Bellagio) or Stresa. I'd skip the town of Como its a working town not a tourist town. Getting from Lake Como to Lake Maggiore isn't easy but you might check into a private driver.

Thanks, That is exactly the type of infomration I was looking for, Milan airport to Stessa.
Does it make sense to fly to Florence as there is not direct flight from States. So if I fly to Milan, most likely it would be the international airport. Then I must bus/train into Milan (one hour and then 2 hours on to Florence). Perhaps a bit much for arrival day.

How many nights?
Since there are no direct US flights to/from Florence I would fly RT Milan.

(Open jaw means fly in to one city, depart from another)

Fly to Milan
To Stresa- bus or driver (about 150 euros) great place to get over jet lag
Stresa 3 nights
Regional train to Milano Centrale change to fast train to Florence
Florence 3-4 nights
Fast train to Milano Centrale then regional to Varenna
Varenna or Bellagio 3 nights
Regional to Milan
Milan 2-3 nights

If you want to see Last Supper you'll need to get tickets as soon as they are available

We stayed at Hotel Duca di York- wonderful hotel just 5 min walk to Duomo- rooftop terraces worth it
Then take Malpensa Express to MXP for your departure flight- from Cadorna station if you stay in center

Bus schedule from MXP to Stresa
https://www.safduemila.com/linee/alibus-malpensa-lago-maggiore/

Malpensa Express train
https://www.malpensaexpress.it/en/lines-and-timetable/lines-and-timetables/timetable/

Trenitalia- Regional and fast trains
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html

On arrival day IF you chose Milan you could train to Florence - I don't think it's too much for arrival day. I prefer to get all the travel pain out of the way in one day.

I never have the choice of direct flights to Europe since I live in a regional airport town, so it's not unusual for us to have two flights. It's not too bad if Florence makes more sense to fly into. I don't like back tracking so Milan to Stresa then Milan to Florence (or visa versa) would drive me crazy.

Open jaw just means flying into one city and out of a totally different one. that way you don't need to circle back to a city you've already visited. Example, Fly into Florence and fly home from Milan. or Fly into Rome and fly out of Florence. Depends on where you want to go. No need to go back to Rome if your plans keep you north of the country.

Can't advise about flying into Milan, but here's what I did in that area:

I flew into Venice and, after a few days there, took a train to Milan and onward to Varenna. Lovely town; stayed a few days and caught ferries to Bellagio and other towns. Then took an early train back to Milan. I stowed my luggage at the train station and spent an action-packed day there, including the Duomo (walking on the roof among the gargoyles was awesome) and the Last Supper. Then I caught a late-afternoon train to Florence. Staying at least one night in Milan would have been more restful, but I managed to see quite a bit in that one day.

Looks like from Varenna to Stresa you'd have to take a train to Milan and another to Stresa, It's a lovely town as well, more cosmopolitan than Varenna. It was fun to visit Isola Bella, though I sprained my ankle there which was extremely not fun, especially as I was traveling solo.

Then you could fly home from Florence.

Just got back from Stresa having never been. We would go straight there next time from the MXP airport. Trains are great and make any of the stops along the lakes pretty easy to get to. We had another couple traveling to Lake Como and Varenna but they had a washout and the train track from Lecca was buried. It meant a one hour and quite expensive cab ride overland to get to Varenna so you might want to see about that side of the lake if Como is on the list. They took the ferry over to Belaggio for the day but were happy that they stayed in Varenna when all was said and done. We'd never been to Milan so it was great to spend a night and see the duomo and castle in Milan before back tracking up to Stresa. We also stayed at the Gran Duca Di York and LOVED IT!!!! A++ great location, cute rooms and an awesome staff and breakfast!! We loved our time in Stresa and thought the Isola Bella was a highlight of our trip. Good food options but not too many as to be overwhelming in the town of Stresa and easy access to other towns across and along the lake. Not as postcard charming as Lake Como, but I really liked area and found it less touristic and more locals on holiday. We went over to Verona and Padova for a few days(incredible and totally worth a visit if you've been to Venice before and have some extra days for exploring) before heading to Chianti. We chose to stay in the countryside with day trips to Florence and Siena vs staying in one of the bigger Tuscan towns. It was an excellent and relaxed part of our trip that everyone seemed to really enjoy before heading down south and ultimately out of Rome back to LAX.