Hello All! I’m in the process of rebooking an Italian vacation that ending up being canceled in July 2020. My family is very excited to finally have this trip happen and I’m hoping for some advice for the second half of the trip. A bit of background…we are a family of 10 who will be traveling. We’ll have 4 teenagers, 4 adults in our late 40’s, and my mother in law who is 76 and my father in law who will be 80. They are both in good health and relatively active for their age. We all traveled to Italy 4 years ago and visited Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast. This time we will begin in Ancona for a few days to visit relatives. From there we are planning 4 nights in Venice. The next part of the trip is where I could use some help. We want to include 3-4 nights in the mountains and 3-4 on a lake. One option would be in the Dolomites and then to Lake Como, and fly home from Milan. The town of Ortisei looks lovely. I need to make sure there will be enough to see and do for my in-laws… shopping, restaurants, and mountain experiences they can enjoy that doesn’t require one to be in peak physical condition. Maybe places where they can take a gondola or train to beautiful spots to take in the scenery. Our teens are all very active and I know there will be plenty for them! My other thought would be to head to a town like Wengen or Murren in Switzerland after Venice, and then finish with a few days on Lake Lucerne and fly home from Zurich. My mother in law has never seen Switzerland and would love to go…but again I don’t want to find there isn’t much for them to enjoy in the Bernese Oberland if they aren’t physically able to take long hikes, bike, etc. Another option could be Venice, Lake Como, then Lake Lucerne….but our teens are hoping to really get up into the mountains…although I see there are day trips into the mountains from Lucerne. Please offer any advice, suggestions, or experience you have! It’s a lot to put together a trip for a diverse group like this and I can use all the help possible to make this trip as great as our last one!
Posted by
Irving
2943 posts
Staying in IT would be best since there are ten of you. Taking a train to Switzerland would take all day and require multiple transfers.
To get to Ortisei from Venice you’ll need to take a train to Bolzano that requires a connection in Verona (3h). You’ll need to catch a bus in Bolzano to get to Ortisei (45-minutes).
You can take a train from Bolzano to Como San Giovanni that requires a transfer in Verona (4h 30m). I would sleep in Milan (45-minutes by direct train from Como San Giovanni) the night before flying home.
Posted by
Washington DC
27047 posts
I'd recommend staying up in the mountains in a place like Ortisei. There are some basically flat walks in the Dolomites; I'm sure others can make specific suggestions. Those who don't want to spend three full days walking/hiking at altitude will have access via bus to some attractive towns and cities down in the valley. They can take in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which houses the Iceman, in Bolzano. Bolzano has a very pretty historic center. Other possible side trips include Bressanone and the little town of Chiusa/Klausen. I enjoyed taking a bus farther into the mountains beyond Ortisei, to the village of Santa Cristina Val Gardena.
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2303 posts
I’m planning a trip for June that includes Venice, the Dolomites, Stresa on Lake Maggiore and Wengen. We are a group of five, including my sister and her husband. It will be their first trip to Europe.
We are looking at staying in Santa Cristina at
https://www.tambra.it/en/residence-apartments/
This area seems easily accessible by the busses, with the lifts/gondolas and funicular very close by. My biggest challenge is my husband’s fear of heights, so I have to make sure to avoid chair lifts and stick to gondolas. For the adventurous types in your group, consider paragliding. We (even my husband!) did this over Salzburg and it was amazing. We’re looking at it either at Seceda or near Murren.
We chose Stresa for our lake stay because we’ve been to Lake Como before and wanted someplace new. Plus it gets us closer to Switzerland. If you choose Lake Como, it’s an easy train ride to Milan to fly home. We stayed in Varenna (2 nights) and took the ferry over to Bellagio. I remember Bellagio being very hilly. There’s a bit of a hill to get from the train to Varenna as well. Be sure to pack light!
Posted by
11127 posts
Ortisei would be perfect for your family! You take either a funicular or a gondola up to the mountain trails. Think of walking a lovely meadow with mountains rising up from it. There are huts serving food. One day do one side of the valley and the next day do the other side. We stayed in what is now one of our favourite hotels, family owned and run Hotel Grones. We walked down the hill from there. Left our rental car in their garage the whole time we were there. And dinners eat their restaurant were incredible. Their son in law is a great chef.
We have spent four vacations in Bellagio and love exploring Lake Como by ferry.
We have also been to the gorgeous Berner Overland, based in a chalet Grindelwald. Lucerne is pretty but doesn't compare, in my opinion, to the Dolomites.
Posted by
Noblesville, Indiana, USA
1359 posts
We've hiked in the Berner Oberland and based in Wengen. You can work it out where your hikes are downhill or on primarily level terrain. Four years ago we visited and one in our party was in his early 70's and did fine. Fabulous scenery and fun mountain towns! Lake Como is beautiful and relaxing and it's easy to visit different towns via ferry. We based in Varenna and it's only an hour train ride from Milan.
Posted by
St. Paul, MN, USA
42 posts
In September, my husband and I spend four nights in Ortisei, staying at the wonderful Hotel Grones. We are 74 and 79 and managed to do day hikes up each side of the valley. If you do decide on the Dolomites, I would highly recommend the book "Walking in Italy's Val Gardena" by Laurel Barton, a frequent contributor to this forum. Since we are not hikers, we would have been lost without the guide. It gave us all the information we needed on routes, difficulty of hikes, equipment needed, etc. Thank you, thank you to Laurel and his husband for this book! Ellen
Posted by
Bay Area, California
1406 posts
I second Laurel's guide. It helped me a lot.
Posted by
Southwest Florida
856 posts
If you go directly to Varenna from Venice you have a handy base to explore not only Lake Como but train north into Switzerland. You can catch the Bernina Express just across the border from Tirano.
Posted by
OP
NJ
26 posts
Thanks everyone for the replies! It looks like we might be trying to fit Switzerland into our itinerary after all. Both would be amazing but after talking with the family, turns out my mother in law really has her heart set on seeing Switzerland, so now it’s my job to make that happen! I guess I’ll be spending time on the Switzerland forum trying to find the best way to spend 4 nights there at the end of the trip!