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Lake Como and Cinque Terre....too much of the same?

Posted by (Atlanta, GA, USA) on

Hello!

My husband and I are planning a 12 day trip to France and Italy in late October-early November. We're skipping some of the more touristy cities that we've been to before (namely Florence and Venice) and are thinking of spending a few days in Lake Como and Cinque Terre before traveling to Rome for a few nights. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as it has been 10+ years since either of us have been to Europe. We're planning on flying into Paris, spending probably 2 nights there, and then traveling to Lake Como, Cinque Terre, and then Rome. My question would be, are Lake Como and Cinque Terre too much of the same? Would we do better to skip Lake Como and spend a night or two in Switzerland on the way? Or perhaps stop in Tuscany? We definitely want to see Cinque Terre.

Also, it appears to be much cheaper to fly in and out of Paris than Atlanta-->Paris and then Rome--> Atlanta on the way back so we're thinking of flying from Rome back to Paris before we leave instead of taking the train. Any thoughts?

Thanks!!
Karen

Posted by
445 posts

I will reply to only part of your question. Lake Como hotels pretty much close down late October. I don't know about Cinque Terre but imagine it is the same.

Posted by
3 posts

I'm definitely realizing that! Nov 1 seems to be the cutoff date for several hotels. We're going to try to do Oct. 29-31. Fingers crossed!

Posted by
32212 posts

Karen,

The short answer to your question is NO, the Cinque Terre and Lago di Como are not "too much of the same". Both areas have very distinct characters.

The Cinque Terre consists of five small villages, and these tend to have somewhat of an "informal" atmosphere. There are some larger Hotels in Monterosso (the most northerly of the villages), but lodgings in the other towns are mostly small B&B's and private rooms. Check the Italy Guidebook or TripAdvisor for Hotel listings.

Lago di Como and the various towns along the lake tend to have more "old world" elegant Villas and similar ambience. For a visit to that area, I'd suggest basing in the town of Varenna (one of Rick's favourites). I was just there a week or so ago for a return visit, and always enjoy it there. You might have a look at the Royal Hotel Victoria in Varenna. It's a larger Hotel so may not close down in the winter? However, it's a bit "upscale", so budget accordingly. A double room in "off season" is listed at €130.

In calculating the cost of flights to and from Europe, be sure to include your costs to fly Rome-Paris. As you'll be using budget airlines, be sure to PACK LIGHT or you'll be nicked with overweight baggage charges! I find it's often better just to pay the cost for open jaw flights, as it's far less hassle.

Happy travels!

Posted by
787 posts

Re your last question, if you're asking should you fly back to Paris, rather than taking the train Rome-Paris, then the answer is yes, fly. But it would have to be a LOT cheaper, IMHO, to fly in and out of Paris. Keep in mind that unless the Rome-Paris flight is booked on the same itinerary as the Rome-Atlanta flight, the Rome-Paris airline has no obligation to get you to Atlanta should the first leg be delayed or cancelled.

The earlier assessment of the Cinque Terre and Lake Como is very accurate. But really, though I love the Cinque Terre (and found Lake Como boring), I wouldn't go to either location at that time of year.

If you want investigate somewhere new, consider the Piedmont (Piemonte) area. It's a beautiful area with great food, and that time of year, it will be truffle season. Another place to consider would be Bologna - a very untouristy city, but interesting, great food, and enough to see for two days. Both, I think, would be better for that time of year.

Enjoy your planning!

Posted by
3 posts

Wow! Thanks for the advice everyone! Regarding the flight, we wanted to fly "open jaw" into Paris and out of Rome, but we can fly round trip to paris for about $750 per person as opposed to open jaw for round $1,600.

We also decided to leave a week earlier on Oct 21st instead of the 28th in hopes of having better luck finding hotels in cinque terre and possibly lake como. So much planning to be done! What a great resource
this is!

Posted by
8 posts

Hey Karen,

We did the CQ and Bellagio back to back in October a couple years ago (with a side trip to Nice in between) and as everyone says they are not at all alike. Bellagio is resort hotels and "Rodeo Drive" shops while the CQ is B&B's and family hotels. We much preferred the CQ but Lake Como is not without its charms. The Hotels in Bellagio were about to close when we were there, but the CQ does a nice winter business with the Germans and Swiss (or so we were told).

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