Hi. We are traveling to Milan early April and are booked for 10 days in Bellagio on Lake Como. (We wanted to stay in Varenna, but hotel is booked). We are young seniors who love to walk, see nature, learn about local culture and are foodies. My initial thought was to do some day trips to Bologna and Verona. However, after looking at train travel times, that doesn’t seem wise. I am concerned that 10 days on Como may be too long. My question is, should we leave as is and not explore Bologna/Verona or perhaps spend half the time on Como and the other half in Florence and do day trips to Bologna/Verona from there? (We have previously been to Venice, Florence, Tuscany and Rome.) We will spend our last day in Milan as we fly home from there.
Your thoughts and recommendations are much appreciated!
Posted by
2901 posts
We spent five nights on Lake Como in August with our young adult children. We enjoyed ourselves but I would not wanted to spend any more time than that. I would have been happy with four nights frankly. It was hot which you won't have in April so didn't do as much hiking as I would have liked. But we did spend time at the beach which you would not do in April. The gardens are one of the big draws which we did enjoy.
If you have been to Florence, why not go to Verona and/or Bologna and skip Florence altogether. On this same trip we spent three nights in Verona and we are going to spend four nights in Bologna this June.
Posted by
Washington DC
28566 posts
I am an extremely slow traveler but would certainly not want to spend 10 days on Lake Como on the same trip. There's not a great deal to do there. The gardens at Villa Carlotta and Villa del Balbianello were pretty but not spectacular compared to what one sees in the UK. It's fun to walk around some of the lake towns, and the views from the ferries are very nice. Shoppers will enjoy browsing in Bellagio and Menaggio, and the Sunday market in Bellagio wasn't full of imported junk. After you've taken advantage of things like that, you either need to head to Como (which I think has a few museums) or do a lot of walking/hiking. The most fun I had was walking the southern part of the Lake Como Greenway. That's the only thing that left me wanting more--though if I'd had more than 4 nights, I'd have been able to check out one or two more gardens.
I should note that I am not one to relax in a cafe, watching the world go by. Nor am I interested in lingering over meals.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5735 posts
I agree with Beth. 10 days is a loooong time, unless just hiking and enjoying the views is all you want to do. Bellagio's location simply doesn't lend itself to day trips away from Lake Como. If you want a split stay and have already seen enough of Florence, then perhaps staying in Bologna and day tripping from there makes more sense.
Since it appears that you already have your flights booked, remember that you will need to be in or near Milan the night before your flight home.
Posted by
Tulsa, OK
64 posts
I agree with above posts. I’d be fine with 2-3 days at Lake Como. I think training to Bologna, and use as a base to visit Verona, the mosaics in Ravenna, a 30 min train ride to Firenze, even if you have been before there are always new things to see there and allow 2 days to visit Bologna, train back to Milan and stay near the airport at a hotel or Airbnb and Uber to airport.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you all for you input. We decided to stay 4 nights in Bellagio, then take the bus to Lugano for 2 nights and down our last 2 nights in Milan.
Posted by
1 posts
I see you’ve decided to spend two days in Lugano we just decided the same- can I ask what you’ve planned for Lugano as I’ve just started researching that.