Starting to plan a trip to Lake Como, Lake maggiori and Cinque Terre for 3 or 4 active 67 year olds. Like to go last week of April next year for 20 days. Like some advice on whether to stay in each location. We can budget $700 per night? Maybe an Air BNB?
Thoughts and advice?
Thank you
Use the majority of your time for Lakes Como and Maggiore and Como. They are both beautiful, but different. We have stayed in Stresa and Ranco on Lake Maggiore. Take a good look at Ranco where few Americans visit. It has ferry service, nice hotels, restaurants.
We have visited Bellagio on Lake Como four times, once for two weeks and love it there. . Try to stay up the hill, near the top of the town. The Basilica of San Giacomo(c.1075) is up there so use it on a map to guide you.
We used ferries extensively and have visited all towns the ferry goes to.
Cinque Terre- we stayed at Hotel Porto Roca in Monterosso and took two days to hike the length of trail between the five towns. Some of it, I believe, is closed due to damage from storms.
The hotel has a private area of the beach for its customers. And a great dining room. Fabulous views as it is on a high promontory. Highly recommend.
$700 per night is a lot. Are you planning to rent one separate hotel room per person?
I think in your case it might be beneficial to rent a house/apartment through AirBnB or VRBO.
I presume you plan to travel by train. I would also suggest STRESA for lake Maggiore, MONTEROSSO for Cinque Terre, VARENNA for lake Como. All are served by rail. For lake Como, also check Bellagio and Menaggio. They are not served by rail (Varenna is), but they are a very short ferry ride from Varenna and, being a bit bigger, may offer more accommodations. Bellano, the next train stop north of Varenna is another choice, although ferries to Bellano are less frequent than the other 3 towns (but it’s just one train stop from Varenna, so you can easily go there by train).
For the Cinque Terre, I suggested Monterosso because it’s a bit bigger and has more accommodations than the other towns, also more trains stop there (including high speed Intercity trains), however any of the 5 towns would work.
We plan on renting a car. Thank you fir the recommendations. $700 was based on previous trips to Italy for a 4 start caliber hotel. Our only reservation with renting a villa is we would like it to have aid service. Based on having a car, does it open it up to better places?
Some suggested Portofino rather than Cinque Terre. less hiking around. thoughts?
We have stayed in Cinque Terre and really enjoyed being right there. Also, stayed twice in Lake Como - definitely stay there. We were at Hotel Du Lac Varenna - right on the lake. This was an incredible place!
Hello cpo, my first thought is that Portofino is an entirely different part of the country from the lakes and less convenient to travel to so the travel time alone would probably eat up too much of your time just for a coastal visit.
If you want some coastal Italian experience without so much of the crowds you could look at Lerici and Tellaro - just down the coast from CT so it would be a minor trip diversion from CT. It is not as dramatic as the Amalfi coast but is nearby and harbor resorty in parts and less discovered in others depending on the coastal experience you are looking for.
Both are beautiful and if you're expecting to spend >$500/night I would agree Bellagio is probably the kind of place you should look at on Lake Como. You can do it for much less but if you want to splash out for that kind of experience there will be many places there looking to help you.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
