Hello all, its been (gasp) 27 years since I was last in Italy and my friend whom I'm taking has never been. This will be an amazing but short 3 week trip. Due to Milan's proximity to Lake Como I've added it to our trip. When we land in Milan we head directly there. Right now on the Itinerary we are staying only 2 nights/ 1 day in Varenna. Although Lake Como was an add on for this trip I'm now wondering if I should add another day there so we can go visit Bellagio etc without rushing through Como? If I did add another day I would have to take a day away from our Florence Tuscany time which I'm hesitant to do. Right now for our Florence portion I have 4 nights/ 5 days total. On the first day in Firenze we arrive there by train from Rome at 10AM in the morning and start to explore the city. Out of the five days there two will be used to see Siena/ San Gimignano etc via a 1 day group tour from Florence. And then another separate day trip would be to hopefully visit an organic olive grove with oil tasting . The one thing I want to make sure on this trip is that were not rushing to see Florence and the surrounding area. There's a lot to see there and I want give ourselves time por La Dolce Vita Di Fare Niente The sweet life of not doing anything.
I just had a possible thought which would cost more then going on a group tour of Siena etc. We could hire a local guide with a car and custom design a tour that included olive oil tasting along with Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa perhaps. So with the information I've presented, my question to people is do I take a day away from Florence and tack it onto Lake Como or leave trip the way it is? In case anyone was wondering we arrive to Italy on a Tuesday so we wouldn't be up at Lake Como on the weekend when its busy. Italy is so beautiful so deciding whats worthy or not is hard. It seems like its double to visit both Varenna and Bellagio in 1 day with a boat tour included. Although having another day up there to enjoy the beautiful lake and surrounded area would be really lovely and relaxing. Thanks in advance for suggestion. No matter what our trip is going to be amazing. Ciao