Good Super Bowl Evening, friends:
We are flying into Milan at the end of July, landing in the late morning, and will need to get to Florence that night for the first leg of our Italian vacation. I understand that there is a train station at Malpensa T1; can we get a fast train from there to central Florence? Taking the advice of RSB contributors, I downloaded the TrenItalia app, but it's not as user friendly as I'd like and I"m having a hard time teasing out the train travel options.
Once we spend some time in Florence, we will head to Lake Garda. I have been told that the best way to see the lake from our base in Sirmione is to rent a car. Does it make sense to rent a car in Florence and drive to Sirmione, or would a train to the Lake Garda area and a local car rental make more sense? I'm aware of the need to get an IDP and I'm very comfortable driving a car with a manual transmission.
Appreciate any advice from experienced Italy travelers!
Thanks!
Marc