Milan and the Lakes

Linage is closer to Milano. My only suggestion is to put your time in
Milano at the end, so you can spend your last night in your departure city without packing up and moving there for only one night.

I don't think you need a car, either.

I don't see how the t wo different airport arrival /departures changes things...but IMHO one night in Milan on the way in and one on the way out is enough. Trains to Menaggio and train to Stresa and back to Milan make sense to me.

Stresa without a car would be okay. Check if the ferries stop running to islands at end of September???

If you want to rent a car, I would do so IN Stresa, not for the drive there, take the train more relaxing and each of you gets to see the countryside on the train.

Not sure where you are traveling from, but if it is a morning flight back home, you want to be in Milano the night before for sure.

Enjoy your trip!

What I understand is you are flying in/out MXP and your friend in/out LIN

You do not need ( or want) a car in Milan.

Lake Como is well served by train and ferries between the lake towns. No car needed there

You can spend one night at either end of your trip in Milan so you can meet up more easily. Or if you are comfortable traveling separately, each make your way to and meet at your Lake Como destination.

I 100% agree you should spend you last night in Milan to make airport access easier and less stressful

Thank you all for your suggestions. I think given that we'll be arriving at different airports and different times, it might be easier for us to meet up in Milan and spend the first night there. So if we left the next morning, would it make sense to then do Como/Maggiore/Milan or Maggiore/Como/Milan? Thanks again!

carol,

What time do your respective flights arrive in Milan? One solution you could consider is for your friend to take a Taxi from Linate to Milano Centrale, and then both of you can travel together to Lago di Como. I wouldn't waste a night in Milan at the beginning, especially for such a short trip.

Rather than staying in Bellagio or Menaggio, you might also consider staying in Varenna, as that will make transportation a bit easier. Varenna is only about an hour from Milan. Regarding a previous reply, one point to note is that Menaggio doesn't have train service, and hasn't since about 1939. For stays in Menaggio, the easiest solution is to travel to Varenna by train, walk down the hill to the dock and then take the Ferry across. Use the same procedure for Bellagio, which is about a 20 minute Ferry ride from Varenna.

Renting a car is not the best idea, as there are certain potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. The car would likely be parked, gathering dust and incurring parking charges for much of your stay, so not cost effective.

If neither of you has used trains in Italy, there are also some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. If you need further information, post another note here.

Depending on what time your return flight is, it's very easy to reach MXP from Stresa so you wouldn't need to spend any time in Milan. The easiest method is to take the train from Stresa to Gallarate, and then Taxi to the airport.

Thanks Ken. My flight gets in at 10:30 am at MXP (I'm flying Baltimore-Toronto-Milan) and my friend is flying San Francisco-Berlin-Milan and gets in at 2:20 at Linate, so I'm not expecting to be able to meet up with her till about 4 at the earliest. It seemed that it would just be easier to spend the night in Milan instead of dealing with possible delays etc.

I had thought of staying in Varenna instead of Menaggio or Bellagio but are there enough accommodations/restaurants/etc?

As for the return flight, I'll be leaving from MXP at noon-ish, my friend from Linate at 11:30, so again, I thought it might be easier if we were both in Milan the last night (actually, I'd hoped to go to the ballet at La Scala the last night but at 180 euros a ticket, I may be rethinking that!).

Any other thoughts/suggestions are welcome!

I cannot speak to Milan but stay in Varenna if travelling by train, even though it may add to your time in reaching Stresa. Unless you are going in late October, I'm guessing all places will be open. Plenty of stuff to see for your two full days there: gardens and villas in Varenna and Bellagio, across the lake in Lenno ( Villa Balbianello) and hike the Green Way from there to Villa Carlotta. Lenno has small, nice market on Thursdays(?) at the waterfront. We loved the food, decor and friendly chef at this place: http://www.cavatappivarenna.it I was not overly impressed with Menaggio or the city of Como. Driving on the west side of the lake was not very pleasant, I don't know about the east side.
Re Stresa, without a car you should be able to visit places of interest on the west side of Maggiore by public transport. We visited the islands, the gardens at Villa Taranto, a short stop in Cannobio, and a few hours in Locarno. Arona was a bit of a disappointment. Unless you make the trek to Orta San Giulio, which I adore, consider 4 nights on Como and 3 on Maggiore.

Any recommendations for accommodations in Varenna? Stresa? We were thinking of renting apartments, rather than hotels, though I don't see a lot of choices in Varenna. Any particular agency anyone recommends?