Milan to Como to Wengen to Venice to Milan

anita,

Could you provide a bit more information? To begin with, have you bought your air tickets yet and when is this trip taking place? Also, how much time would you like to spend in each of the locations you mentioned? Finally, where are you thinking of staying on Lake Como?

We are traveling this fall, already have tickets in and out of Milan with about 2 weeks in between but will spend about 4 days in Milan. We could go from there to Lake Como, but don't actually know the best place to stay there. We had planned to spend 2 nights there and then go up to Wengen for four days, back down to Venice and work our way back to Milan. We could go in the other direction as well.

Hi Anita, since you already have your plane reservations, I'll skip the advice of landing in Zurich. Any particular reason you are spending more than a day in Milan?

Milan-to-Wengen (3.5 hrs)
Wengen-to-Lake Como (4.5 hours) OR if you're interested, Stresa on Lake Maggiore is 2.5 hours
LC-to-Venice is 3.5 hours

M - 1 day
Wengen - 4 days
LC - 3 days
Venice - 3 days
Verona or similar /flying out of Milan - 2 days

Attending a meeting in Milan...What is the best route from Milan to Wengen? I am having difficulty finding the train connections on the rail europe site. Is stressa a better choice than lake como for reasons other than the distance?

Stresa to Wengen is easier to do by train than Como to Wengen, as Stresa in on the Simplon pass route and you can find direct trains Stresa to Spiez. Como is on the Gotthard pass route so probably you have to connect in Luzern - this is a longer itinerary with more connections to do.

Would anyone suggest going to Venice on the way back via connecting through Innsbruck, Austria as an alternative route?

"We could go from there to Lake Como, but don't actually know the best place to stay there".
It depends:
We like Varenna - a small unpretentious and charming village.
Bellagio smells of Chanel #5

I stayed in Stresa for 2 nights in May 2012 and found it to be quite lovely, but then I do love gardens and there are several of them in the Borromeo Islands.

Most of your questions have been answered so far and if you want to just look up schedules on one site I like DB. If you decide to work your way up through either lake in Northern Italy and then up to Wengen that is easy with rail and as mentioned before a Swiss Pass or Swiss Card may end up being the best fit for your depending on how many lifts and other transportation you use. If your next destination is Venice I think flying would be quicker and cheaper. You can use Skyscanner to look up flights leaving from Zurich to Venice and I saw direct flights for as low as $109. From Venice back to Milan it is an easy train or if you are flying out of Venice you are even more set.

another vote for Varenna......we were there in july for 2 nights and its lovely and not dreadfully expensive. we did take the ferry over to belagio one afternoon just for contrast......

Thank you for your response. We will definitely look into flights from Zurich as that sounds like another good option. I still have not seen any comments on taking the train from Innsbruck, Austria. I wondered if anyone had done that and if the scenery is worth the long trip?

We are now in Milan and have had a wonderful journey following Rick Steves' guide. We are now traveling to Varenna as recommended by those commenting on the forum. From there we would like to take a scenic, but one day train trip to Wengen. Any suggestions about connections and route would be appreciated. Most of the routes take us back to Milan and then north. It is unclear which route has less tunnels, more scenery and whether we can use the Bernina express or something else north from Varenna and lake como.

I still have not seen any comments on taking the train from Innsbruck, Austria. I wondered if anyone had done that and if the scenery is worth the long trip?

I've done it, and only you can decide if the considerably long journey is worth the bits of scenery you get. I've actually done bits of it on different trips, and added them together for your answer. I would never go that far out of my way for a view out a train window. YMMV.

The ride between Venice and Verona is OK. Sometimes shakes the fillings out of your teeth on the FrecciaBianca, scenery OK.

The ride between Verona to Innsbruck is quite scenic. Bare rocks, not snow covered, by and large. Not so much view of Lake Garda. The Dolomites are cool. Although the train goes over the big valley south of Innsbruck I don't remember much about that. I think it is over pretty quickly.

The ride from Innsbruck to Zurich is through dozens of tunnels with some occassional great views. It is often dark when in the tunnels. It is quite scenic but a bit repetative.

It is quite a bit out of the way, and going the other way, the scenery in Switzerland between Milan and Luzern is mind blowing.

Thanks, still looking on a scenic route from Como or Varena to Wengen.