We will be flying into and flying out of Milan, picking up a rental car at the airport. We will be based in Montecatini for the week while exploring Tuscany. Which route would you recommend driving from Milan to Montecatini...main autobahn through inland Italy or driving to Genoa and along the coast?
Also, we would like to visit Lake Como since we would be so close. Any thoughts on whether its best to do that at the beginning or end of our trip? Thanks in advance!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12052 posts
The route along the coast looks much more scenic. The inland route is flat and has limited variety. I have driven the inland route into Milan from/along the east coast. It was, as I recall, flat farmland.
I would do Lake Como at the end. Drop the car in Milan and take train to Lake Como. Spend last night before flight in Milan or near airport.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The coastal road does have some coastal scenery and a good view of just how far Genoa sprawls out, but that scenery is interrupted by many tunnels. If you take the central highway as far as Parma and then turn coast-ward from there, that west-bound leg is through forested hills or mountains.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16209 posts
The fastest way, assuming no traffic delays on the Milan Tangenziale (A50) is the A1 toward Bologna, then just before Parma you switch to the A15 to La Spezia, then A12 to Livorno but at Viareggio you take the “Bretella” to the A11 to Lucca and proceed east to Firenze till you reach Montecatini T. on the A11.
But, instead of going to lake Como, upon landing, I’d go to Stresa on Lake Maggiore, which is very near Malpensa airport, and not a big stretch even if you are jet lagged. I would stay there at least 2 nights (3 better), so that you get rid of the jet-lag in a beautiful place. That would be preferable to driving all the way to Montecatini for 4 hours while jet lagged.
Once you’ve stayed on beautiful Lake Maggiore, then you’d take the A26 to Genoa then the A12 to Livorno and proceed with the aforementioned directions.
Posted by
OP
Texas
26 posts
Thank you all for your replies! We are considering crossing over to Switzerland for just one day due to time constraints. We were specifically thinking about Lake Como due to it's proximity to the Swiss border. If we do this, what would you recommend we see/do in Switzerland for just one day? Is there something beautiful to see by barely crossing into Switzerland?