NEW PLAN

Terri, That's a long way to go for only eight days in Italy, but it's certainly possible to visit the three locations you mentioned in that time. As I may have mentioned in my previous reply, you'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes, and will arrive in Italy the day after you depart. The last day will be spent on the flight home. You'll need to allow about half a day each time you change locations, so that will reduce the time in Varenna / Verona / Venice slightly. Regarding "other suggestions? Hotel recommendations?", I'd recommend having a look at the Italy 2011 Guidebook, as that would be the best way to find choose Hotels and activities that fit your criteria. The type of accommodations I might find acceptable may not be acceptable to others. Cheers!

I've never been to L. Como so you might want to stop reading right now. Verona is an easy day trip by train from Venice, but I used it as a one night trip away from my Venice hotel. Yes, I paid for two hotels, but that one evening in Verona was worth it. You get all of the relaxing, wine and coffee (and good food) you want plus a Roman amphitheater and a tower to hike up. There are operas in the amphitheater, which could be good news (I'd love to see one in that venue) and bad news (crowds). I'm a guy, so I do not speak shopping; but, the Veronesi whom I saw were Milan stylish and there were plenty of high end stores so .... In Venice I've Vaporettoed several times to Lido, rented a bicycle and biked the beach way down there and back. It amounted to a pretty good hike. For lunch, I stopped at random mom/pop delis and biked the picnics onto the dock at the Excelsior Hotel where the film festival people land by water taxi. Clooney never showed up - I always was 6 months early. Caveat: I did these Lido trips in Novembers and Marches; I have no idea whether this is feasible or even permitted in other seasons. There are equals, but there is no more atmospheric late night city for wandering, wine and coffee than Venice.

Terri, Further to my first reply, I assume you're using open-jaw flights, inbound Milan and outbound Venice? I don't see any problems with doing the trip in that time frame, but plan your sightseeing carefully so that you don't waste any time. Regarding the Guidebooks, note that most are now available in E-book format at reduced cost. If you have a Kindle or iPad, you could download one in a few minutes. I have a Kindle Reader for my iPod Touch (the Reader is available for PC's and Mac's also) and it's a bit awkward to read on the small screen, but surprisingly quite tolerable. Cheers!

Thank you. I forgot to mention that the 8 days are in Italy. Our vacation is 11 days total, allowing for 2 travel days getting there and 1 going back.

Terri, a year ago today we were on th eplane to italy. Our visit included 2 nights in Verona and 3 in varenna, and that was perfect. We did not inlcude Venice on that trip as it would break my heart to spend less than 5 days there, and there were other places we wanted to go that we had not seen before. If you fly into Milan and out of Venice, the order of travel would be Varenna, Verona, then Venice. We particularly loved Verona-it was pleasant surporise, with nice pedestrian streets, great restaurants, nice people. We had tickets for Aida in the arena which was wonderful. In Varenna we did the cooking class at Il Caminetto, which was a great way to spend a hot muggy day. Chef Moreno drove us to the old castle afterwards, and we walked home form there. The next day was much nicer, and we went over to Mennagio fo rkayaking and swimming, came back and did the hike to Fiume. One of our favorite gelato places in all of Italy was there in Varenna, the liffle place on the waterfront walk. Hotels: I would highly recommend each of the places we stayed. In Varenna, Albergo Milano was lovely, and we dined on their deck twice because we liked the food and view so much. In Verona, Finestre sull'Arena is a nice little B&B/apartment just steps from Piazza Bra and the arena. Little balconies overlook the main pedestrian street. In Venice, we stayed at la Calcina several years ago, and it would still be my choice. We prefer wood floors and simple furnishings over the ornate ones some Venetian hotels have. Our canal view room was a delight. They have a rooftop terrace that you can reserve for private use. Go at sunset with a bottle of wine and some antipasti snacks.