Please help with northern Italy,need advice

Looking at Trenitalia, it looks like you will have to change trains somewhere regardless of your destination. To get from Malpensa to Monterosso (CT) will take a little over 4 hours with a change in Milano Centrale. Going to Varenna will take 2-3 hours through Milano Centrale depending on which trains you can catch. Heading to Como is a little less challenging as it only take around an hour. Based on that, I would just decide how long you can bear to be on a train. My suggestion would be Varenna first and then go to the CT after your stay there. Albergo Milano is a nice hotel in Varenna.

Siena might be too far for a daytrip, it's more than three hours each way from Monterosso by train with several changes. Lucca is just over two hours each way by train with two changes. To me, that hour makes a big difference. I would go to Lucca.

Jolee,

• I would go to Varenna (Lake Como) on the day of arrival as it's an easy 1Hr 3 min train ride from Milano Centrale.
• You can take the Malpensa Express (ME) from the airport to Milano Centrale & it takes around 52 mins.
• You can buy your train tickets for ME & Varenna at the train ticket counter at the airport.
• You can then travel to Monterosso after visiting Varenna via Milano Centrale > Genoa > Monterosso.
• You could take a day trip to Lucca from CT via train.
• If you want to visit Lake Garda, you could stay in Verona.

Happy planning!

Edit: We stayed at Hotel Baia right on the waterfront in Monterosso, and it's close to the train station.
Monterosso is a great place because there is a small sandy beach there & many restaurants & delicious gelato!

This is the website to Hotel Baia: http://www.baiahotel.it/

If you go to Lake Garda, which I recommend stay in Torbole at the Hotel Lago di Garda. You simply can not go wrong there, a great place with even greater staff.

jolee,

One point to mention is that Lago di Garda can be awkward to get around, especially without a car. At the south end, only Peschiera and Desenzano have rail stations while the towns towards the north end (Limone, Malcesine, Torbole) do not have any rail access. The closest rail station to Torbole is Rovereto, and you'd have to take a bus from there.

Lago di Como and Lago Maggiore are more easily accessible. The usual favourite on Como is the small town of Varenna, which is an easy one hour rail trip from Milan. If you'd prefer to stay in Bellagio, take the train to Varenna, walk down the hill and then take the short 20 minute ferry ride to Bellagio. Stresa on L. Maggiore has a rail station, and it's a great place to spend a few days.

A few thoughts on your questions.....

1. I'd suggest going right from the airport to Varenna (via Milano Centrale).
2. I'd suggest going to Lago di Como first, as it's a shorter and easier journey after a long international flight.
3. My preference would be to cut Milan down to two nights and spend three nights in Stresa.
4. In Monterosso you could try Hotel Villa Steno, Hotel Pasquale, Hotel Villa Adriana or Hotel Porto Roca. If you have a copy of the Italy guidebook at hand, there are other listings there. For travel in May, it would be a REALLY good idea to get a booking SOON!
5. In Varenna some hotels you could look at are Albergo Milano, Hotel Royal Victoria or Hotel Villa Cipressi.
6. The answer is "sort of". For travel to Bellagio, you could take the Malpensa Express and disembark in Saronno, connecting to Como Nord Lago. From there you can get a Ferry to Bellagio. For travel to the Cinque Terre, going through Milano Centrale is the easiest way (AFAIK).

You may be aware of this, but when travelling the Malpensa Express or the train to Varenna, BE SURE to validate your ticket before boarding or you'll be subject to hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Note that the Malpensa Express has two routes, one to Milano Centrale and one to Milano Cadorna, so be sure to board the correct train. Finally, when you buy your tickets to Varenna (presumably at the airport rail station), it would be a good idea to buy your return tickets as well, as the rail station in Varenna isn't staffed.

Thank you so much for your helpful replies. We are eliminating Lake Garda, and planning to go directly to Lake Como from the airport, provided we can find a place in Varenna or Bellagio

Still checking hotels there and CT. All suggestions welcome and very appreciated!

We stayed at Hotel Villa Cipressi in Varenna and were very pleased. I felt that the price was very reasonable for the accommodations, we had a great view of the lake and the service was very good. Would have no qualms about recommending it. We had dinner at the hotel's restaurant and it was very good as well. Take the Vineyard Walk in Manorola while you are in CT...gorgeous views!

We stayed at Borgo le Terrazze just above Bellagio and absolutely loved it. We stayed for five nights and could have spent a few weeks there. The views are phenomenal and the prices are extremely reasonable for Bellagio. They also have a great breakfast. Although they don't have a full restaurant, they do have snack plates, wine, cocktails, etc. the pool is pretty incredible too.

I agree that Lake Garda should go. We really didn't like Lake Garda as it was much more overrun by tourists. And I say this realizing that we are all tourists, but it was the only place in Italy where we experienced smoking in restaurants (to accommodate all of the Germans and Aussies), the menus didn't include much of anything authentic and the prices were really high for everything.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. Both of the above are booked, as are soooo many others we tried. We did get the Royal Victoria but it is very expensive. So we are still looking.
We are thinking of getting a car service right from the airport to Lake Como after our long flight. Any recommendations? I prefer a car over the flytolake service.

Ct is also booked up. Have tried many places in Monterrosso and Vernazza. Still looking. We are going in early May. I should have started looking earlier.

For our other 2 nights, Siena is too far. Deciding between Stresa or Lucca for 2 nights, or Verona on way back to Milan. Open to other towns that are easy to get to by train. Many Thanks to everyone for your help.