Travel to Milan, Parma and Florence, Lake Como

Rather broad question

Lake Como is 56 sq miles--- you going anywhere in particular?

When, how many, what age range,.. a few clues please on what kind of 'tips' you are looking for

I doubt they gave mr. Cuomo's name to a lake while he is still alive. It's not that famous in Italy.

Both competing railway companies run high speed trains From Milano Centrale to Firenze SM Novella: trenitalia.com/tcom-en and italotreno.it/.en

On trenitalia.com you'll find also the schedules of trains going from/to MXP airport, to Parma and to some towns on the Lake (including the town known as Como).

Ha Ha , sorry about that I stand corrected.
Yes, train details for the trip, like you should take shuttle instead of train from airport to Milan because it doesn't bring you to train that goes to Parma. Just so I am efficient with time when we get there. We are traveling from Florence to Lake Como also. Any suggestions on whats great to do in our destinations. One night in Parma, three in Florence, three in Lake Como. We are doing a opera in Florence.

We are going to Varenna in Lake Como.

like you should take shuttle instead of train from airport to Milan

You shouldn't. I don't know who told you so, but you need better sources to plan a journey. There are two trains serving Malpensa Airport, one goes to Milan's Centrale station, the other to Cadorna.

If you are going from A to B by train, just put A as departure station and B as the arrival one on trenitalia.com.

In your case A is "Malpensa Aeroporto" and B is Parma. The site will tell you which airport train you must take and where you'll have to change.

Out of curiosity, did you put all these places on a map? Trains stop at Varenna-Esino, not at Varenna.

Thank you for your input I will check these things out.

Sue,
You will LOVE Varenna. We spent 4 wonderful days there in early May. The village is so charming and peaceful, and we had arrived there after battling crowds in Venice and the Cinque Terre. We loved getting up early and just walking the narrow streets with flowers and greenery everywhere. The promenade next to the shore is also very lovely with small cafes and outside tables overlooking the water with the Alps off in the distance. I had booked the Varenna boat taxi ahead of time online, so we spent about 3 hours with a small group seeing the mid lake region from the water. It also includes a guided tour of Villa Balbianello which is a must see. We took the ferry to Bellagio one day but weren't impressed. We also ferried over to Mennagio just to see what that village was like. I wished we had ferried down the Como leg to see the views in that area, but we settled for views from a bus we took along that part of the coast to the train station in Como. What you do in Lake Como is unwind and soak up the views. Oh, and sit at an outside cafe with a drnk and watch the sun set over the mountains! Just writing this makes me miss it.

Thank you Barb,
I was wondering if I needed to book anything. I will check it out.
Sue