Hi all! Two destinations are a must for our trip…Lake Como & Cinque Terre. Flying into Milan and taking train to Lake Como.
I figured 3 nights in Varenna sightseeing the towns on the lake using the ferry.
The 2nd destination is taking the train to Cinque Terre for 4 night stay sightseeing not only the 5 villages, but also Portofino, and another or two towns (depending on time). That’s a week spent. But we’d like to make it at least a 10 day vacation. Don’t know where else to go. Seen Venice, The Dolomites, Florence, and not interested in Milan. More interested in scenery & hiking than museums & churches. Want to fly back out of Milan.
Any suggestions?
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
8383 posts
You’ll need to be in Milan or near MXP night before departure flight so keep that in mind-leaves you with just 2 nights to fill
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
926 posts
That seems like a pretty nice triangle, really! Staying back in Milan sounds like a good mix of Lake/Coast/City type thing :)
Posted by
Chicagoland
1148 posts
As mentioned previously, you don't want to be too far from the Milan airport.
Maybe head back to the lakes area. This time on Lake Maggiore. Arona is just over an hour to Malpensa by public transportation, less by taxi. Stresa would be a bit further. You'll have scenery and walks/hikes along with a castle across the lake and more.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
926 posts
I just looked up Arona because they started a stage of the Vuelta a Espana there the other day! It looked neat!
I have been scoping out Lake Maggiore for a pre airport visit too, it's a neat option!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
12072 posts
Stresa is indeed lovely, but is back-tracking for you.
It is over 6 hours by train from Varenna to La Spezia plus a bit more to the village of your choice, so backtracking to Stresa or Arona means another long train day of 6-7 hours.
Perhaps take a look at Torino (Turin) for 2 or 3 nights, a marvelous, often overlooked city. For a smaller city location, Alba is a lovely choice splitting the train days up into two 3-4 hour trips.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
926 posts
Laurel, I get what you're saying that it's a long distance, but they are backtracking anyways if they are flying out of Milano, no? I think that's what the suggestion came from, getting them back to the area......Torino would be amazing (yes, watched the Grand Depart of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday from Torino too ahah) but then they STILL have to get back to Milano.....
But I see that from Monterosso to Arona it is 4.5 hours, to Torino it is about 3.5-4, so not too much difference.......I think the problem is that CT is just so out of the way of so many things.....
Posted by
Chicagoland
1148 posts
Yes, I was trying to get them close to their departing airport.
There are plenty of choices for a few days between Lake Como and Cinque Terre. But, I wouldn't want to be more than an hour from the airport on departure day.
Posted by
OP
Somonauk, Illinois, USA
413 posts
Thank you all for your comments. I’m sorry if I mislead you. Lake Como & Cinque Terre are my priorities, but doesn’t have to be in that order.
Jeanm, I also was considering Lake Maggiore but wondered if it & Lake Como aren’t too much the same…. although I have read up on them both and they do differ in sights. Maybe squeeze in Lake Maggiore after Lake Como, staying in Stresta for a couple of nights, then on to Cinque Terre.
Also, no matter where we are at the end of our trip, I would definitely stay in Milan the night before our flight home which is in Sept 2026 (10 days minimum but could go a day or two more).
With this added info, is there anywhere in northern Italy to consider squeezing in instead of Lake Maggiore. Reminder, there are several above mentioned areas that we’ve already seen and do not plan on repeating.