Visiting the Italian Lakes

Varenna is my favorite, The Alberto Milano Hotel is a Rick Steves favorite, we enjoyed being there. If you want more of a upscale hotel, the Villa Cipressi is wonderful. The ferry will take you over to Bellagio is 15 min. and other parts of the lake. You can take the train straight to Varenna from Milano Central.

do you want any info on the other lakes, of which there are several, or is Lake Como it?

We are interested in others' thoughts on their travel experiences in the region--that is Bellagio, and Maggiore--along with Varenna and Como. Reading our Rick Steves books and watching his latest videos, we feel a bit more attracted to Varenna and Como. But, certainly, all of the lakes sound wonderful! Thanks so much for the responses sent so far!

We loved our stay time in Varenna. We stayed at the Hotel du Lac and it was amazing. Saw an awesome thunderstorm one night. There are a couple of nice restaurants in town. Took a cooking class as well. I can give you more details about it if you want.

Varenna on Lake Como, or Stresa on Lake Maggiore.

For Varenna, you can take the short ferry over to Bellagio.

For Stresa, there’s the short ferry over to Isola Bella (beautiful Borromeo villa & formal Italian garden to see) & Isola Pescatori. Santa Caterina del Sasso is very nice, and I also recommend the Villa Taranto - a nice ferry ride to the north. I’ve stayed at Stresa three different trips because I love it so much. My favorite boutique hotel experiences have been on tiny Isola Bella and has an excellent restaurant- Elvezia Hotel & restaurant.

Both lakes are very nice. Have a great time!

Thank you, all! I love the idea of a cooking class but after Milan we will head to Rome with a Rick S tour and a cooking class is on the agenda already.

Hotel du Lac looks terrific. Had not researched Stresa but looks intriguing!

Guess exploring all the options just means we need to make more trips to the lakes. :-)

To echo everyone else Varenna is a lovely little village on the edge of the lake perfect for a relaxing stay. Menaggio is also small but is more old school "resorty" with older large hotels and a lovely lake front promenade and some stores for shopping or browsing that Varenna does not have. To me Menaggio has a bit more of a Swiss flavor - at least in architecture and styling than the other two. Bellagio is the largest, fanciest and has the most shopping and dining possibilities but is also obviously the busiest and most touristy of the three.

Varenna has the advantage of being on the train line so both Menaggio and Bellagio would require train and then the ferry to reach them. This is easily doable as all cities are served by the mid-lake ferry service. Whichever one you stay at I recommend checking out the other two by ferry so you can compare and contrast for yourself.

Whatever you choose it will be lovely, enjoy,
=Tod

We prefer Bellagio over Varenna on Lake Como - we find it livelier. Stresa for sure - very easy to take the train.

If you are arriving at MXP Stresa is actually closer than Milan
Easy to get to, nice place to get over jet lag

We enjoyed our time there very much
Very few Americans/ tourists in late September

Bus from MXP
https://www.safduemila.com/linee/alibus-malpensa-lago-maggiore/

Definitely loved Varenna! A bit more rustic than Bellagio. We stayed at the Hotel de Olivido -right where the ferry goes. Was wonderful to look down on the activity there. We also hired a self drive small lake boat which we took out and visited alot of the other small villages. We hired it on a Sunday and I have amazing memories of the church bells ringing across the lake.

If you decide on Maggiore, Stresa would be a great base. If you are either arriving or departing from Milan airport there is a shuttle bus that picks you up curbside and drops you off at the lake promenade. In 2019 it cost €15. Then just take the train the other direction to Milan centrale. Trains take about 1 1/2 hours and run about every two hours.

One thing Rick doesn’t mention is the Monastery across the lake from Stressa.
Quick ferry ride but built into the rock walls. Very impressive and built around 900ad

If you take the ferry to the Borromee Islands and continue to Villa Toranto, get off at the Pallanza stop and walk along the shore to villa Toranto. Then catch ferry at Villa Toranto back to Stressa.

If you need further info on the shuttle or anything on Maggiore, let me know and I can post links. We did everything multiple times when we lived there.

If I have only 5 days arriving by train in Milan, what do you recommend? (We are on a budget I might add) Isola Bella looks amazing, but Rick Steves recommended Villaggio and Lake Como. What about Milan?

@Michelepayne80, probably best to start your own post, so we can ask questions about what you’re wanting to do without this person being notified with each response. 😊

Another Varenna fan here. The family who operate Varenna's aforementioned Alberto hotel used to own an exotic-looking cat. And...their young daughter's class were pen pals with my own students for a couple of years.

We agree with Karen--that Monastery across from Stresa can be a highlight. Its Gift Shop is also worth a looksee.
I am done. the Grand Funk refrain
"I'm getting closer to my Rome..."