Italy in May: With the Best Laid Plans or Why We Almost Came Home After Three days

Varenna, Lake Como
Regional train to Varenna from Milano Centrale
I previously posted about the mess the regional trains are on this route. In our experience, these trains often run late, are canceled, & subsequent trains are SRO. Knowing this, we arrived 45 min. early for our morning train, & all the seats were already taken, as the earlier train had been canceled. So the options were standing or sitting on the floor, all jammed together. There are no assigned seats, so buying First Class is a joke. Folks with tickets were turned away from our train because of the crowding.

Hotel Albergo Milano full lake view, 1080€ total, 4 nites, breakfast, balcony, 6 units, pay refundable rate 3 months in advance, RS recommended, AC, stairs! Book directly, months in advance.
Varenna doesn't have many lodging options, & a view/ balcony were a priority. Our room was European small, sparsely furnished, clean, great hot water/pressure, newish bathroom, no full-length mirror, comfy bed. The room is located above the restaurant, but service closed early enough not to interfere with sleep. There was a small panel on a wall opposite the bed; my husband thought it was a temperature control panel- it was the TV! The hotel lacked a lobby, &when we had a half day of heavy rain &wind, it started to feel smaller &smaller, with only the bed for lounging. The highlight of the room was the balcony & view, which was spectacular! And breakfast was even closer to the water, also with the same view.

We mourn the loss of Hotel du Lac which was being renovated all winter/early spring. Now Casa du Lac, (altho the old name is still on the building), the price for a lake view room with balcony has almost doubled, to about 500€ nightly. Also, the nightly wine tasting/ happy hours has been discontinued.

Crowding in Lake Como
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/is-lake-como-getting-crowded-like-the-ct-and-ac
I'd previously posted, & sadly, don't see us returning. This was our third visit. The power of influencers - wish they used it for the positive.

Lines for Ferry Tickets Solution: buy all-day tickets at 7am. We left on 9:30 am ferry to Lenno, & ticket-buying lines then were reasonable. But by 10:30am, the problems started, as the train arrived & folks walked down in masses straight to the ticket booths.
Crowds in Bellagio itself weren't terrible, as it's bigger than Varenna.
However, coming back from Bellagio at 5pm was a disaster. We waited an hour for a ferry. The lines were all jumbled, people were everywhere around the ferry docks, confused, no staff to help, no information regarding late ferries. The schedule was a joke, so never wait until the last ferry.
We spoke to folks who arrived on a later afternoon Varenna train, & didn't think they'd get to their Bellagio hotel because of the ferry ticket- buying situation . Someone heard them & gave the folks unused tickets- saved their day.

Monastero Gardens delightful & extensive, lakeside, but arrive before 10:00 am to avoid the ticket lines.

Villa Balbianello buy tickets a few weeks in advance, ferry to Lenno, & use the private motorboats (9€ RT) for the best view. The alternative is an uphill 1/2 milewalk to the entrance. Both the house tour & garden are worthwhile.

Il Prato Restuarant We are not foodies, but what a great meal and service.

Castelllo di Vezio ruins intense uphill walk without switchbacks or railings, takes 20 minutes. The views are spectacular, and there's a snack shack at the top.

Bar Il Molo has one of the best views of Varenna; it's best for pizzas and spritzes.

Return to Milano Centrale on Regional Trains more crowd chaos, late & canceled trains. No staff help, nor info on the app or schedule boards. No train signage when they did arrive, so more crowd confusion.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/private-transfer-from-varenna-to-milan-centrale

So far, this is the typical trip report - crowds, views, mass transit...but interspersed with all this was our -
AWOL pet-sitter disaster
On our first day, we received texts from the neighbors, who all knew we were away, reporting one of our three dogs had been left outside all day, barking, and no housesitter present. Another neighbor had also used the house sitter, & called the woman, who was clueless that she left the dog outside! This was our trusted house sitter of 7 years! On the second day, a neighbor texted that our house was still dark at 10:00pm, so came in to feed the dogs, and let them out. We called & texted the woman, not reaching her. It was maddening & we were helpless! She had been so reliable, we were sure there was a medical emergency. Do we sit in the hotel room and stress or explore? Finally, our doorbell camera spotted the car arriving in our driveway at 1:30am. We couldn't reach her directly for another 6 hours. The house sitter apologized, explained that she had returned to her home around dinner time to feed her cats, fell asleep, that she hadn't been sleeping well, (she had a cold), & she had no idea what time it was.
We were outraged, but couldn't alienate her, & once again felt helpless. She promised to be with our guys all day. Late afternoon she left to feed her cats again, & my husband texted her that it was getting dark, please go back to our house, which she did. So we are four days into the trip & monitoring the house constantly via the doorbell camera and alarm. At this point, why even be away? But options to go home were quite expensive. We didn't think our trip insurance covered "unreliable dog sitter". As we monitored constantly, woman's behavior began to improve, & altho she wasn't walking the dogs, was in our home at the expected times. So we are exhausted, stressed, unhappy with our beloved Varenna's crowds, obviously not vacationing, and - my husband's ninety-ish mother passed away.
Talk about a tragic comedy, we were living it. The mother had been starting to fail, but the family all agreed we should travel, as my husband was going to visit right after our return. The family thought she had six weeks to six months, but it was six days. We were at the summit of Castle di Vezio when the call came, appreciating the serene view.
Back to the dogs- my husband's son, a stay-at-home dad, was adamant that he was coming from Texas to take over. Our daughter- in-law, most importantly, was also adamant. We accepted their most generous offer. We would monitor our house sitter every few hours for the next days (& nights), & coordinate with the neighbors, until he arrived.
We would have a week of real vacation.

On to Venice- of course, the regional train was late, & then canceled, we stressed about missing our connection, as our 2 hours in Milan shrank to 15 minutes.

Hotel Ai Mori D'Oriente, Cannaregio, 3 nites=766 €, cancel, breakfast, AC, lift, dock, great staff, return visit, exceptional beds. We sat canal side with our spritz, in disbelief we had made it! Cannaregio is a beautiful area, with no crowds. It's on the quiet back canals, yet 10 min. from the S. Marcoula vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal. (Two-day vaporetto pass.)We actually upgraded our room beyond the above price, & discovered that one can bargain! When the staff accepted my offer readily, I should have gone lower. The upgrade was lavishly decorated with two rooms.

With no structured plans & great weather, we took the free motorboat to Murano. I visited Atelier Alessandra a small second generation jewelry maker, & purchased (cash) a beautiful pendant, with her name stamped onto the back. The next day we went to Ca Rezzonica Villa on the Grand Canal, & wandered for our 2 full days & 2 half days. Ate at Terrazza Dei Nobili Dorsoduro Zattere 94, watching the sunset on the canal. It looked touristy but the food &service were great. Venice did not disappoint!

Siena- Hotel Residenza d'Epocha Palazzo Borghesi Rosea view suite splurge, 1300 € = 4 nites, breakfast, cancelation, AC, tiny lift, large shared seating area, shared rooftop, 6 units, good bath, linens, & hot water, Netflix, historic building, 1 block from Duomo, gelato, grocery, 3 blocks from plaza, minor street noise.
Our hotel was quirky, our room was at rooftop level, high above the street, & the huge picture window, facing east, gave spectacular views of green hills for miles.

The regional trains (from Florence connections) were new, ran frequently, & had many open seats. However, the track# was changed, the schedule board was incorrect, & the train wasn't marked. Locals confirmed we were on the correct train.

The Siena train station is rather ugly, & one could take the series of about 7 free escalators and moving walkways, up to the north gate, inside the elevated old town. The escalators are in a low ceiling buildings, rather dreary. Once at the north gate, you may still need a taxi to your hotel.
Our taxi from the train station to our hotel was 15€, accepted credit cards, & was fairly priced. Move quickly from your train to the taxi stand, as there are more customers than taxis available.

Tuscan Escapes walking tour 40€, book direct, 10:30am, was a well-done 2-hour orientation to the city. The headphones were clear & the guide spoke great English, sprinkled with a sense of humor. This was very worthwhile, & gave us a great orientation to the town, for wandering the rest of the day.

My husband did not want to rent a car to explore the Tuscan countryside , so we booked 2 full days of small group tours with the RS recommended Tours by Roberto , who actually appears in the RS video. We were picked up at the hotel. The first day was Heart of Tuscany: Montepulciano, Pienza, & lunch at his Madonna Bella Farm , right outside Siena. Pros-One could see the towers of Siena from the farm, which encompassed beautiful views of rolling hills. Roberto is a Renaissance man of knowledge and love for his area, & quite entertaining. We covered some mileage. The lunch at his farm was gourmet, 4 courses, 3 glasses of wine. Price for this tour was €100 each, plus the lunch, €40 each. Cons- We didn't have any free time in the hill towns, & the 9-person van had the feel of a truck suspension, taking on bumpy, winding roads. It was too much time in the van IMHO.

On our free day, Sunday, we walked to San Clemente in Santa Maria Dei Servi, because we could see it from our room. We then subsequently ran into 3 different Goose Parades , with flags, drums, & marching citizens, celebrating the neighborhood (contrade) of the Goose, along with a women's dance group, marching through the plaza. Siena is a comfortable, scenic medieval town, very clean, graffiti-free, & crime free, (per the guide.) There's a sense of fun, which is supported by the large number of college students. We actually witnessed a fraternity initiation, in which underwear-clad young men rode pool floats down a soapy slope, onto the Il Campo.
Tired of pasta and pizza, we found Shang Hai an excellent Chinese restaurant, moderately priced, with excellent food, Via dello Galluzza 10/12.
La Vecchia Latteria The RS recommended gelato was the best we found & we visited frequently.
Our evenings were spent lounging by the Duoma's fascade ,as the setting sun reflected in a spectacular manner.
Tours by Roberto: Panoramic Drive thru the Clay Hills, Brunello Wineries & Lunch was our last Siena day. The cost again was €100 each, plus winery fee and lunch (€45 each), clearly explained in advance. We toured the rolling green Clay Hills, & two wineries, the second of which provided lunch.
Flixbus Roberto dropped us at the bus, which is at the train station. The bus to Lucca was quicker than the train, but was an hour late, after we already had to kill 2 hrs.
Note: the city Siena has one 'n'; the car has two.

Lucca
Hotel Ilario, booked with Avios reward points, 2 nites, AC, large modern room, shared porch, breakfast, complimentary snacks all day, €6 make your own spritzes until 7pm, great hot water but funky shower, poor tv connection, free bikes, great staff, parking, above ground spa on second floor outdoor deck, with lounge chairs, which was just nice for relaxing. Our room was in the annex, about a block away. I would stay in this hotel again, located near the town wall on the train station side.

We arrived in Lucca after dark, and it was quite an adventure following our maps app under the town wall, around unknown dark medieval buildings. However, we felt completely safe. At 9:00 pm, the town was closing up, and we couldn't find any where open for a drink and snacks.

We were concluding our trip, winding down, with no real plans.

The town wall is a marvel, 100' wide, tree lined, and offered peaceful walks and bike rides. We actually did access the free bikes, and rode around the flat path twice, which took about an hour total. The shady route is beautiful and an easy ride, and I only ride bikes once a year, when I'm in Europe.

Thanks to Hiredman, Todd, for his Lucca Primer. We really enjoyed lunch at Ciacco on Plaza Napoleone.

We started a Get Your Guide town walking tour 2:00pm, about €17 each, 2 hours, but quit after an hour. The group was about 40 people, no ear buds, in Italian & English, and was not enjoyable. The guide continue to sell tickets even after she saw the group size. (The guide claimed a second guide did not show up.) Without the earbuds system, in busy town areas, it was just too hard to hear, and I felt the guide had conducted the tour hundreds of times, and was bored with it herself. So- pay more and make sure there's an audio system.

Puccini concerts 7 pm, one hour, several options. I know nothing about opera, but it was a pleasant hour.

Trattoria da Nona Clara , close to the hotel, provided our last Italian lunch. You can watch pasta being made in the window. We sat outside on a beautiful day, 78 degrees, sipped our wine, with a delightful server.

We enjoyed our shared porch and the second floor outdoor deck as we relaxed for a few hours before the trek home began. We had the right amount of time in Lucca, enjoyed the town, didn't think it was crowded, but don't feel the need to re-visit soon.

Regional train to Florence, then high speed train back to Milan. The regional train was not crowded, on time, but again not marked in any manner. I hate this uncertainty. An outside schedule board gave us a track #, and we hoped this was correct. Again, we had to confirm with other passengers. Even the onboard screen was not correct until we were underway.
The high speed train from Florence to Milan was quite pleasant.

Return to Milan, Hotel Berna once again. The wonderful staff reserved our 5:00am taxi , €55 accepted credit cards, 15 minutes to Linate. The airport busses do not run this early.
We had our last happy hours at the hotel, and socialized with a nice group in the bar.

The Linate counters opened at 5:00am, and there was a fair amount of people there, but check in and security were quick. There is a nice Business Class Lounge at Linate. Our flights were all on time.

LAX rental car counters We rent a car from LAX back to San Diego. In the past, it had gone smoothly. However, LAX just opened a rental car super center after our departure. There was no electronic assignment of cars in place. We stood in line for an hour, in a poorly air conditioned room, before the drive home. What a fitting closure. LA has a lot of work to do before the city can handle the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Conclusion and Reflections -
Do you judge a trip on the highs or the lows, some of which all occurred on the same day?

When I look at our pictures, seems like a great trip, with spectacular weather.
But-
This initial stressors of the Varenna crowds, regional train issues, house sitter problems, and family loss, all in the first 3-4 days, did hang over the rest of the trip. These were traumatic, and consumed significant energy. We are now home and exhausted, angry with our house sitter, thankful to my husband's son, and dealing with loss. Usually I start planning the next trip asap, but I need a rest, and I'm a little hesitant to leave again. As like most of you all, I put hours into planning, getting the house and dogs ready, and was filled with excitement......

I thank all of you for your personal support. Your messages were so caring, and even tho we have never met, I really felt your concern. That is such a priceless feature of this Forum, and I'll be forever grateful.

Misc. Thoughts
I think we are done with Italy for awhile, as the regional train situation has become so difficult, along with the Lake Como ferries.
Years ago, in the RS mode, hopping trains and planning your transportation was an adventure and one felt so successful. But the lack of communication to passengers, overall lack of respect, late and canceled regional trains, is exhausting and draining. This is such a discrepancy from many other countries, such as NL last year, in which technology and functionality made public transportation so easy to use.

The Trenit app A New Zealander couple shared this app with us for Italian train info. It proved more accurate and Up-to-date than the Italian trains' own app, which often had no info on delays and cancelations. It was indispensable -like FlightAware, which often is better than the airlines' own apps.

The high speed trains were very nice, and we booked early, so the first class reserved seats were very comfortable, and the price reasonable. I would recommend first class seats, as the trains were quiet, no one on loud phone calls, snacks and drinks were provided, and there were no children. (I know.....)

Bit of humor here- so many restroom were out of toilet paper. Be prepared!

Women's clothing- I saw jeans everywhere, but no leggings. Leggings are worn on so many domestic US flights. And white sneakers were quite popular, on both sexes.

Crowds- except for Lake Como, we have no complaints about crowds in Venice, Siena, or Lucca. Of course, we don't venture into the St. Marks or Rialto area during the day.

I came home with most of the cash I brought. And it's the same cash I took to the NL in 2024. Tap pay seems prevalent.

Time to hug and pet a dog.....

....In progress.....

Pat, having to carry luggage down steps on the tarmac is not that unusual. It has happened to us several times and it wasn't rural airports-it happened the when we went to DeGaulle from Florence.

Pat, you KNOW since you have labeled DON'T READ THIS YET, that I have no choice but to dive in and start reading !!!! Especially with such a dramatic title to the thread !!!!

Commenting just so I don’t lose this thread! The suspense!

Please tell me the price for the hotel Albergo Milano was a typo; not really €1080 per night.

have labeled DON'T READ THIS YET, that I have no choice but to dive in
and start reading !!!! Especially with such a dramatic title to the
thread !!!!

You beat me to it. It's like when the waiter warned me tonight not to touch the plate because it's hot. Of course that means I have to touch to check just how hot.

Looking forward to the rest. Varenna/Lake Como had been on our radar for a long time but your posts are scaring me.

Allan, you hit 5,000 posts. You beat me to it! Lol

@Cjean, that was the price for 4 nites.

Whew. That makes a lot more sense.

Pat I’m awake and in the UK at this time so you can keep writing your report and you know I’ll be anxiously reading it :) We have so many threads on pets while traveling on the forum. I hope yours has a comforting, solution encouraging outcome for you!

oh good grief

Pat, I'm so sorry to hear about your pet problems! What a nightmare; especially since you hire people like that so you don't have to worry about your pets.

And I am also sorry to hear about the crowds on Lake Como. I stayed there at the Albergo Olivedo back in 1997, and paid around $30-40 per night for a room with a lake view, lol! And that was with half board. Sigh; those days are gone now. I remember how peaceful and serene it was, so it saddens me to think it's gone the way of the Cinque Terre. I'm sure its beauty remains, though.

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip! And I hope the unpleasant surprises stop.

Pat, I'm with the folks above. I couldn't wait for you to finish your report, so I had to start reading it.

Between transportation issues, the crowds, an AWOL dog sitter and then the passing of your mother in law, I was ready to join you for a spritz on your Venetian canal. So sorry for your loss.

I'm glad that Venice seemed to be a balm for your woes.

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip! And I hope the unpleasant surprises stop.

I'm with Mardee here!

Dear Pat, I am so sorry for the loss of your mother-in-law. What a shock for you and your husband (and all the family), especially when he had been planning to go so soon.

Thank goodness for his son and daughter-in-law for having the son come help out with your dog. I remember seeing that in the other thread.

Oh my word! Yes, I agree with Kim, so sorry about the loss of your mother in law! That with the pet problems I am sure was so very stressful.

Regarding having to tote carry on luggage down airplane steps, more often than not I've had my Delta flight from Seattle to CDG park at a tarmac stand then be bused to the Immigration area.

Wow! What a tale! I can believe that you would have wanted to go home after 3 days! I am sure sorry about your husband’s mother. I know you make peace with possibilities before you go, but you hope to not actually have to face that situation.

On another note, it’s interesting what a difference a year can make. I was in Bellagio (and Varenna) last July for 4 nights. It was crowded but not completely overrun like you describe. I am sure glad it wasn’t. And we didn’t face any late or cancelled trains. Whew!

I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your mother in law. My mom passed away 3 years ago when we were in Greece. We had only 3 days left for our trip so we decided to stay in Greece and to return home as scheduled. I made most of the funeral arrangements from Athens. You have definitely had a stressful trip.

Did you enjoy Albergo Milano? We are staying there in June. Are the steps bad?

I have booked a private transfer service back to Milan from Varenna. I think you had problems with them? I plan to email them several days in advance to reconfirm and pray they will show up.

We have had to carry luggage down airplane steps several times in Germany. Not fun.
Thanks for reporting!
Karen

Oh, Pat. How stressful. I'm glad your trip took a turn for the better, but I can understand why the stress dogged you for the rest of the trip.

I'm very sorry for the loss of your m-i-l.

And I hope you find a more reliable pet sitter for future trips. That's always a challenge.