This is our work in progress plan and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. We'll be 4 people (one 7 yrs) and we've rented an apartment in Lezzano right near Bellagio for second week of Aug.
8-8 Milan

8-9 Rented car, drive to apartment (should we drive to Varenna and take the car ferry or just brave the treacherous road from Como-Bellagio??

8-10 Boat around the lake, maybe a villa

8-11 Some hiking, swimming

8-12 Day trip to Bellinzona and Lugano driving

8-13 ??

8-14 Daytrip on Bernina Express (Is it better to drive to Tirano and take the train from there or do the whole thing via public transport?)

8-15 Fly home

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

'fraid I've never been to that area but I can make a few suggestions,

First have you checked some of our trip reports for the Lake Region? You may get some ideas from there.

Also, on our Travel Notes page are some articles about traveling with children. We also have this Lake Como Travel Guide and this article, A Real Slice of Italy - Bergamo, Lake Iseo, Val Camonica.

Hopefully, some of these will help.

quote:

Originally posted by bettyloo:

should we drive to Varenna and take the car ferry or just brave the treacherous road from Como-Bellagio??

I drove from Malpensa to Bellagio the morning after a sleepless flight from Washington Dulles. I did not find the road "treacherous." I would advise taking your time, though.

I must confess, though, that I took this road by mistake. We were going to Varenna and made a navigational mistake. Fortunately, it was easy to find the ferry in Bellagio and the ferry ride to Varenna gave me one of my favorite Italy pictures.

To take further Kim's suggestions above, we had a week of Lake Como essentials and they are available on our main Slowtrav website in this report.

It is a wonderful region, the public transportation navigation is exceptional and you can plan your daily itineraries easily counting on the Como boats and ferries.