Northern Italy

DrPhil

Heading to Italy for a week at the end of May.

Flying into Bergamo, 2 nights in Como, 1 in Verona, 2 in Venice, 1 in Garda and the last night is in a hotel near Bergamo as our return flight is early.

Any experience in these areas? Where to go/avoid?

Our hotel near Como is actually in Campione D'Italia so it's actually inside Switzerland. We are planning to drive around the lake to Lugano in Switzerland at some stage during those 2 days.

gg13533

Venice is fab. Book the Secret Itinerary tour of the Doges palace. It's about 20 Euro, worth every penny.  We tend to stay away from the main St Marks area during the, too busy. Might be worth getting a 24 or 48hr vaporetto ticket as they are great for getting about. The area round the Ghetto is good or round the park where they have the Biennale and the Arsenal. Secret is just to wander and get lost, you'll find amazing places

mjn

I found that area of Italy to be pretty run down. Nice scenery but everything just seemed to be unloved.

DrPhil

Car hire is proving to be a pain at the minute.  Because we will be travelling into Switzerland during our trip it's more difficult to get a rental organised.

reiteration

we did venice last year but stayed at Mestre (15 minute bus ride to venice) and it's lovely to walk around...and very easy to get lost in the small back lanes etc... but it felt safe (even when it was dark) and getting lost is all part of the fun too...

we didn't bother with any boat trips etc - we were happy to walk around all the time

are you staying in venice itself? just we got off at the mestre railway station (Venezia Mestre railway station) which was quite seedy and drug dealers hanging around outside - just glad we didn't have to use that after dark...

as we stayed at -
Hotel Centrale
Piazzale Donatori di Sangue 14, 30171, Mestre, Italy

very cheap hotel...was part of a groupon deal..but decent enough

DrPhil

Probably staying in Mestre.  Have booked for Como, Bergamo and Verona so far but still to book Garda and Venice.

The choice is basically between a nice hotel in Venice or a luxury one in Mestre at similar prices.

We were thinking of parking in Venice on one day and in Mestre the other, just to say we drove over to the island.

reiteration

yep, the hotel we stayed in was ok - but we got a spot on deal - 6 nights B&B (rome, florence, and venice) including flights and trains for 309 each...

our hotel was a 10 minute walk from the station and there was a direct bus to venice...the bus fare was quite cheap (couple of euros)... and we bought the ticket from a shop (can buy on the bus I think(?), but more expensive) but it's a bit confusing (as the bus drivers don't help haha) as we got on the bus and scanned the ticket and a red light beeped (not the green) ...and i just continue to walk on... then a couple of guys came over - one had a hand scanner and i assumed they were inspectors...one of then took the paper bit of my ticket (as i got a ticket and a receipt it seems) and got off  the bus and we stood there wondering what had just happened..!

DrPhil

I had contemplated taking the trains, but we will be 2 days in Como and we want to be able to tour around the lake etc and into Lugano.

Bl4ckGryph0n

I love the area; personally I would think it is too rushed. Too many places with too little time in each area. I do like Lake Garda, Sirmioni is beautiful, Grand Hotel Terme is nice and luxurious but I much prefer the elegance and understated chique of Hotel Olivi. But don't tell anyone as it is a little gem. It also provides a great base to explore other areas but one day doesn't really give you much time and traffic can be terrible. Much better to use a ferry or hire a boat.

DrPhil

Boat hire sounds great, but (1)is it very expensive and (2)do you need to be experienced with boats?