Thanks to RussellJ and sc flier for some great pointers. I'm particularly happy to learn that the lake district is only a one hour's train ride from Milan AND that the area is easy to navigate without a rental car. I'm wondering, if after our lake district visit, it's easy to get to Zurich or Geneva by train. I was thinking of doing an open jaw and flying into Milan and out of either Zurich or Geneva or whether we'd be better off returning to Milan. Any thoughts?