Originally Posted by
bocastephen
Thank you - we ended up shifting dates around trying to catch what's left of that ex-PHX cheap J fare, and ended up with Oct 2-12, so our tentative plan is:
Oct 3 evening arrival and 4 and 5 in Milan
Oct 6 morning to Lake Como, and 7, 8, 9 there for full days
Oct 10 depart Lake Como for either Florence or perhaps Geneva or Zurich by train for a day trip and overnight stay
Oct 11 return to Milan in the evening to overnight near MXP
Oct 12 fly out in the morning
Depending on the weather reports we can shift and juggle some dates around inside of the trip to avoid any stretch of rain in the Lake area
I'll be honest but a day-trip to Florence is a bit of a waste; it takes roughly three hours from Como and it's a bit of a faff. Maybe Bologna's a bit better, the city is just one hour by high speed train from Milan and is one of Italy's least visited but greatest destinations.
As for Switzerland, maybe I'd choose Bern over Geneva and Geneva over Zürich but only because of the lake. Neither city is to my taste.