Northern Italy & Switzerland 2016 - Finished with Post Nights in Milan

Thanks for the amazing trip report with the most fabulous pics!!!
I see you mentioned this is not a popular ABD and yet this is most likely the one I will take. I love
amazing scenery!!
Unfortunately not till 2019 or (2020 DD HS graduation). 2017 Brings a Europe Cruise in Spring(Princess) and July. 1st Disneyland and Aulani, NCL cruise around Islands. 2018 My DD sweet 16 with her friends at WDW, and possibly Alaska cruise(before Glaciers melt) ;-)
I have been reading ABD trips for years and I can't wait till it becomes a reality.

Few questions.
1. How much extra in transportation costs for you to stay in Lake Como prior. (Airport to hotel, hotel to Stresa)
2. Do you think it would have been worth it to stay in Stesa before and explore more there.
3. Cancelled flight....OMG. Did airline contact you? Does this happen often??
4. Do they have kids menu. My DD14:headache: is the worst eater and will I be able to get her plain pasta, chicken, fries, etc. Ketchup?

MY Delta flight for the princess cruise in Spring...NY to Rome then Barcelona to NY changed flight times and even flight number. I was not notified and would not have known if not stalking airline price. Is this a common occurrence?

Lastly is there any ABD that you think is the best value?
Thanks
Kerri


It sounds like you've got a great line up of trips for the next couple of years. An Alaskan cruise is still up on my need-to-do list as well.

1. Private transfers from Milan airport to Tremezzo, Lake Como - 170 Euros. From Tremezzo to Stresa - 250 Euros. Public transportation is possible, but requires a combination of busses, trains, and ferries. Didn't want to mess with that with luggage.

2. I would definitely stay for a couple of pre nights somewhere in the region, but I don't think you need any extra time in Stresa. I'd go to Milan or Lake Como instead. Or even somewhere like Rome, Venice, or DL Paris a short flight away would be an option.

3. Not often, but it happens. I've traveled enough, I have a pretty good collection of airline stories and they're all wacky and different. My travel app Trip It Pro contacted me first that evening before the flight. I did get an email from the airline a little later. If it ever happens to you, try your best to contact the airline quickly (even at your own cost), get the issue politely resolved, and put it behind you as best you can. Try not to let it get you down.

4. All ABD's have kids offerings for more picky eaters. Ketchup with Italian food? It may be time for an intervention ;) I kid. My oldest son is 12 and can be picky at times. He's never gone hungry during these trips.

Hmmm. Regarding your flights to and from your cruise, that seems odd the airline didn't contact you. Was it purchased through Delta or site like Expedia or through Princess Cruises? If through the airline or expedia, I'd log in and make sure your contact info is correct. Check your email to be sure nothing is being sent to a Junk Mail folder. If reserved through Princess, Princess itself should be contracting you I think. Trip It Pro solves this, but at a cost of $80 per year. There are other perks, but it may not be worth it for you. I believe the FlightTrack might send you warnings as well. You'd have to check.

Best value? SE Asia.
 
I completely agree. One less night in Stresa and one more in Zermatt- so much to do. I even spent some time checking out the mountaineering museum and walked through a gorge but easily could've filled up another day.

I pre-nighted in Milan which was useful as Aitalia had a direct overnight flight from JFK. Milan has plenty to do. We did Rome as post nights.

I fly Delta and usually don't have problems, but I keep the app on my phone and every once in a while check my status of flights- thats also because I am booking my next one :) (not always leisure though). I can't fly United- had a truly horrible experience once. Maybe time to check out American. Though that being said- I usually fly codeshare if I can. For airplane food, Aitalia was pretty good and they had expresso!
 
It sounds like you've got a great line up of trips for the next couple of years. An Alaskan cruise is still up on my need-to-do list as well.

1. Private transfers from Milan airport to Tremezzo, Lake Como - 170 Euros. From Tremezzo to Stresa - 250 Euros. Public transportation is possible, but requires a combination of busses, trains, and ferries. Didn't want to mess with that with luggage.

2. I would definitely stay for a couple of pre nights somewhere in the region, but I don't think you need any extra time in Stresa. I'd go to Milan or Lake Como instead. Or even somewhere like Rome, Venice, or DL Paris a short flight away would be an option.

3. Not often, but it happens. I've traveled enough, I have a pretty good collection of airline stories and they're all wacky and different. My travel app Trip It Pro contacted me first that evening before the flight. I did get an email from the airline a little later. If it ever happens to you, try your best to contact the airline quickly (even at your own cost), get the issue politely resolved, and put it behind you as best you can. Try not to let it get you down.

4. All ABD's have kids offerings for more picky eaters. Ketchup with Italian food? It may be time for an intervention ;) I kid. My oldest son is 12 and can be picky at times. He's never gone hungry during these trips.

Hmmm. Regarding your flights to and from your cruise, that seems odd the airline didn't contact you. Was it purchased through Delta or site like Expedia or through Princess Cruises? If through the airline or expedia, I'd log in and make sure your contact info is correct. Check your email to be sure nothing is being sent to a Junk Mail folder. If reserved through Princess, Princess itself should be contracting you I think. Trip It Pro solves this, but at a cost of $80 per year. There are other perks, but it may not be worth it for you. I believe the FlightTrack might send you warnings as well. You'd have to check.

Best value? SE Asia.
Thanks for the great info. Yes private transfer for sure....don't want to mess with being stuck and not knowing the language for sure!!
Lake Como is so high on list I don't think I could be so close and not stay a few days before this ABD.

As For DD my goodness I only have 1 kid and I joke to her I needed a 2nd to do it right ;-) Yes she puts ketchup on pasta and plain chicken (insert vomit smilie). In fact last year, we did a NCL cruise in Med and had a week land tour.
We stocked up on ketchup packets at Wendy's to bring just in case:headache: I knew she would be OK on cruise.....but hey she could survive on bread and butter if needed:rolleyes:

I booked direct delta I do get emails from them so it is weird I will definitely check info. Trip it Pro. I will look into that.
Last night I looked at ABD and the Rhine cruise also looked amazing. I'm thinking ABD would be best for River cruise because it is usually a much older crowd.
Thanks
Kerri
 
We did private transfers in both Rome and Milan (arrange thru hotels). Made our life much easier. The delta app is very useful and if you don't have it I recommend downloading it. Signed up for the Food and Wine Rhine cruise. Very excited about it.
 


yes I will download that app thanks. And I will look into the tripit, want to see what $80 gets me.
Thanks
KErri
 


You also check out the town of Orvieto. It is a couple hours north and they run day tours out Rome. Remarkable wall town that dates back pre Roman to the Etruscans. Spared mostly in the WW II bombing.
 
You also check out the town of Orvieto.
We visited Orvieto on our DIS Exclusive Viva Italia ABD in 2014. Really loved that town. There is a great ceramic store, Ceramiche Giacomini, right across from the Duomo that we wound up buying several pieces from. They ship for free if you spend over a certain amount (I think it was 250 euro) which was easily done.
 
Just wanted to put my two cents in....we flew in one day early and had a relaxing time acclimating to the time change and exploring Stresa. We went there rather than stopping in Milan because at the time I was too chicken to try to arrange transportation and ABD picked us up and took us to Stresa without any problem. As it turned out, several people did end up meeting in Milan at the same hotel and then went to Stresa together. I'm not sure that I would cut a Stresa day but I definitely was sad to leave Zermatt after such a short time, another day would have been great. I understand the point of Lucerne since it is closer to Zurich for transportation home but it is a letdown after Zermatt. Maybe they should add one more day to the whole trip by expanding time in Zermatt. I would not have wanted to arrive in Lucerne to only spend one night before leaving and that is what would happen if they expanded Zermatt at the expense if Lucerne.
 
Just wanted to put my two cents in....we flew in one day early and had a relaxing time acclimating to the time change and exploring Stresa. We went there rather than stopping in Milan because at the time I was too chicken to try to arrange transportation and ABD picked us up and took us to Stresa without any problem. As it turned out, several people did end up meeting in Milan at the same hotel and then went to Stresa together. I'm not sure that I would cut a Stresa day but I definitely was sad to leave Zermatt after such a short time, another day would have been great. I understand the point of Lucerne since it is closer to Zurich for transportation home but it is a letdown after Zermatt. Maybe they should add one more day to the whole trip by expanding time in Zermatt. I would not have wanted to arrive in Lucerne to only spend one night before leaving and that is what would happen if they expanded Zermatt at the expense if Lucerne.


agree with more nights in Zermatt and love the idea of adding a day to the trip overall rather than cutting a Stress day- well worth the cost. While I was new to ABD, I was not new to group touring and would highly recommend both ABD and this trip. I found it informative, relaxing, gorgeous, etc (I could keep going on). And my tour mates were very cool and great company. Ah the memories of balcony sitting in Zermatt.....Ciao
 

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