- Fly into Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) or Linate (LIN) - There are no direct flights from Dallas to Milan - Book a private transfer from Malpensa airport to Cernobbio/Como - Stay in Cernobbio or Como, there will be shuttles from each location to venue (~10 min) - Go to Bellagio/Menaggio/Varenna on days where there are no events scheduled - Be careful renting a car, roads are crazy (and so is the driving)
Sadly there are no direct flights from Dallas to Milan Malpensa airport. There is typically 1 stop and we HIGHLY recommend making sure your connection is in the United States. If you have a layover in Europe, you will be required to go through customs and security. If you have a short layover or if lines are longer than usual, it is possible to run short on time and miss your flight (trust us we've been there). However, if you are planning on connecting in Europe just make sure to have at least 3 hours of a layover since we'll be approaching high season.
We suggest flying into Milan at the Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) with your connection being in the US. Milan Malpensa is the closest major international airport to Lake Como. There are two other airports in Milan, which are Linate (LIN) and Bergamo (BGY). Both are regional airports you would only be flying into if you connected in Europe. LIN is adjacent to Milan Proper and much closer than BGY so I do not recommend flying into BGY unless its saving you a good deal of money.
All of our wedding events will be in the town of Cernobbio. We highly suggest choosing a hotel or Air Bnb that is also in Cernobbio or the near by town of Como. This will make it much more convenient to get to wedding events or meeting with other guests. If this is not possible it is also possible to stay in Como. There will be shuttles back and forth from Como for the events and hotels/Air bnb's in Como tend to be cheaper. On times where there is no shuttle available it can be very difficult to find a taxi/uber to take you back and forth from each. We recommend staying in Cernobbio to avoid the need for finding taxi's when going to wedding events or meeting with other guests.
Yes. For Guests staying in Como city the pick up location will be at Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, and for guests staying in Cernobbio the pick up location will be at Harry's Bar.
Private transfer is by far the easiest way to get to Cernobbio/Como and we highly recommend booking this far in advance. Once you arrive at the airport, the private transfer will be there to take you directly to your hotel in Cernobbio/Como. It will cost around $100 but it's the fastest and most convenient way to get there directly in about 1 hour. You will have space for your luggage and don't have to worry about navigating through the train stations. The train is a more cost-friendly option (20 euro), but it is a huge challenge if you have lots of luggage. The trip will take around 2 hours, has at least one train transfer, and the second train does not have much space for luggage. There is also no train station in the town of Cernobbio. The train will arrive in Como S. Giovanni station which is around a 10 min taxi from Cernobbio and probably a 5 min taxi to any accommodation in Como. Taxis in Lake Como can be unreliable and ubers are basically non existant.
Taxi's and Ubers in Lake Como are very unreliable. We were told there are only 30 taxis total in the Lake Como area. To call a taxi, you need to call the taxi company and have them send someone to pick you up. At odd hours, it is common for them to not even answer. Ubers basically don't exist, it will say a ride is coming and the car will not move for hours. I'm convinced there are 5 old Italian guys who singed up for uber on accident and just don't understand what happening on their phone when they get ride requests. If you are staying a hotel, talk to the front desk as they will have a better chance of getting one to your location. There are several private transfer companies and it is easier to schedule rides with them ahead of time. For Events there will be a shuttle picking guests up from dedicated pick up locations
Renting a car to get from Milan to Cernobbio/Como is doable. The signs can be confusing but the roads aren't bad and drivers are only mildly crazy. But we do NOT recommend driving any further north of Cernobbio. The roads get very tight, even going to one lane in some areas, and difficulty reading the signs. Please be mindful of that when considering renting a car.
Yes it is possible, but it is a 4-5 hour train ride with at least one connection. The second leg of the trip (Milan to Como) is a smaller train with not much room for luggage, and once you arrive in Como station you have to then find a taxi to Cernobbio or your accommodations in Como.
The best way to get there is by ferry and there is a ferry station right in Cernobbio and a few in Como. The train stations in Chernobbio tend to be Significantly less crowded than in Como Please keep in mind that the ferry makes frequent stops and takes about 3 hours to get there, each way. Traveling to these places will be an all day event and you will likely miss a wedding event if you go on the same day. We recommend doing this on a day where there are no wedding events scheduled. If your ferry ride gets cancelled, you may need to return on a bus. The bus goes there and back in a similar amount of time. There are also fast ferry's that can get you there in around 1:45-2 hrs and we recommending using this website to book it. https://www.navigazionelaghi.it/
Trains are a very cheap and easy way to get around Italy. You can show up to the station 20-30 minutes before departure, hop in the train, and get to your destination with a beautiful view. The two high-speed train companies are Italo and Frecciarossa. Both are pretty comparable and we've had great experiences with both! Italo is slightly nicer but there is not much of a difference. If you are carrying 2 or more bags a person, it can be very difficult to get in/out of trains especially if you're trying to connect to another one. One thing to note is that trains in Italy are notoriously late, so make sure to have enough time if you have a short train transfer or catching a flight. We've almost missed a flight because of this. There are some airline companies that can fly you around Europe for very cheap like Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet. There is not a lot of room and they are very strict on baggage so if you're carrying lots of bags, there will likely be extra charges. (Think Spirit Airlines, but in Europe)
When buying train tickets, we recommend using Omio. Its a user-friendly app/website that lets you find and buy train tickets. Tickets can be bought last second but we recommend buying them at least 1-2 weeks in advance. One time, we needed to buy a last-minute train ticket in Rome and line at the kiosk was extremely long, so we just opened the app, bought the ticket, and scanned it at the gate to hop on the train! Omio does flights, ferries, and busses too. We've also used it for ferries in Greece and it's worked great there as well! If traveling elsewhere after the wedding, we highly recommend using Omio to book your fast ferries or train tickets.