How do I get from Bellagio to Mandello del Lario?

[Jurgen]

We are visiting Italy in a couple of weeks.  Staying for 3 days in Bellagio and planning on visiting "The Museum".  Is there a boat or train or other public transport to Mandello del Lario?  We could not find any mention in the travel brochures.

Any help would be appreciated.  I read the forum every day, or can be reached at <jgamtmann2@gmail.com>

Jurgen

[pehayes]

Easiest is probably to take the ferry from Bellagio  to Varenna, walk up the hill and then take the train to Mandello del Lario.  You can also do the whole thing by ferry only, but I think the trip would be quicker and more frequent to combine the ferry and train.  Trains from Varenna are hourly and take 20 minutes.  Ferry from Bellagio to Varenna is very frequent.  Ferry from Bellagio to Mandello del Lario is much longer and less frequent , but it is relaxing and romantic if the weather is nice.  Could do ferry one way and train/ferry coming back.

Train schedules are at:
trenitalia.com

Ferry schedules are at:

http://www.navlaghi.it/file2/Ramo_Lecco_E13.pdf

I use this site a lot to help identify alternate public transport options:

rome2rio.com

Here is your robust walk from the Varenna Ferry terminal up to the Varenna-Esino Train Station.  5 minutes






Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Gino]

just bear in mind "the museum " is only open from 3-4pm

[Jurgen]

Thanks Patrick and Gino.  This makes it a lot easier to plan.  Jurgen

[tris]

People ferry direct is great if you can make the timings work and you have loads of time to take photos

[perk5560]

Thanks Patrick and Gino.  This makes it a lot easier to plan.  Jurgen

I read that on the "Proud MG Owner email I received today and thought those hours must be a misprint or translation snafu.  Only an hour?  Does that mean they rush you out of there after an hour or do they not allow anyone else in after 4 pm?  Better look quick I guess.

In addition, I read somewhere of an "open house" at the factory in the past couple of years and was wondering if anyone knows anymore about this and whether it is ever repeated.  When I bought my bike at Adventure Motorsports in Pensacola the sales manager told he had taken the factory tour some years back.

Dave

[pehayes]

I read that on the "Proud MG Owner email I received today and thought those hours must be a misprint or translation snafu.  Only an hour?  Does that mean they rush you out of there after an hour or do they not allow anyone else in after 4 pm?  Better look quick I guess.

In addition, I read somewhere of an "open house" at the factory in the past couple of years and was wondering if anyone knows anymore about this and whether it is ever repeated.  When I bought my bike at Adventure Motorsports in Pensacola the sales manager told he had taken the factory tour some years back.

Dave

Yes, limited hours at the museum.  Actually it is not that large and probably that is enough time.  Also, there are no diorama type displays or paraphernalia displays.  It is just a hallway with rows of prior model bikes.

As for an open house, he might be referring to the annual 'raduno' held around mid-September.  In important years, as many as 15,000 guzzisti descend on this quaint little town from around the world.  Likely my next chance will be the 2021 "CENTENARY" event.  Info about the 95th anniversary this year is at:

http://www.guzzi-days.net/indexgb.htm

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Rotten Ralph]

Took the ferry - missed the museum hours - fun stop at Agostini's - then to the local pub to watch football. Don't forget to get a Mandello Guzzi Club T shirt at Agostini's.

[leafman60]

Yes, limited hours at the museum.  Actually it is not that large and probably that is enough time. 

Are you kidding??? An hour is barely enough time to walk through and just glance at all the stuff. An hour would be a "wife's visit."

[Wayne Orwig]

just bear in mind "the museum " is only open from 3-4pm

When I got there early, the guard said "3 to 4........maybe.....".
So it is 'Italian time' so to speak.

[twowings]

Is it just the U.S/Great Britain that are so OBSESSED with time? Europeans, Latins, Asians, & Middle Easterners appear to have a much more sane approach to a healthy diet of personal time and relaxed scheduling...maybe a reason for the obvious spirituality and beauty that infuses the art, culture, and magnificent designs that originate in those regions?

[rodekyll]

Is it just the U.S/Great Britain that are so OBSESSED with time? Europeans, Latins, Asians, & Middle Easterners appear to have a much more sane approach to a healthy diet of personal time and relaxed scheduling...maybe a reason for the obvious spirituality and beauty that infuses the art, culture, and magnificent designs that originate in those regions?

Up against a deadline?   

Europe -- Italian endless summer is driving them bankrupt.  Can't keep a government together.  Greece wants the leisure time but not the work time and won't cut back on the perks as they run over the edge.  Also BK.  Carribean . . Central America . .. . ditto.  Asians -- stereotypically the opposite.  100 hour work weeks while the kids are in communal care.  High suicide rates are the cost of their overachievement and obsession with squeezing as much production out of a day as possible.  And the middle east?  Culturally and technically extinct since the founding of islam.  Completely unstuck in time and don't care for so long that any indication that time is moving forward is met with swift retribution.

USA -- works less to make more than anywhere else.  Spends it on crap and leisure time more than anywhere else.  Our obsession with time is an obsession with WASTING it.

Sorry -- this had nothing to do with the topix.

[twowings]

'Up against a deadline?   '

Not me...I'm retired. 

[Gino]

Been there multiple times, apart from the festival in September always the same script, wait in the queue at the gates until they open around 3, shepherded out at 4. First time I visited about 20 years ago I met a couple of Danish guys who were staying for 5 days so they could see all the bikes properly. Also the factory shop are never that friendly or excited to see you no matter where your from. Still well worth the privilege despite the lack of enthusiasm. As for Agostini's take a big wallet if you want to buy a T shirt, they get rich on suckers like us 

[Moto]

I visited just once, so don't know the general situation. For me, it was in at 3 and out at 4, approximately.

That's not enough time to see everything. What I did, and would recommend if you like the idea, is spend a lot of time with two or three of the GP racers, even lying on the floor to get a good look at the technology. (Or choose your own favorites.) The guard -- allegedly really named Luigi -- found my activities worth keeping his eye on, but didn't interfere at all. He seemed to accept my eccentricity, and I got more out of the visit than just a walking tour down the rows.

In a way, better overviews of all the models are available in books like Columbo's. But being inches away from the actual racers is something to relish. It's best if you actively reflect on what you're seeing.

Moto