3 Days Itinerary in Italy / Switzerland – Como, Morcote & Milan (Part 1) 6 Days Road Trip – Como Italy + Morcote Switzerland + Chamonix Mont Blanc

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6 Days Road Trip Como Milan Chamonix

This August we are actually planning for a Birthday Trip to Chamonix Mont Blanc. However, we have family guests from Singapore that is flying to Milan. So happen that it was a holiday in France on 15th of August.

So why not plan this trip early and have a longer holiday.

Our route is from Sens => Mulhouse => Lake Como => Lake Lugano => Foxtown, Switzerland => Milan => Chamonix and home. This entire road trip took us 1666 km and is one of the most expensive road trip ever taken.

This is due to the Mont Blanc Tunnel we have taken which cost €44 and from Chamonix to Sens it cost another €40+ for Toll fees.

You drive only already include like S$200 lehs! And this route we take by the Basel side. Imagine the same way to and fro, I think take aeroplane cheaper lehs.

The Road Tax is for the highway sticker for driving in Switzerland. It is definitely worth it consider we have driven in our previous trip to Milan / Venice.

Day 0: Drive to Mulhouse

So similar to our Milan/Venice trip, we left house at 5pm and booked a night stay at Mulhouse. And the next morning we head out to Como. And this time round we are more prepared as we have bought the Sim card that covers Europe and Switzerland as well. Cost only €15 ! Definitely worth the price too.

And along the way, we witness numerous rainbow, from end to end. We even saw a huge double rainbow. 

Swee hor? So lucky to see like at least 4 rainbows during our 5 hours drive.

Stay: Airbnb Near Basel

psss.. The stay is only €25. Song hor? But this time they never prepare breakfast leh. But we never ask also.

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Day 1: Drive to Como, Italy

Park: Parcheggio Centro Lago, Como Italy

Along the way from the Carpark to the Kebap store is a 10mins walk because in centre Como, there is a restriction zone similar to major cities in Italy. So if you plan to drive to Como, please take note of this restriction zone.

Eat: Turkiye Pizzeria - Kebap

We picked up our guests at the Como train station and head for lunch at [Turkiye Pizzeria - Kebap] . This is probably one of the few stalls opened after 2.30pm.

And before we depart from Mulhouse, we checked that the weather was 25°c - 28°c in the afternoon. A good weather to be dressed in shorts and T-shirt. Who knows while driving to Como, the weather become chilling and rainy and it was like 18°C.

How to tahan the weather? We wear like go beach like that. Luckily got stand by sweater lor.

Take: Como-Brunate Funicular

The Como–Brunate funicular (Italian: Funicolare Como-Brunate) is a funicular railway that connects the city of Como with the village of Brunate in Lombardy, Italy. 

The line has operated since 1894, and is used by both tourists and local residents. The line is 1,084 metres (3,556 ft) long, of which the lower 130 metres (427 ft) are in tunnel.

The remainder of the line is at or above ground level, with extensive views over the lake and city. There are two intermediate stops, served on request. The upper station is situated in the centre of Brunate, with entrances and exits at both upper and lower levels.

At the upper level, a piazza separates the station from the machine room, which has a gallery allowing public viewing of the haulage machinery.

This is the #2 Things to Do in Como that you should really visit. It is a railway to the top of hill somewhere that you can have a beautiful view of Lake Como, Como and the view of Italy too.

The return ticket cost only €5.50 for a 15mins ride to the top.

Tip

Tip: Be sure to take the seat that is facing the Lake for a good view.

On top of the hill, there is supposedly a 1 hour hiking trail to the lighthouse, but due to the rainy weather, we decided to chill at the cafe near the rail station.

At the Cafe

Overseeing Lake Como

Overseeing Lake Como

Lake Como

Lake Como

We ended our Tram to the Peak Tour and time to head back to our stay which is at Morcote,Switzerland a 45mins drive.

REVIEW ON COMO BRUNATE FUNICULAR

5 Stars for this tram ride up the peak. You can view of Lake Como at a glance, and admire other beautiful scenery. If not for the rain, we may have hike up to the light house and see even better views.
Highly Recommended for those coming to Como.

Don 
Professional Reviewer

Stay: Morcote - Airbnb

We specifically chose this accommodation because of the Aircon and Lake View. You can imagine how afraid we are during summer. Because we experienced that kind of hot nights during our Germany trip.

View from the Balcony

View from the Balcony

Beautiful Morning View

Beautiful Morning View

So in order to have a better sleep, we booked the accommodation that comes with aircon and this comes with a fantastic lake view too.

And this apartment also got a Jaccuzzi! But I tried to operate it, cannot get it to work plus fill the water need like 20-30mins. Imagine 3 more people waiting to use the toilet.

Dinner: Ristorante della Torre

And because it's one of our friend's birthday, we had a good dinner at Ristorante della Torre. Man! This is the #1 restaurant in Morcote and definitely lives up to his name. We were warmly welcomed by one of the staffs. And the menu was in French or Italian, so we were advised to tell him what would we like to eat.

Some Appetizer - Bread with Tomato

Some Appetizer - Bread with Tomato

We ordered 2 x Spicy Seafood Spaghetti (Special Order), 1x Carbonara, 1x Foie Gras.

And to our surprise, we will also given some appetitizer on the house! So nice of the restaurant. The appetitizer is some brocoli soup that taste superb. Maybe I should try to prepare this soup at 松记

The portion for the Seafood Spaghetti is huge compared to the Carbonara. And it only cost €2 more! So next time when you visit Ristorante della Torre, remember to order the Seafood Spaghetti ! So many Mussels, Lala and Sotong compared to the Carbonara only got some ham.

Our Dinner

You say which one more Wu Hua?

And of course, Birthdays definitely must have a birthday cake. The kitchen prepared a brownie with some sparkles! The cake without Sparkles cost €11. With sparkles cost €11 also. How nice is that?

So we eat all these for €140 (including the €8 Mineral Water). I drink beer lah, so that won't so heart pain to spend S$12 on a bottle of mineral water.

Review - Ristorante della Torre

Overall, A little expensive but the service and the food is excellent. Good experience! Highly recommended. Be sure to other the Seafood Spaghetti !

Don 
Professional Reviewer

Day 2: Shopping and Shopping

Shop: Foxtown, Switzerland

All right, the girls wanted some shopping and so we head for Foxtown Shopping Outlet. One of the more popular shopping outlets in Switzerland. Probably it is near to Italy, hence the popularity.

Foxtown Outlet Shopping

Foxtown Outlet Shopping

But the outlet here don't seem cheap leh. We can get better deals at the outlet stores in France.

Eat: Ristorante FoxGrill

We googled for some food at Foxtown, but forgot to check out tripadvisor. It seems like this cannot be so jialat.

Wah piang, we ordered for 4 person, total cost like 60+CHF! Where got people eat lunch so expensive one. S$90 for a fast food lunch can eat like a King you know?

We ordered a Chicken in the Basket, A menu of 6-7 Chicken wings, Lasange (which is cold) and a Sausage meal.

Guess the Price

If S$90 sell like that in Singapore, don't know how many become like the Serangoon Porridge Stall.

We should have sticked to eating Mcdonald's lah!​

Review - Ristorante FoxGrill

Jin Jialats sia this Fast Food. Expensive and the lasagne not warm. Wasted forgot to read the Tripadvisor review lor.

Don 
Professional Reviewer

Go: Villa del Balbianello (Tremezzina)

This is the #1 visit in Lake Como, we were supposed to visit this place. But the girls go shopping until no need go. Hear say this is the Villa where the Starwars and James Bond movie is filmed. Also good lah, it cost €20 to enter and takes 20mins to walk to the entrance.

I think shopping more important for the girls.

#truestory

#truestory

Shop: Centro II, Primark

I think hor, this is the highlight of the whole Italy trip. Everyone loves Primark. If you are in Europe or UK, be sure to check out Primark. Sure got something to buy one. Every quarter we go also go something to buy. The things are relatively cheaper than Uniqlo in Singapore.

Sorry Uniqlo! You been overtaken by Primark. And if you need thermal wear, you can actually check out Decathlon in Singapore too.

€350+ of Primark! This is how much the 4 of us bought. The 2 of us only spent €100 the most. Imagine one item cost €8-10 average. They probably gotten at least 25 items! Hoot ah!

Our Loots

Stay: Marriot, Milan

Okay, Marriot Milan is definitely a worthy stay that we had. For €90 a night, you get breakfast included (Worth €32 for 2). Very worth it! It has been quite sometime since we book a hotel stay, because the parking and rooms in hotels are usually expensive. But this time, the night stay was a bargain! And parking is €15. Okay, why not right?

The reception staffs was polite and provides excellent customer service. Our room looks decent enough for a 4 star Hotel stay. And we are so looking forward to the breakfast.

Day 3: Centre Milan | Drive to Chamonix

INTERNATIONAL BREAKFAST leh! We were salivating at the thought of it. 7 early 8 early, we go check out the breakfast. Wah sad! I was hoping got Char Bee Hoon or Char Mee with some You Tiao and porridge. But okay lah, they have an Egg Station that prepares the omelette and Scambled Egg. So Mai hiam lah. Some Hashbrown and Sauages to complete our breakfast.

What is nice about the breakfast is the Coffee Station. They have disposable cups that allow you to dabao the coffee out of the breakfast lounge! Shiok right? If that day got Singapore tour group, this station confirm long queue one.

Go: Duomo, Milan

Okay, we came here before in our Milan trip. This time the scammers not so aggressive leh. Only see like a few at the train station stairs exit. I wonder why like that. And so we bid goodbye to family guests, check out and head for Chamonix!

Oh, one last thing. The carpark payment damn stupid one. You need to walk one big round to the machine at Level B1, pay liao after that when you drive till the gantry, you still need to press to talk to the operator for him to lift the barrier. Other than that, our stay was pretty pleasant.

Drive: Milan to Chamonix

It is a 3 Hours Drive to Chamonix, excluding the usual jam at the Mont Blanc Tunnel. If you have to pay €44 for the usage of the Tunnel, I cannot understand why there is such inefficiency in it. Maybe they should operate like UK, Dartford where you can pay online and cross the Tunnel with ease.

We were probably stuck in the queue for at least 30mins, no doubt it is a short queue. But it is very slow. Once we paid for the ticket, it is like a 15mins drive and boom, we are at Chamonix!

We are at France!

It was like 9pm when we reach our accommodation.

Click here for our 3 Days Itinerary in Chamonix - Mont Blanc​

Check Out Our 6 Days Road Trip Series


About the author 

Donovan

Don is a Kiasu Singaporean that blogs his journey while exploring Europe.
A Singapore Travel Blog that provides travel guides and tips on how to travel free and easy in Europe.

  • This trip looks like soooo much fun! I’m not sure when I’ll make it back to Europe but whenever that is, I’m definitely going to want to hit up Italy and Switzerland!

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