Advice on Lake Como; Going on Shadow-Venice to Athens 9/23

Any suggestions on Bellagio hotels and best way to make it from Bellagio to the ship in Venice? Drivers from Milan airport to Lake Como? Any thoughts on special things to see or do on this itinerary most appreciated!:

Fri Sep 23 Venice, Italy Embark

Sat Sep 24 Venice, Italy 6:00pm

Sun Sep 25 Ancona, Italy 8:00am 7:00pm

Mon Sep 26 Hvar, Croatia 8:00am 5:00pm

Tue Sep 27 Dubrovnik, Croatia 8:00am 4:00pm

Wed Sep 28 At Sea

Thu Sep 29 Mykonos, Greece 8:00am 11:00pm

Fri Sep 30 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 7:00am

- In Bellagio, Villa Serbelloni is a nice hotel.

- That hotel will pick-up [for a fee, of course] from the Milan

airport or you can rent a car and self-drive [hairy, narrow

winding roads].

- I think that the trip from Bellagio to Venice will be rather

long. I suspect that you could take a train from Milan to

Venice....but I haven't done this route myself. Perhaps

someone else will be able to be more helpful.

Personally I prefer Villa d'Este in Cernobbio--a lovely, although pricey estate. Harry's Bar (not the Harry of Venice fame) is less than a five-minute walk away and is delightful! To travel to Venice from Como, I would take the train to Milan and change trains to Venice. Concierges usually have up-to-date schedules.

I,also, prefer Villa d'Este BUT it is considerably more expensive and

not in Ballagio [altho an easy glide across the lake].

A lake steamer ...with a stop at a village for lunch... is a lovely way to spend the day either form bellagio ro Cernobbia

nice to have a car and easy drive from milan to the lake.......stay at both places, both different, but worthwhile. villa d'este is a place you need to do at least once in a lifetime- if you don't like it, then its a place you don't ever have to go back to! ;)