One week in Italy

Ummm, fly into Milan and take the train to the Cinque Terre?

I'm assuming you're returning from Milan as well. Don't waste any time in Milan. Train to Florence for a couple of days. Take the train to Cinque Terre, stopping in Pisa for a few hours along the way. Return to Milan.

I think Doug's suggestions are exactly right for your trip, they fit your flying in/out location (Milan) and fit the amount of time you have. You'll probably fly into Milan Malpensa (Milan has 2 airports), in which case you'll take the shuttle bus from the airport to the Milan Centrale train station (about an hour to cover the 30 miles, the airport is 30 miles northwest of Milan city center), where you'll catch the train to the CT. And you'll be able to train to Florence from the CT.

You didn't say if this is your first trip to Italy.

I like CT as a relaxing stop from an otherwise busy vacation. On a one-week trip, I would only spend half a day there, continue on through Pisa and then to another place for the night.

I would probably either keep all stops between Milan and Florence to Milan and Venice with stops between to limit time spent traveling.

Thank you very much for the suggestions. This IS our first trip to Italy. We'd like to be relaxed as possible and not spend too much time travelling from place to place. We've heard conflicting information about the Cinque Terre. Some say that we could spend all week there and others say to stop there for only a couple of nights. Other ideas?

Sus,

With such a short time frame, I'd suggest visiting two locations only. Spending a full week in the Cinque Terre is probably a bit much, but for another location you could choose between Florence and Lago di Como (Varenna). With only one week in Italy, I would most definitely skip Pisa!

To begin with, especially as you're flying from the west coast you'll lose your first day in flight times and time zone changes. You'll likely arrive at MXP the day after you departed. That leaves six days for travel.

As Kent mentioned, you can take the Airport Shuttle from MXP to Milano Centrale and from there it won't be difficult to get to your first destination. Depending on what time your flight lands, my preference would be to carry on to your first location, even though you'll probably be tired and jet lagged. Buy P-P tickets when you arrive at the station. Varenna would be a good choice as it's only one hour from Milano (as opposed to 3H+ to the C.T.), but Florence is only about two hours, so that's a possibility too.

Spend 2-3 days in the first location and then take the train to the Cinque Terre for 3 days. I would probably leave that to the last, as that seems like the place you're most interested in and will probably leave you with some great memories of the end of your trip. Hike the trails, enjoy the Pesto, Frutti di Mare and Wines, and then take the train back to Milano for the flight home.

You'll have to choose which of the five C.T. villages to stay in. It would help to offer suggestions if you could indicate which of the secondary locations would be of most interest to you (Florence or Lago di Como?).

As this is your first trip to Italy, a "caveat" regarding Milano Centrale. You'll probably find this a bit chaotic and daunting, but if you're well prepared you should have no problems (hopefully your time there will not be too long).

Happy travels!

With your limited time, I would forgo Pisa. The only thing to see is the tower. Big deal! Look at a post card to get the same results. I would purchase a few guide books to determine what sightseeing destinations interests you. Do a little homework for to save some time.

In my opinion, the Cinque Terre have been hyped beyond all reason by Rick Steves. You will have one week on a first trip to Italy, and you want to spend it in a place with no historic or artistic importance? You're from Seattle, so you must have some familiarity with beautiful coastline. Also, in March the weather may be rainy; in which case, the CT will be considerably less charming than in good weather. From Milan you can easily get to Tuscany or the Veneto. Both regions offer a nice mix of outdoor and indoor attractions (in case of bad weather). Both have exremely beautiful areas, which are different from where you live. Either one will provide you with meals you'll dream about years later.

Hello Sus. When I went to Italy, I flew to the Malpensa airport of Milan, and I immediately travelled in a train (First Class train car) to the Mediteranean Sea coast, to a Cinque Terre Village. I decided to go there first, after the all night flight across the Atlantic Ocean from the U.S.A., for me to rest and try to experience physical and emotional well being at the Sea coast, before confronting a busy city in Italy. I am glad I did that. If you decide to go to the Cinque Terre first, try to ride in an Express train from the Central train station in Milan to Monterosso. If you are not in the Express train to Monterosso, the train could move very slowly near the coastal cities. The train ride from Monterosso to Vernazza is a three minute trip. Stay at the Cinque Terre two nights. I think : being at a total of two places for overnight accomodations is a good idea. Your second destination could be Florence : go on day trips from Florence. The day you travel (in trains) from the Cinque Terre to Florence, you could stop at the hill town Lucca, for two hours there. Lucca is some people's favorite hill town in Italy. You will see plenty of Italian Renaissance art, and interesting old architecture (made of rocks) in florence. Plan for some time for just talking with Italian people. Italian people like to talk with American people. (They talk in the English language, very well). Being in Italy can be a pleasure for visitors who are not in a hurry. I was at the pleasant seaside spot at the village Manorola, and I walked on the trail from Corniglia to Vernazza March 13 (in the year 2004). The climate there that day was pleasant -- Blue sky, bright sunlight, air temperature = 68 degrees F., no wind.

We love the idea of landing in Milan, getting on the train and heading for Florence for a few days, then by train to the Cinque Terre for a few nights.

We are leaving on a Saturday morning from Milan. Flight leaves at around noon. We are thinking that we better spend that last night in or around Milan so that we can get to the airport (MXP) on time. Any tips on places to stay? Any tips on how to be sure to get to airport without any trouble? I haven't been to Milan, but have spent lots of time in NYC. It's amazing how when in NY, I can often almost miss my flight even though I leave plenty of time to get to the airport.

Thanks for the tips!

We had a discussion of hotels near Malpensa Airport last year. I've been going through it to update links and found, in many cases, prices have come down since last year. Take a look.

we spent 2 full days in Milan and were busy

can you at least fit in the Duomo and the Last Supper

We used Santa Margherita Ligure as our home base for 2 days CT and 1 dsy Portofino...actually met Rick Steves in Vernazza!

we found staying in SML very relaxing and train was 20 min away and ferry into portofino breathtaking

we then headed to Firenze

have a wonderful time ....

buon viaggio

I'm with Rosalyn. When we were in Italy for a month, people questioned why we did not visit CT, or the lakes area, or why I was not totally impressed with the Amalfi coast. My take is that we have mountains, lakes and coastlines in America too; what we don't have is the Renaissance and 2000 years of history. But the important thing I think is to please yourself...do what appeals to you and you'll have a ball.