Please sign in to post.

4 days in northern Italy in mid-April

Posted by (Minnesota (ex Norway)) on

Greetings,

My wife and I have just relocated to Norway. I have the pleasure of spending the first week of April in Bern, Switzerland for work. Because the following week (just before Easter) is a big holiday week in Norway, my mom is coming to visit from the US. She will meet me in Zurich early on Saturday. We have one day in Zurich before taking a train to Milan (ticket purchased already), where we will meet my wife on Sunday evening in Bergamo. We need to be back in Bergamo on Thursday evening to fly to Norway.

The original plan was to go to the Berner Oberland as I was there in August 2010 and I think it's still the most breathtaking place I've ever been. I got some info from one of the threads that the Berner Oberland is pretty hit or miss in April, and so we've pretty much decided to stick to northern Italy (and are open to other suggestions...)

Some parameters:

-I have been to Cinque Terre twice (and my mom has been there once), we really liked it but prefer to go elsewhere on this trip
-my mom and I were in Milan before, don't need to spend time there again
-same with Florence
-we were thinking of renting a car for flexibility, but that may not be possible because the Norwegian DMV has taken my US license while I wait to take my Norwegian driving test (so for now I have a temporary printed out license - on A4 paper - that is only valid in the Nordic countries); my mom and wife will probably not feel comfortable driving in Italy.

Current ideas:

-Venice
-Lake Como or other surrounding lakes
-Bolzano
-Trieste, Slovenia or even Croatia?
-night trains to take advantage of our rather limited time? (we are very willing to leave Italy for a day or two)

Thank you so much for any help you can provide! I know this is all a bit vague, but we're very flexible and willing to entertain all ideas at this point.

Thanks,

Geoff

Posted by
3 posts

I think Venice would be a great choice. Lack of a car obviously isn't an issue, and Venice is a place that everyone needs to experience! Aside from the beauty of the city itself, it can serve as a good base for other day trips. The islands in the Venetian lagoon (Murano, Burano, Torcello and Lido) are all easy to get to by boat for a day trip and each offer unique characteristics. Several interesting towns are within an hour or so by train - Padova, Bassano del Grappa, Verona, Vicenza, etc. And more great places, like Trieste and Bologna, can be reached by train within a few hours. All of that assuming you aren't so mesmerized by Venice that you don't want to leave! And since the travel time between Milan and Venice is less than three hours, with trains running 1-2 times an hour, you won't lose a lot of time on long train rides or waiting in stations.

Posted by
3696 posts

Being mid-April the weather can be really unpredictable... so I would go with the Venice suggestion and make day trips from there as suggested. Just wandering Venice, even if the weather is bad will be fine, but if you go to Lake Como and find bad weather it can be disappointing. With just four days I would simply find a nice place in Venice. Burano is well worth the trip, especially if you have a beautiful day for the boat trip.

Posted by
396 posts

I love Lake Maggiorie. Lots to do around the lake. Verona and Bologna would also be great cities to spend time in. If you decide on any of these places, I have recommendations in Stresa, Cannobio, Verona and Bologna. PM me and I will give them to you.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.