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8 Days Milan to Rome itinerary?

Posted by on

I've decided to change my flight into Milan on 4/24 and out of Rome on 5/2. This being our first trip to Italy, we are so torn on where to go. I think we are more drawn to the "small-town" Italy experience although everything seems great. Here is what I my wife and I are thinking about. We arrive in Milan at 6:00 am on 4/24 and will head to Lake Come (probably Verenna area) for 2 nights. Can't really decide between heading from Como to Venice or Cinque Terre next. We would love to see Siena and look at wineries, etc. before making our way down to Rome.

Day 1-2 Lake Como
Day3-6 Venice
Days 7-8 Rome

OR.....

Day 1-2 check in somewhere at Lake Como (Verenna or Bellaggio?) for 2 nights (is this worthy of 2 nights or only 1?)
Day 3-4 head to Cinque Terre for 2 nights
Day 5-6 leave CT and head to Siena for 2 nights
Day 7-8 see as much of Rome as possible in a day & a half

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Posted by
23671 posts

These questions are always difficult to respond to since there is no right or wrong, correct or incorrect. Since Como is in the direction of Venice, I would continue with your first option. It is very easily done with train service. I would reduce Venice by one night and add it to Rome.

Schedule 2, involves back tracking if you go to Como. I would go to CT, maybe stick in Florence, then Siena and Rome. Again it can be done with trains but not as smoothly as schedule 1. By that I mean for Regional trains with connections. Either one works so it became a matter of personal preference.

Posted by
5295 posts

Agree with Frank -- use option one and drop a day from Venice and add it to Rome. TC

Posted by
8056 posts

We had a week in Rome, and just scratched the surface. Consider getting Roma Passes, to save on admission fees to many sights, plus bus/tram/metro fares. Either a 2-day or 3-day Pass is available. For a "small-town" experience in Rome, try to pop across the Tiber River and see some of the Trastevere neighborhood.

Posted by
16895 posts

When traveling by train, connections from Varenna to nearly anywhere in Italy all include backtracking through Milano Centrale station; see the maps in Rick's Italy guidebook and www.trenitalia.com for schedules. Travel time is also similar for that that first day departing Varenna; from Milan to Venice by direct train takes 2.5 hours or direct train to Monterosso takes closer to 3 hours.

Arriving 6:00 a.m. at Milan airport allows you to get to Varenna in time to still see something, probably at by 11:30 a.m.. If you are dragging with jet lag, you could enjoy sitting on the mid-lake ferry service, but might feel less inspired to explore the steep streets in each town.

Posted by
11852 posts

Frank is sending you in the right direction. Looking at the nights in each place:
24th-25th -- Varenna
26th-27th-28th -- Venezia
29th-30th-1st -- Rome

The Cinque Terre takes extra time for to-and-from. Skip it in favor of reducing transfer times.

You will be planning your second trip on the way home. :-)

Posted by
12 posts

Thanks everyone for the help. We went ahead and booked two nights at Borgo Le Terrazze in the Bellagio area and 3 nights in Venice at Locanda La Corte. Still need to figure out where we are staying in Rome. Can't wait to get there.

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