Around Milan in June for 7 days

There's so many nice options - Lake Maggoire area, Torino, Parma, Cremona, Bergamo, Verona, Bologna, etc. After deciding on what locations interest you, you might want to base in a smaller location - usually cheaper & less tourists which sounds like you would like it better than Milan.

I'm doing exactly the same thing this June (for 8 days), using Milan as a home base for day trips. I'll be visiting Lake Como, Bergamo, Cremona, Piacenza, Torino and Genova. Most are about one hour on the regional trains, except Torino and Genova, for which I've already bought tickets on the Freccia trains in order to get the cheaper prices.

Thanks Bill for the suggestions.
Jean, I was considering Milan as a base since the train connections for day trips would be good. Do you have another recommendation as a base?

Two years ago we spent three nights in Bergamo and really enjoyed the experience. Our hotel was in the old section and we would take a taxi up to "La Citta Alta." We liked everything about the city and will return someday.

Buon viaggio,

My wife and I rented a Milan Airbnb apartment for 7 days in October. We had a great time in Milan and did two day trips ... one day around Lake Como and another day to Bergamo. You might enjoy my wife's photoblog of our visit at graciamc.wordpress.com.

Hi David, my recommendation is to select which smaller town day-trip destinations appeal most to you. Then, if they’re mostly on one side of Milan, you could select a base such as Cremona if it made sense. Or maybe it would become Bologna if you were interested in Ravenna and others near Parma.

Thanks Jean,
I stayed in Bologna last trip. And had side trips to smaller towns like Ravenna and Parma. It was great.
I like Nor. Italy, and Milan seems good for train connections. Spend a few days sightseeing there, and then side trip on the other days.

Thanks Will for the cool blog with photos.
I will definitely be spending a few days in Milan.

Someone recently found this deal. 7 days unlimited travel in Lombardy on regional trains, including Milan Metro and suburban trains for 43 EUR. Everything except the Malpensa Express train. Scroll down to Multi-Day Passes.
http://www.trenord.it/en/tickets/tickets.aspx

Here is the map of validity.
http://www.trenord.it/media/2155431/regionale_2018_a4_v00d.pdf

Milan is a really cool city too. So much to see -- Duomo, The Last Supper (need a reservation), La Scala, Brea Art Museum. My daughters live there and tell me the Navigli area has been re-done and is a great place to go for aperitivo. If you are in the Porta Venezia area, there is a bakery called San Gregorio with amazing pastries. I have heard Sissy (or Sissi) is a great place for a coffee and pastry too.

You could take the train to Bologna (food capital of Italy -- is that even possible?) and have lunch or dinner there. I had the best meal of my life in Bologna years ago - I still remember that I wanted to lick the plate, but that would not be very polite! You can also take the train to Parma, a very nice city with great food.

Stressa on Lake Maggiore is about 45 minutes by train from Milan. It is a lovely town and you can take a ferry to the islands (see the Borremeo Palace and gardens) where there were some pretty good restaurants.

Great choice! Send me a private message if you want me to send you a list of restaurants my daughter put together for traveler-friends.

Terri

I agree with Terri W. that I like Milan a lot. And as I always say, after Venice and Florence, while in Milan it was nice to see Italians instead of tourists!

Note that if you want the main art gallery, it's Brera, not Brea. Highly worth a visit, and again, far less crowded than the art galleries in Rome, Florence, and Venice.

A friend went to Pavia and liked it. I've been to Cremona, Bergamo, and Parma and liked these. I don't know if these are all close enough for day trips. By high speed train (so you would want to book in advance for cheaper fares), Turin is a nice day trip; it's VERY different from other Italian cities. I wasn't as enthralled by Bologna as everyone else is, but it's certainly worth seeing for yourself.

That 7 day card Sam posted about is a real deal, and the map shows it covers a large area.

Thanks for the great suggestions! For the rail pass, that would be local trains that make more stops? What Rick calls a "milk train" with all the stops. I usually go to a main train station like Centrale and catch a train from there, like when I stayed in Bologna and went to Ravenna and Parma. Just trying to understand how it works.
I did not see a link to buy the train pass, would you buy it in Italy?

If you were in Bologna and took a train to Ravenna, you rode regionale "milk run" trains. For Parma the Regionale Veloce trains take 55 minutes and the Frecciabianca take 48 minutes.

Look at the map of of validity and see the red RE trains. They are regional express trains that make limited stops and are almost as fast as Freccia trains on a given route. To go to place like Lake Como, you pretty much have to take regional trains.

The Lo Viaggio in Lombardia tickets are sold in Italy.

Purchase:railway ticket offices, self-service machines, Trenord authorised resellers [SEARCH] or local transport agency resellers.

Resellers usually indicate Tabacchi and travel agencies.

I suggest a visit to the Monumental Cemetery (Cimitero Monumentale in Italian).
It is amazing!!
You can get on the city bus right outside the Duomo and get off across the street from the Cemetery. (detailed instructions in the RS Italy book) We spent several hours there - lots of history, amazing grounds, even a lifesize bronze of the Last Supper on one of the family plots
(walk back across the street and hop the city bus back to the Duomo area.)

Thank Sam, I will buy this pass when I arrive.

Milan is so good a base that even Florence, with high speed trains, is within two hours travel time. Other places may be nicer, but only Bologna has as good connections as Milan.

A few years ago we did the Venice-Florence-Rome trip...but our fly in/out city was Milan.

I had a few days after our vacation to stay in Milan while my wife went home.

I took the train to Lake Como (Varenna) for a day and it was a nice relaxing day. Beautiful lake, good food and wine, took the ferry around the town...then later took the train back to Milan. Easy day trip.

Another day, I took the same train to to Tirano and then the Bernina Express train to Pontresina Switzerland. It was June and we went through snow and saw glaciers. The scenery was the best ever...a never forget it train trip.

I stayed one night in Potresina...a sleepy town with not a lot of folks espeically in the summer. If I had it to do again, maybe I would had gone to St. Moritz and did a few glacier furnicular rides.

The train trip to the area was the best.

Thanks lachera. I stayed in Bologna last trip, it was a great spot for train connections.

Thanks Kevin. So many good suggestions here from fellow travelers.