Hello!
I am heading to northern Italy with my daughter in June. We will have:
I have four days left to schedule and we fly out of Milan. Thoughts on how to spend the remaining days?
Will have car but could also return at this point and switch to train.
I presume the last night will be spent closer to the Milan airport.
It’s hard to advise not knowing where you have been previously and what your interests are.
Venice could be an option. However you need 3 night to make it worthwhile. If that appeals to you, maybe it would be best to return the car in Venice since a car would be of no use in the lagoon.
If Venice does not interest you, and your flight is out of Milan Malpensa, there could be the option of visiting Lake Maggiore (for example Stresa), which is only 45-50 min drive from the Malpensa airport.
Given you have 4 days in the Dolomites, consider visiting the otherside of South Tyrol where the mountains collide with Mediterranean Italy. Merano would make a great base for exploring in June: https://throneandvine.com/things-to-do-merano-meran/. You'll enjoy a gorgeous mix of alpine views blended with mountainside vineyards and orchards plus some of the prettiest castles in the Alps. Some of my favorite walks and hikes in the region are here. Have a great trip with your daughter!
Suggestion from Roberto and Kate sound good. If you are interested in a city but not as big as Milan or as crowded as Venice, Bologna is on the way back to Milan and a good base for day trips such as Ravenna and Parma. You would not need to keep the car.
Venice seems like a solid choice… but maybe it sounds good to me because this is our exact itinerary 😄
But also with 4 days, there’s plenty of time to venture down to Florence or even Rome on the train if you wanted. Just depends on what you’re interested in… or you could take the train to La Spezia and enjoy Cinque Terre for a few days.
If you opt for Bologna, or even Parma or Modena, 3-4 days is a good amount to time to enjoy some of Emilia Romagna. Highly recommend!
When you count days instead of nights, it's a bit difficult to envision. Do you have 4 nights or 3 nights left? I always recommend spending your last night near the airport unless you have a late afternoon or evening flight. I love Venice but it's likely to be very crowded. I like the suggestion of Bologna, especially if you only have 3 nights. You can day trip to Parma, Modena, or Padua for a day. The train is very fast and convenient (no traffic, no parking issues, no ZTL fears).
