I'm planning my first trip to Italy for Oct. 1-15, 2011. Flying into Malpensa, I have 4 days solo before meeting up with friends in either Milan or Varenna. I'm thinking of heading up to Stresa and Locarno before swinging back down to meet them. Any pointers, or better ideas? I'm very much hoping to experience the "back door" for the most part (I'll save Rome for a future trip). Upon joining the friends, the rest of the itinerary includes Venice, Florence, and Cinque Terre, then return to U.S. By the way, I'm doing all of this by train/bus (not renting a car).
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Ramona, CA, USA
73 posts
As far as a "back door" experience, I loved Lucca, in Tuscany. It's a beautiful quaint village, surrounded by a medival wall that is now topped by a public garden and a bike path that circles the entire city! In the month I spent in Italy for my first time, Lucca was one of my two favorite cities (Venice was my other favorite). If you only have 4 days, you won't want to go too far south, so I'd recommend looking in Lucca for 2 days, and maybe one other town for another 2 days. Remember, you'll loose at least one of those days to jetlag. And Lucca is easily accessable by train. Boun viaggio!