Fly into Milan or Rome?

Good info from Kent to consider. me I do not care for Milan to stay but it is a good airport if you visit Lake Como or Lake Maggiore areas.

I've done it both ways: it depends partly on the cost comparison of the several ways of doing it, I can count 3 ways instead of the 2 you present. First, some terminology. Flying into Milan and out of Rome is called "open jaw", compared to the "normal" "roundtrip" method if you fly into and out of Rome. There's a 3rd possible alternative: investigate the cost of flying into Pisa or Florence airports, which are closer to Florence than the Milan airport and eliminate the greater travel distance of getting from Milan to Florence (but not if you can get a much better airfare into Milan). Flying into Milan and out of Rome eliminates the back-tracking by train from Florence to Rome. But be aware that there are 2 Milan airports, Malpensa and Linate. Malpensa is 30+ miles northwest of the Milan city center and requires that you then get from Malpensa to Milan city center to take the train on south to Florence--just add in for the time to do that or investigate flying into Linate re the cost and travel time of that.But in the end you probably want to make some cost estimates of Alternatives A, B and C, and then factor in travel time and convenience to you, not just the dollars--then make your best choice. However you do it, going south to Sorrento/Amalfi unavoidably involves some back-tracking, because you have to go south of Rome, then back up to Rome. There's no perfect or black and white answer that can be given here, it depends on a comparison of the cost and convenience of the alternatives.

we flew into milan and out of rome. our itinerary was
milan to cinque terre to pisa to florence to siena to sorrento to rome. this worked well for us. good luck :):)

Lisa - You can get from Rome airport to Florence faster and cheaper than from Milan airport to Florence.

Thanks very much for the input.
I should have mentioned that I do plan on flying out of Rome but wasn't sure if flying in the same way was the best option.
I don't have any intent on staying in Milan, just using it as a hub as I had thought that the Florence airport was too small and I might not be able to get a good flight/deal there.

Thanks again

Although I prefer Milan airport,the Rome connection to Florence is easier, I think. Unfortunately its not as easy to get to the Sorrento/Amalfi area from either location. Naples is the closest airport and train station to Sorrento,but then you have to connect with a different train to get to Sorrento OR catch the "Curreri" bus from Naples airport for a cheap ride into Sorrento. Unfortunately, there are only a few buses daily and you'd need to coordinate your arrival time, with their departures. I recommend splurging and getting a taxi driver,as mentioned in Rick Steves' book for a Naples airport pickup. They will drop you directly at your hotel and its worry free. All of the transportation connections,be it train or bus,in Italy are hot overcrowded and unreliable. We just got back from the Amalfi coast & used the Moneti family taxi service several times. They were worth their weight in gold!

I would fly into and out of Rome. Easy access to Rome from the airport and easy to get to Florence and Naples from Rome by train. Sorrento is a short train ride from Naples and Amalfi is a short trip by ferry from Sorrento.

Lisa,

We leave for Italy in 3 weeks and are flying into
Milan and out of Rome because this was out cheapest
flight option. For us, there is not alot to see in Milan, however, the Duomo there is awesome. We will
stay our first night in Milan and see the Duomo again.
Also if you have not been to Lake Como it's less than
an hour away and is very beautiful. Good luck & have a great trip.
Connie
Minnesota