Fly Into Rome or Milan

Find what you like flight wise first and then fill in your itinerary. For example fly into Rome and out of Milan or vice.
I think start in Rome.

Hi, I understand that. My question isn't how to build itinerary but assuming flights are equal is one easier than the other. Easier in terms of navigation & getting acclimated in. And is one better to end a trip in? Ease of getting to airport etc.

Ok Milan and Rome are equally easy to get to from the airport and navigate and to get acclimated.

If it were my trip I would fly into Milan and return out of Rome.
Basically this would be my itinerary:
Fly to Milan Malpensa (MXP)
Train to Milano Cadorna (near Duomo and Last Supper) and find accommodations.
Visit Milan for 1 or 2 nights
Train Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino (lake Como)
Stay at lake Como (Varenna, or Bellagio or Menaggio) for 2 or 3 nights
Train Varenna to Venezia Santa Lucia (via Milano Centrale)
Visit Venice for 3 nights
Train Venezia Santa Lucia to Firenze Santa Maria Novella.
Visit Florence for 3 nights.
Train Firenze SMN to Roma Termini
Visit Rome for 4 nights
Fly home from Rome Fiumicino (FCO). Airport can be reached via taxi (48€ From anywhere in the city center) or via train from the Roma Termini station (14€ pp). Travel time is similar (~35min).

You could do the exact reverse, but I prefer to fly out of Rome to return to the US because flights to North America depart in the morning and the Milan Malpensa airport is far from the city of Milan, so it requires an earlier wake up.

Train info here. Enter station names in Italian (e.g. Venezia Santa Lucia not Venice)
www.trenitalia.com

In my itinerary above, you could also do Lake Como before the city of Milan, if you prefer to start in a slower environment after arrival.

In that case you take the train from Malpensa Aeroporto to Milano Centrale (NOT Milano Cadorna), then you catch a train from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino. That prolongs your trip from the airport a little, since travel time from Milano Centrale to Varenna is about 70 min.

If you choose to go to Lake Como first, depending on your plane arrival time, you will have only a few hours there on the first day, because, between deplaning, immigration, train travel time, you will need about 5 hours from landing to arrival at hotel.

From Charlotte, into Rome and out of Milan looks slightly cheaper and better flight /connection times on Delta.

We flew in and out of Milan last year for the first time in a while (usually it's Rome). Malpensa is a whole lot easier to deal with than FCO. All things being equal, I would also ways choose Milan. Especially since you haven't been to Italy before, I'd ease into it by going immediately to Como, then Milan. Or, if you don't want to fly open-jaw (into one city and out of the other), you could make a loop and come back to Milan for a night or two at the end of your trip.

Thanks all. I'm planning to use miles & am just waiting for the dates to open up. My itinerary is (not in order since that is still up in the air):

Rome - 4 nights
Florence - 4 nights
Venice - 3 nights
Como - 2 nights
Milan - 1 night

I was leaning towards Rome first. Last year when I did Germany I did Munich first & ended in Berlin. I was exhausted in Berlin & think I would've enjoyed it more if I would've done it first. Hard to say though as that was a jam packed itinerary & I learned the lesson to slow down. So it may not matter since this is a longrr trip & I learned I can't do everything i want to. I'll just have to come back. 😀 This is a bucket list dream trip for me & I wish I could go longer but this is the most I can get away from work. I could also go into/out of Florence but I heard Milan or Rome are easier.

Flown into both and prefer Milan. Suggest that whichever you choose, you lump your nights there and not backtrack. Don't ever assume that this is the "bucket list trip" and you won't be back. We didn't go to Italy until 5 years ago and we're in our late 60's. We've been back twice since. We've not made it to Venice yet, or the Amalfi Coast, but we've been happy with what we've done, and don't regret anything. Roberto (thank you) suggested Lago Maggiore and it was the most marvelous stop.

Have a great trip!

Well, how did you enjoy Munich? Did you suffer from jetlag?

Having flown into Rome and home from Milan last summer, I vote for starting in Rome. The only caveat to that is possible jet-lag, but walking around Rome in the sunshine can help.

I think your itinerary starting in Rome is good, especially if you take advantage of booking Frecce fast trains early and wherever possible.

If you depart from Milan and the last night is spent in the city of Milan, try to find accommodations not too far from the Cadorna station (which is near the Duomo and Sforza castle). That is where the fastest trains to Malpensa airport depart from.

Thank you all. I found out while studying flights yesterday that there is 1 daily roundtrip direct from Charlotte to Rome and back. So now I'm kicking the idea of not doing open jaw but do 2 nights in Rome on the front & 2 nights in Rome on the end. Not ideal but to fly direct it may be worth it. Do those of you with more experience think it's worth it?

I'm trying to have a good plan because these mile dates will open up soon. This is my first time trying to use miles & I have the impression it's a pain but good when it works.

To the poster who asked if I liked Munich - yes. I liked it very much actually. So much so my original plan was to start or stop in Munich and train from/to Venice. I just don't see how I can fit it in with the time I have so I stopped considering it. I remember feeling very tired that first day but I got a great night sleep from 8 - 7 the first night. Felt fine until I hit Berlin 4 days later.

I have flown into Rome and out of Milan twice. I love, love, love Rome. So much to do and see. To me Milan is okay, a big city with a few sites, but I don't like spending a lot of time there. I never have gotten tickets to the Last Supper yet, so I'll probably be going back one day. Either one is easy to fly into/out of. I agree with your decision to spend more time in Florence, Venice and Rome. I haven't yet made it to Lake Como, so that's on a list still to come too.

So as it turns out I managed to get a business saver non-stop flight to Munich. That was just too good to pass up. I've decided to spend 1 night in Munich & do the train to Venice the next day. I'm very excited to see Munich again if brief, and now I can start putting some pieces together. My desired date home hasn't become available yet but I'll most likely depart Rome & fly non-stop to Charlotte.

Thanks again for the help! I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go. I bought the latest Italy guidebook months ago & now I'm ready to really dig in!

hey dbordsave
since you got your flight going over is good for you, how many nights are you staying in venice, rome and florence? are you looking for an apt/hotel and what is your budget in euros? i can give you the name of a few places if interested.
GO WARRIORS
aloha