Help Needed with Brief Milan Itinerary

We did both these things during a 3 day stay in Milan. Are you sure you can’t reorganize to spend at least 24 hours. As it is, I don’t think you have time for sure to make either site, given the need for timed tickets. The duomo roof requires a ton of stairs. We booked a ticket with the elevator. Spent about 40 minutes then on the roof and climbing down. The Last Supper tickets need to be booked as soon as they go on sale. We booked a time that had an English tour. Yes, you only have 15 minutes in front of the painting. The whole exercise was about 45 mins plus the check in time.

Susan - Thank you for the quick response. I mean, could we, yes, but my wife prioritized Bellagio/Lake Como over Milan, and our Airbnbs are already booked. If we can’t make it work, then we can’t make it works. I have roughly 10-20 days to figure it out as it appears as if that is when Duomo climb tickets go on sale. Unsure when Last Supper tickets go on sale but as of right now, only through 1/31/24.

Is it crazy to have the mindset of: book it, and if we realize we aren’t going to make, we wasted ~$175…?

Hi,
I'd recommend taking a later train to Varenna your first night if seeing Milan is important to you. I would expect that you'd arrive near the Duomo by 11am or so after storing bags and getting the metro. With a train leaving Centrale around 6 or 7pm you'd have enough time for the Duomo climb, lunch and the Last Supper while doing so at a slightly less frenetic pace.

Enjoy your trip!

PQ

We went to duomo upon arrival in Milan from US and then to Lake Como. We had reservations to see the duomo but did not climb to the roof. We also walked around afterwards.

The trains to Lake Como are regional and can’t be reserved. We took a late afternoon train. We might have taken an earlier train but our flight arrived later than expected due to being rerouted.

I would be nervous about your plans for Tuesday.

Edit: We would not have wanted to see the Last Supper as well as duomo on day of arrival. Personally, I would see duomo and anything else you decide have energy for in area (we went to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele) and take a regional train when you are ready. IOW, don’t put pressure on yourself to take 2 pm train. Just know when trains are and make decision then. I would skip trying to see Last Supper altogether and take a later train to Milan on Tuesday so you don’t have as long of a layover. The Last Supper is still on our list of things to see. We even had tickets for a cancelled 2020 trip.

Rather than comment on your options, I'll share our experience on a Milan arrival day in May 2023. (Two adults). We arrived at MXP at about 1pm. Immigration/customs was super smooth and we were on the 2:15 train to Milano Centrale. Our hotel was a 10 minute walk from the station and we stopped to get cash at a bank on the way there. We walked from the hotel to the Duomo and barely made it to our 5pm ticket window for the stair climb to the roof. But we definitely ambled on our walk (got gelato and caffe, looked at buildings, etc.).

We spent a solid 90 minutes for the whole Duomo experience -- the stairs, the roof, the main cathedral area, etc. So, if it were me I'd pick either the Duomo or the Last Supper for your big sights to see in Milan one of your two days. I'd also take a later train on the first day to Lake Como. For your day with the shorter window I really recommend Castle Sforsezco (sp?) -- we had an hour and it was really awesome.

Carrie

PQ/Beth/Carrie -

This has all been great. For now, I think I will prioritize the Milan Duomo activities and other sites in that area. I doubt the Last Supper will mean as much for the kids too.

The reason for the early-ish train to Bellagio is bc we have to train to Varenna, then ferry to Bellagio, and we aren’t sure (not being Airbnb experts) how much later we can show up from our check in time to our Bellagio Airbnb.

Thank you all so much for the feedback!

One last thing to mention. We went into a lot of churches in northern Italy and the duomo was one of the few rigorously enforcing the dress code to enter. No bare shoulders, revealing tops or bare knees (ie, shorts).

I would check with the air Bnb about check in times. They do differ but we had an air Bnb as well and arrived early evening.

Also, you should check the ferry times. That may be more of a constraint than check in time. You don’t want to be surprised. March is probably off season for the ferries. I would guess the same schedule as in effect now.

Beth - I do need to reach out to the Airbnb host.

Also, I have looked up regional train times (I know they’re subject to change) and Ferry times which are posted through week before my trip.

I sort of have train times lined up with ferry times as a part of one of my spreadsheets. There are several combos that will work.

Very good. It is probably a 15 minute downhill walk from train station to ferry. Easy to amuse yourself if have extra time I would think.

In our experience, the trains and ferries ran on time.