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Help on Town to Stay Between Milan and Cinque Terre! :)

Posted by on

Hi everyone,

Have a honeymoon booked for last 2 weeks of May 2019! Landing to Milan Malpensa 6PM on a Fri May 17 (will be jet lagged), and fly out on June 1 from Milan Linate in the afternoon. The trip: Have 3 days in Cinque Terre based in Vernazza, 2 days based in SML further up coast, 4 days to explore Langhe based in Alba, and 3 days based in Cogne exploring Gran Paradiso and relaxing. We will have a rental car.

Here is my conundrum: I really want to visit Orta San Giulio and do not have a burning interest to stay in Milan night 1. As of now, I have us booked staying at Hotel Berna in Milan the evening we fly in, and picking up our rental car the following morning and heading to Vernazza. I have us driving from Cogne back to Milan and once again staying at Berna on May 31, before we leave the following day in the afternoon.

1) Would it be doable to hit Orta San Giulio as a detour on our drive from Cogne to Milan on May 31, and enjoy the town in a few hours OR ....
2) Would it be crazy to pick up the rental from Milan Malpensa and drive 45 mins arriving to Orta San Giulio in the evening, and then explore the town the following morning before driving to the Cinque Terre?
3) Or Does anyone have a recommendation of another cute little town to stay in/an agriturismo Night 1 that is between Milan Malpensa and Cinque Terre?!

Would appreciate any insight :) Thank you so much in advance!

Posted by
3300 posts

If you want a beautiful Agriturismo in the Langhe, check out Agriturismo Tre Stelle in Barbaresco. Only four rooms all with private terraces overlooking the vineyards of the Langhe hills. We stayed there for 4 nights in October. Easy to visit Alba, Barolo, Nieve. Great restaurants in the the area and of course fabulous wines.

Posted by
45 posts

Thank you so much Phillip! I currently have Villa Favorita booked right outside of Alba for that portion of the trip, but that agriturismo looks beautiful! I was more so thinking of if there is a quaint town or B&B we could drive to within an hour or so of Malpensa (Pavia, Piacenza??). I am fine to avoid the city my first night in Italy.

Posted by
11669 posts

We have spent a lot of time on all of the Italian Lakes. We have only visited one that we disliked and it was Lake Orta. Don't go out of your way to stay there, rather stay on Lake Maggiore. The smells from the nearby paper mills on Lake Orta were horrible.
After a late arrival at MXP, look at Ranco on SE coast go Lake Maggiore and Hotel Il Sole di Ranco. Fabulous dining room too. An easy straight shot from Malpensa MXP.

Posted by
16196 posts

It’s doable. After a long flight arriving at about 6pm I have driven to Stresa on Lake Maggiore, about 50 min from the airport.
Orta San Giulio is probably a few minutes faster.
Orta San Giulio is very small and pretty, probably the prettiest town in lake Orta, but I don’t remember paper mills or peculiar smells. Last time I visited was 4 years ago.

Posted by
16540 posts

I've been to Orta twice, the last time this past Spring.

You will not be able to drive into the lower part of town and will have to park up top.

Orta gets very busy on weekends in Spring and Summer due to tourists and weddings. (Many Milanese go there to get married.) It's a small town.

If you do go, I recommend you eat at Al Boeuch. It was recommended to me by two people I know from the area and worth it. It's on a small back street.

I also don't remember the smell of paper mills.

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