I am beginning to work on my trip for next spring and have decided to stay in the northern part of the country. We want to fly into Milan and do day trips to the lakes, Bergammo and maybe a few of the Lombard cities. Friends say we can not miss the Cinque Terre but I am not able to do the hike so I have found a tour offered by bus and boat. The reviews are mixed. I was wondering if we can do it by ourselves and take a train to either Genoa or a town on the Ligurian coast and then a boat to one or two of the towns and return to Milan in the evening. Has anyone done this and if so how? I want to stay in as few places as possible so I am trying to do day trips.
Possible itinerary:
Day 1: arrive Milan, see Duomo, La Scala and Brera Museum
Day 2: Last Supper and two more museums or the castle
Day3: Lake Maggiore and the islands
Day4: Mantua
Day5: Bergammo
Day6:train to Rapallo, see the area and check into a hotel
Day7: train or cruise to Cinque Terre, back to Rapallo and Portofino
Day8: train to Desenzano, catch ferry to Riva del Garda
Day9: relax in Riva maybe see water fall or take boat ride
Day10 day trip to Trent
Day11 :train to Bolzano go to archeology museum
Day12: tour of the Dolomites from Bolzano
Day13: train to Merrano and tour castle and ride cable car
Day 14: relax in Bolzano
Day 15: train to Venice
Day 16: fly back to U.S>
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
You can take a 3 hours direct train from Milano Centrale to Monterosso, the 5 terre village with the best ferry service.
Posted by
872 posts
On any day trip a couple of additional hours are spent going to and from stations.
Bergamo is a very easy day trip from Milan, taking the bus up to top of Citta Alta and returning on the funicular at the bottom.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32331 posts
Caryn,
Yes, a day trip from Milan to the Cinque Terre is possible, as long as you're prepared for a long day and about six hours on trains. It would help to have some idea on exactly when this trip will be taking place?
In order to maximize your time there so that you have the opportunity to see all five towns, you might consider getting an early start. On the current schedules, there's a direct train departing Milano Centrale at 06:10, arriving Monterosso at 09:05 and another at 08:10 arriving at 11:05. For the return trip, there's only one good solution, a departure at 18:55, arriving back in Milan at 21:53. The other solutions are considerably longer and involve several train changes.
You can get between each of the towns easily using the frequent Cinque Terre Express. You might consider being back in Monterosso at about 17:00 so that you can enjoy a fine meal in one of the great restaurants, preferably something with Pesto (Cantina di Miky is a big favourite with many here). You'll have almost two hours to enjoy your dinner and you can relax on the way back to Milan. The restaurant mentioned above is only a few steps from the train station in Monterosso, so it's a good choice.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
Dinner at 5? In a proper sit down restaurant? Do not expect the chef to be actually cooking.
Posted by
OP
Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
87 posts
Thanks to all of you. Yes I imagined it would be something like this. I guess that we will sleep well after that.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I wouldn't do it personally, especially if you can't hike - and I love the Cinque Terre, have been there three times. To do 6+ hours on trains just to be deposited in the middle of some mobbed little towns for a few hours? Doesn't seem worth it at all. I might do it if it was my only opportunity to visit and I was going to hike for a few hours. Then I could rest on the train back to Milan!
Turin is about an hour from Milan each way by train - I know that's nothing like the Cinque Terre, but I would put that on my list of day trips from Milan. Nice city, not very touristy compared to the other hot tourist spots in Italy.