We're thinking of flying RT to Milan, then train to Venice to start the tour. Want to spend another two weeks or so at end of tour on our own getting back from Rome. Are there any pointers from travelers who have done something similar? Thanks!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16899 posts
You need not fly roundtrip from Milan if you only want to visit on one end of the trip, whether that is first or last. You can book a "multi-city" plane ticket into Venice and home from Milan, or other combination, usually the same price as a roundtrip ticket, and saves you at least one train ticket.
Can we assume this is for 2016? (I was going to mention the world Expo in Milan, but it ends Oct. 31.) Rick's Italy book is definitely recommended for planning the rest of your trip; the 2016 edition of that book is due in stores some time in October. 2016 tour members will get a credit that they can use toward books and other travel gear in our store.
Whether you choose car or train travel will mostly depend on your destinations. Trains serve many towns large and small, but a car can be more useful for smaller villages (Tuscany and Umbria being the most popular regions to do that). Train and bus connections for any town in the book will be summarized in that chapter.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
I would fly in to Milan before the tour starts, and make your own way across to Venice.
Then fly out of Naples (or Rome) at the tour's end, after spending time on the Amalfi Coast.
Milan (2nts) >> Lake Como (2nts) >> Cinque Terre (3nts) >> Verona (1nt) >> Venice
Rome >> Sorrento (4nts) >> Naples (2nts)
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15807 posts
Open-jaw is usually a better option for Italy. It would help to know your U.S. departure airport. In order to give you any reasonably good advice, please tell us:
- When are you going?
- Where are you thinking of going after the tour? Is Milan a priority?
- What are your main interests?
General recommendation: arrive at least one (two is better) days before the tour so you have time to get over the jetlag and catch up on your sleep before the tour starts.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Normally, I would strongly concur with the advice above - fly into Milan (or Venice if you're not actually seeing Milan) and out of Rome, to save backtracking (wastes time and money). However, recently flights into and out of Milan have been substantially cheaper than other Italian airports - as in several hundred dollars less, which makes the calculation harder. For instance, it's 3 hours and €37.50 for a last minute ticket from Milano Centrale station to Venezia Santa Lucia station (and if you're taking a train the same day as you fly in, you don't want an advance ticket as those are restricted to the exact train you booked them for; miss it, and the ticket just became scrap paper).
Use Kayak: http://www.kayak.com/flights or Matrix ITA: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ to look at all options, being sure to look for "multi city" flights all on one itinerary (for instance, Chicago to Venice and Rome to Chicago). Don't look at two one way tickets, as that's usually much more expensive.
As Chani says, some of the advice will depend on where you're flying from. For instance, leaving from New York, I can get nonstops to Milan, Rome, and Venice, so I strongly favor these three cities for my flights. If you have no nonstops to Italy, it matter less where you fly to, since you have change anyway; this means you could, for instance, fly into Verona and out of Naples if it works best for your itinerary, without any loss of convenience.