Hello. My wife and I will be finishing our Italy Villages trip at Lake Orta in early May and are looking for suggestions for where to go from there to extend our vacation another few days before we catch a flight back to the United States. Some thoughts are simply to go to Milan and spend a couple of nights, or to catch a train ride into the Alps. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Posted by
California USA
4119 posts
Since your tour misses Milan and other lakes, if it were me I’d head to Stresa on Lake Maggiori or Milan depending on your interests and good options for flying out of Malpensa. They are both wonderful places to visit for a few days. For relaxing at the end of your 14 day trip, I’d pick Stresa but if you have things you’d really like to see in Milan…Two good, but different choices.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14865 posts
I did not allow myself time in Milan after the VI tour and regretted it. I'd go for at least 2 nights there if you are interested in seeing the Duomo and The Last Supper. Check on what day of the week The Last Supper is closed before you get too far into planning if this is of interest to you.
I had us (brother, SIL and myself) stay an extra day in Orta San Giulio as we thought we might hike but...it was very rainy and we exhausted Orta by noon and would have been better off going ahead to Milan the day the tour ends.
The guide will organize transport for everyone, going in batches, if people are headed in to Milan or to Malpensa. IF you decide to go elsewhere, download the apps for the trains you will be using as the station for Orta does not sell tickets. Besides, doing train tickets on the apps are so simple these days!
Posted by
1613 posts
Assuming that the tour goes to Isola San Giulio there won't be much left to do on Lake Orta after Orta San Giulio (where I bet the tour will be staying). So I'd head to Stresa or Milan as others have suggested. Stresa is about an hour by bus and 30 minutes by taxi.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14865 posts
"Assuming that the tour goes to Isola San Giulio"
I think that is generally the activity (island, boat tour of the lake) for the afternoon of arrival, before the farewell dinner.
Posted by
Freedonia
16455 posts
I agree with the others who suggest going to Stresa. Make sure to viist the islands in the lake.
You might also take a trip to Lake Como.
Is your flight back to the US from Malpensa?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you for the suggestions. I believe we have settled on spending a few nights in Milan prior to our flight home from Milano Malpensa Airport. The Doumo, the Last Supper, walking tours, food tours, etc. will be a great cap to our trip. Also, it will be the weekend so the availability of lots of hotels will probably be a benefit. Now...to try and select one of the many hotels!
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14865 posts
I've stayed in Milan only twice but I really enjoyed the Hotel Gran Duca di York both times. It's very close to the Duomo - maybe 5 minutes walk. It took me just under 30 minutes to walk from there to the church where the Last Supper is located and that was with a side stop when I saw some ruins I wanted to look at, lol. It's directly across the street from the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. The staff is really nice and the breakfast spread is very good.
The first time I stayed there I was with my brother and SIL (after the VI tour) who were going on out to Malpensa for the night. The hotel offered to keep their luggage with mine while we wandered around and had lunch THEN offered to call them a taxi to the train station. So very kind!
Posted by
32 posts
we loved lake orta! we were there for 4 nights last june. we went to stresa on our way back to milan and it was a madhouse. lake orta has a lovely walk around a part of the island, we also visited the island and walked the st francis pilgrimage. we kayaked for 3 hours which was alot of fun and swam for a bit too. it's very atmospheric.
Posted by
Michigan
486 posts
We enjoyed many of these activities mentioned - we stayed in Stresa for three nights, with a day trip to Lake Orta. We enjoyed the peace and serenity of Orta san Giulio, and really loved exploring the island and the meditative walk.
From Stresa, we took ferries to Isola Bella and Isola Pescatore, each interesting in its own way. We were there in July, and the terraced gardens on Isola Bella were gorgeous, with white peacocks strolling around!
We only had one day/night in Milan before heading home, and our main wish was to explore the rooftop and interior of the Duomo, after seeing Rick do the same in his Milan video. We were visitors #3 and #4 that morning, and it was really special and cool to be up there in the "marble forest" with great views all around.
The first part of our Italy trip was in Torino, which was a great and walkable city to explore. We liked Torino better than Milan overall, with its arcades and piazzas. There's a great cafe culture in Torino that we enjoyed sampling...plus gianduja chocolates (chocolate with hazelnut paste - soooo good!). All of these places we visited were easily accessible by trains - we did not have a car, and flew in and out of Milan.
Enjoy!
Laurie