last minute trip to Italy

How fun! How exciting! I am sure you will have a blast!

That said… this community frequently asks for more information on what exactly someone is asking for. So I will get the ball rolling…. :-)

Do you want help with logistics - like how to get the train, best options, how to book, etcetera?

Or are you clear on travel, but are looking for suggestions on places to stay - hotel vs AirBNB, and so forth?

Or do you need ideas for what to see in Florence and Milan while you are there?

Do you want restaurant recommendations?

That sort of info will assist the EXCELLENT contributors here do their best work to help you have the most splendid trip possible.

Do you have lodging booked? What night is the Taylor Swift concert and where? What date is your flight?

If your flight from Milan is 11 am you need to beat the airport at 8 am, so best stay near the airport the night before.

Take a hard look at the travel tips on this site. They are a wealth of useful information. If can be more specific with your questions, you’ll get great answers!

Thanks so much for your questions!

How fun! How exciting! I am sure you will have a blast!

That said… this community frequently asks for more information on what exactly someone is asking for. So I will get the ball rolling…. :-)

Do you want help with logistics - like how to get the train, best options, how to book, etcetera? (Yes we need with all )

Or are you clear on travel, but are looking for suggestions on places to stay - hotel vs AirBNB, and so forth? (The travel from Milan to Rome is by train? We don't have the tickets yet. I'm thinking hotel vs. airbnb if possible.)

Or do you need ideas for what to see in Florence and Milan while you are there? (Yes that would be great.)

Do you want restaurant recommendations? (Yes please)

That sort of info will assist the EXCELLENT contributors here do their best work to help you have the most splendid trip possible.

Posted by Sasha
Bainbridge Island
07/02/24 10:05 AM
3195 posts
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Do you have lodging booked? What night is the Taylor Swift concert and where? What date is your flight?
(Yes we have lodging in Milan. The concerts are on 7/13 and 7/14. Flight home 7/16 at 11:00 am)

If your flight from Milan is 11 am you need to beat the airport at 8 am, so best stay near the airport the night before. (good idea!)

Posted by Philip
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
07/02/24 10:20 AM
3205 posts
Report
Take a hard look at the travel tips on this site. They are a wealth of useful information. If can be more specific with your questions, you’ll get great answers!

I need help with logistics - like how to get the train, best options, how to book, etcetera? (Yes we need with all )

Or are you clear on travel, but are looking for suggestions on places to stay - hotel vs AirBNB, and so forth? (The travel from Milan to Rome is by train? We don't have the tickets yet. I'm thinking hotel vs. airbnb if possible.)

Or do you need ideas for what to see in Florence and Milan while you are there? (Yes that would be great.)

Do you want restaurant recommendations? (Yes please)

Welcome to the forum!

Tell us exactly how many NIGHTS you have in Italy
What is date of departure?

First step is to get some hotels booked.
I recommend hotels for first time visitors
You will have the assistance from front desk very helpful for first timers
They will hold your luggage if needed before and after check in time

Go to Booking.com
Set the filters for location, budget, AC (a must!), etc
You can trust the reviews there as can only be posted by actual clients
Narrow your choices-look for hotels in the historic center
You can book on booking.com or find the hotel’s own website and book there

Some suggestions
Florence
Hotel Paris-I have friends who just stayed there and said it was great. Good location as well-close to station and all the sights

Rome
Hotel Smeraldo -a forum favorite although might be booked up-look for somewhere nearby
Anywhere in the PantheonPiazzaNavonna/Campo de’Fiori area is great
Can walk most anywhere from there

Milan
Hotel Duca di York possibly booked up now or above your budget due to Swift concert

2 forum favorites near station
Hotel Garda
Hotel Berna

You will need to stay in Milan the night before your departure
It’s entirely possible to get to MXP for an 11 am flight
No need to stay at airport

There is very little availability at Lake Como
-Varenna especially
There are alternatives such as Stresa on Lake Maggiore -actually closer to MXP than Milan so you can spend your last night there

My general train advice: You'll want to take the fast trains between big cities and these come with assigned seats on a specific train. The earlier you buy the cheaper the tickets but you're trading economy for flexibility. Tickets for fast trains are generally available two months ahead.

The state train company is Trenitalia - they run fast trains and local ones. https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
.Italo is a private company that only runs fast trains. The service between the two is pretty similar. https://www.italotreno.it/en

Local trains called regionale tickets are always the same price - just buy them when you need them. Also if you have a reserved train and you miss it because of the train being late and it's the train companies fault they are required to re-book your ticket even if it is a restricted change ticket. Of course if you just miss a train with a restricted ticket the restrictions apply.

You'll want to use the Italian city names for best results when searching on train sites: Roma for Rome, Firenze for Florence etc.

Download the Trenitalia app to check schedules, buy tickets, validate them for travel and track trains in real time.
Always validate your regionale tickets - paper ones at the stamp machine and electronic ones in the app. You should be able to import your Trenitalia tickets into your app so you should have them there in addition to printed versions.

A site like Rome2Rio.com can help with broad planning but always confirm and doublecheck that information.

Really good general train information here: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Trains-
Since you are just a week out you can purchase most of tickets online now- but only AFTER you have your itinerary set. There probably won't be much left in discounted tickets anyway so you will be paying Base Rate therefor you COULD wait til you are in Italy and just purchase each at the station.
Do not purchase any tickets for arrival day- wait til you land.

Your itinerary may change due to hotel availability. Your plan to go right to Rome on arrival is a good one- but you could also go right Florence instead (shorter travel time, maybe an easier place to get over jet lag and used to being in Italy) All of your locations will be very crowded so that's nit a consideration

It looks to me like you have 5 nights from arriva til you need to be back in Milan- I'd split like this Florence 2 nights, Rome 3 nights.

Download the Trenitalia App and get used to using it, set up account, etc. Also spend some time on Trenitalia site to see what your options are, get used to using it. Have your daughter get involved with that.
I am just listing Trenitalia because I don't believe ItaloTreno sells the ticket you need from MXP to Milano Centrale and they do not run Regional trains that you will need for Lake Como.

https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html

OK- On arrival to MXP-
Use the app or go to a kiosk or window and get a ticket to whichever city is first - Rome or Florence
You will be traveling on the Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale (about an hour) then changing to a fast train to Roma Termini- about 3 hours (Firenze SM Nvella- about 2 hours)
Make sure there is enough time to transfer at Milano Centrale. 30 min might be overkill but you are new to Italy and will be jet lagged.

Next train would be Roma Termini to Firenze SM Novella- you could purchase this now once itinerary set.
This will be a direct fast train ( Freccia) no changes.

Next train would be Firenze SM Novella to Milano Centrale, also direct fast train, no changes.

If you are going to Lake Como/Varenna- that'll be a Regional train- no need o purchase in advance- price never changes, can't sell out.
Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino Must validate this ticket either on app if purchased on app or at station - if paper tickets

To return to MXP from Milano Centrale you will take the Malpensa Express again.
You can catch that at Milano Centrale- takes about an hour, runs every 30 min. Purchase in advance if you like, especially since early am- will save you some stress that morning!

or from
Milano Cadorna (if you are staying in the center)- takes about 40 min, runs every 30.

If your flight is at 11- be on the Malpensa Express by 7-7:15 am.

Or do you need ideas for what to see in Florence and Milan while you
are there? (Yes that would be great.)

All major sights will need pre-booked timed entries. It may be too late for some venues.
You need to make a list for each city- prioritize then ask here fo rofficial websites, how to book tix, etc.

Check here for list of what to see/do:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/milan
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/rome
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/florence

Looking at your dates again - it will be better to start in Rome as July 8 is a Monday- museums in Florence will be closed!

Looking at your dates again - it will be better to start in Rime as
July 8 is a Monday- museums in Florence will be closed!

Just the National Museums are closed but yes, it's an issue if they wanted to see any of those.

Amy, the issue Christine brought up with tickets being sold out for the most-visited attractions in Florence and Rome is a very real possibility; you need to get all over the list of what you want to see um, like, yesterday.

You are arriving in Milan on 7/8 (a Monday) and need to be back in Milan on 7/13. That doesn't give you a huge amount of time in Rome AND Florence - you might want to choose just one of those cities.

You've been provided good information on traveling by train. Between Rome and Milan Centrale (train station IN Milan, not the airport), it will be about a 3.5 hour trip. Between Milan Centrale and Florence is about 2 hours.

If tickets to any museum that you might want to see (for example, the Uffizi in Florence or the Vatican Museums in Rome) are sold out, that's ok, there are other museums and other places to visit (for example, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum). I would say there are more places to see without advance ticket in Rome than Florence, but Rome is a bit further away.

In terms of hotels, figure out your price range, then go on a website like tripadvisor to see what's available. In Rome, I love staying near Piazza Navonna. It's beautiful, lots of good people-watching, close to other things that you can walk to. You can easily take a cab from the train station to your hotel. In Florence, a smaller city, I like staying near Santa Croce.

For restaurants, what is your price range for lunch or dinner?