Milan and day trips to sorrounding cities

Friday: First. Where did you hear that you can have dinner in Italy at 16:00? Dinner time in Milan starts at about 20:00 or 21:00. I'm not even sure if restaurants are open before 19:00. Or were you thinking of McDonalds for dinner? Second: if you skip McDonald at 16:00, and go to dinner when Italians go instead, you have the whole afternoon at your disposal to do everything there is to do in Milan (Duomo, Galleria, La Scala, Cenacolo vinciano, Castello Sforzesco, and maybe even the pinacoteca di Brera, if you are really stoic). That way you have an additional day on Monday to do something else, especially because most museums are closed on Mondays and therefore it's an excellent day to go to the Lago di Como instead. Saturday: Florence in a day from Milan is brutal. If you could stay one night in Florence and spend two days there instead, you'll be happier with yourself and your spouse won't try to kill you. If I were you: FRIDAY AFTERNOON: visit as much as I can in Milan, dinner at 22:00 (Milanese stay open late) SATURDAY: Florence SUNDAY: Florence MONDAY: Lago di Como (Eastern shore to Varenna and Ferry to Bellagio)
TUESDAY: fly home. If you must absolutely do Florence in 1 day, then do the lake on Sunday and Monday. Also on Sunday there will be lots of Milanesi doing a gita domenicale (sunday trip) at the lake (if the weather is good) and it will be a crowded trip back to Milan in the evening.

: I checked online and both the Cenacolo vinciano (last supper) and the Pinacoteca di Brera (most famous art gallery in Milan) are closed on Monday. Therefore whatever you do rearrange your days. As I said Monday would be great for the lake because the main museums in Florence are also closed on Monday. Plus there will be no crowds of Milanesi on Monday at the lake (as opposed to Sunday). Both Brera and the Last supper are open till 19:00, therefore you can visit both on Friday afternoon, if you could only resist that call from McDonalds at 16:00 :).

thanks Roberto for the helpful tips. we intend to go to brera bars and enjoy the drinks and free buffet antipasti then explore d city. we will reshuffle our sched as u suggested. we are already booked in a hotel in Milan so we can't stay a night in Florence. I have 3 teenagers with me and was thinking that a day in Florence is good way to spend a day since I read that 1 1/2 days in Milan is enough. Lake Como is definitely in our itinerary. it's Florence that's 50/50 since I don't know it it's worth the trip for a day. what trip will u recommend for lake como? I read that I should take the train from Milan to varenna, after sightseeing then ferry to bellagio. then what? do u recommend other town after varenna and bellagio? then how can we return to Milan, should we take again the train from varenna to Milan? I hope my 3 teenagers will enjoy our trip. next time I'll have my spouse with me.
thanks for the input. also to those who want to advise.

Lemy, I agree with Roberto that dinner at 16:00 is a bit "early" for Italy. My preference is to dine at about 19:00 and then have a bit of a "Passegiata" after dinner. You'll probably find that the evenings are very busy, with lots of people dining even at 22:00 or so. If you're planning to visit the Uffizi or Accademia in Florence, reservations might be a good idea (I'm not sure how busy they will be at this time of year). For the trip to Lago di Como, try and leave fairly early. The trip from Milano Centrale to Varenna takes 1H:03M. As it's a Regionale train, DON'T forget to validate your tickets. You'll go through a tunnel just prior to arrival in Varenna. Be ready to disembark right away, as the train only stops for a minute or so. You can walk from the station to the Ferry dock, which is front of Albergo Olivedo (big yellow building, you can't miss it). If you're arriving at MXP Terminal 2, plan on at least an hour to get from the airport into the city. Happy travels!

The best of lake como is in the mid lake area: varenna, bellagio, tremezzo, meneggio, lenno. They are connected by bus or ferry. You don't have a lot of time in a day. Strolling in varenna, bellagio, maybe tremezzo, having a meal at a street side caffe will keep u busy enough. Check the ferry schedule back to varenna so that you dont miss the last train back.

If u only have a day trip you can still do Florence or Venice. A frecciarossa train will get u there in under 2 hours. Just start early and return late. You can still squeeze a lot of things in a full day. Check the train schedules on trenitalia.com. For Florence select the station in the city center, called Firenze SMN (Santa Maria novella). For Venice select Venezia SL (Santa Lucia). You can do either in a day, if a day is all you've got.

Try to nail down a reservation online for the "Last Supper" if that is on your list of things to do. Tour companies seem to snap them all up quickly. You may have to take a city walking tour to get in, although that is not a bad idea if the cost is not a problem for you. We had to do that on Monday. Our guide did suggest that a lot of neighborhood bars have "happy hours" around 19:00 with spreads of munchies set out. He suggested that the Porta Genova neighborhood was a good spot for that.