Please sign in to post.

Milan area in March

I usually enjoy doing the research and planning, but it's already mid-January and all I've done is purchase plane tickets. I think I could use some help.

Our son is going to be studying in Milan for spring semester so we're going to use it as a reason to visit Italy for our first time as well. I'm still debating how to organize our trip. We will be flying into Milan arriving noon on March 20 and departing early morning March 30.

I'm pondering March 20-22 Milan, March 23-24 Lake Como area, March 25-26 Venice, March 27-29 Milan. I think we might want more time in Lake Como or Venice, but anticipating being in Milan on the weekends when our son may have more time to hang out with us. We'd prefer not to move lodging more than 3 times. Our 16 year old daughter will be traveling with my husband and I as well. We want to take in the must sees, but keep museums to probably no more than one/day. On a month long trip to Paris several years ago, we enjoyed finding the unique things we'd stumble on when "flaneuring" about the city, but recognize that 10 days doesn't allow for as much of that. My husband enjoys art, I enjoy history, and our daughter wants to be sure we make time for shopping. In the US, we typically enjoy National Parks and hiking more than city vacations so also wondering if there might be some hikes in the Lake Como area. We'd prefer Airbnb/VRBO options to give us multiple sleeping areas rather than hotels.

Posted by
2850 posts

hey hey Lisa
like many other first time travelers, trying to see too much in a short time. your arrival day will be a long day, arrival/passport-immigration (how long are lines), baggage pick-up, transportation to hotel could take up to an hour on train, check-in hotel 3-4pm, check-out 10-11am, shorter daylight hours, jetlag is REAL, a night or two here/there does not give you time to see much, travel times on trains, backtracking, pack light
milan has become a busy place for traveling since some airfares are better/less expensive. milan winter paralympics 2026 run till march 15th which means crowds plus some people may be staying extra days.
you need to look NOW for accomodations since you're only 2 months away. you can check airbnb/vrbo and what's available (pros & cons and is there a minimum of days to stay), i perfer hotels with front desk service, hold luggage till check in times, many things to think about.
research what you want to see, do you need to reserve on direct website with date/time stamped, how early is flight back and do you stay near airport hotel? good luck
aloha

Posted by
3805 posts

With an itinerary such as yours, I recommend staying near Milan’s Central train station (“Milano Centrale”) for the convenience of quickly getting to trains leaving Milan for Lake Como and Venice.

Booking.com lists apartments available near the train station. We stayed at Maria Holiday Homes at Vitruvio 42 which is a 5-minute walk from Milano Centrale.