I will be traveling in Spain, south of France and northern Italy for about a month in May. 2 weeks of that will be dedicated to northern Italy. Having researched several of these forum posts I’ve kind of settled on the locations in the title. Originally I wanted to go by car, but I am seeing a lot of complications with that. I plan on staying mostly in airbnbs as there seems to be some very nice options. Roughly the itinerary looks like the following:
Day 1. Arrive in Milan from Nice by train
Day 2. Milan
Day 3-5. Lake Como. Not sure where to stay exactly
Day 6. Bergamo
Day 7-8. Lake Garda
Day 9. Modena / Bologna
Day 10. Parma
Day 11. Return to Milan and fly back to Barcelona
Obviously there’s a ton of options. Any input on what to do and what not to do is appreciated. I’m open to a completely different itinerary. Thanks
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7886 posts
Hi David,
This trip report covers some of your locations for ideas, and I travel by train, also:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-please-do-not-comment-until-i-change-the-title-filling-in-the-report-thanks
Posted by
Atlanta
5237 posts
On Lake Como, stay in Varenna. Check out Villa Cipressi and see if it fits your budget. It is a lovely place on the lake and the restaurant is also good.
Posted by
Southwest Florida
905 posts
On Garda, unless you plan on staying at the southern end, the only easy travel around the lake is via car. There is no train service anywhere other than Desenzano, really. From there you can take ferries, but ferries will eat up a LOT of your time. Also, keep in mind that driving along Lake Garda can be slow as well. They are pretty much 2-lane and things can back up quickly.
Base in Modena, then day trip to Parma/Bologna. Splits the travel difference. I'd rather base out of Parma personally, but Modena is the more logical choice time-wise.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
St. Francis, WI
77 posts
For the last days, 9-11, could you just stay in Bologna and make day trips to the other cities? And on the last day fly from Bologna to Barcelona. Less changing of lodging that way.
Also, if flying from Malpensa back to Barcelona, know that the train ride out to Malpensa is just about an hour from Centrale station. If you are already in Bologna, it might save time to fly from there to Barcelona as well as save you the shuffling of lodging.
Posted by
Centennial, CO, USA
1895 posts
Not giving Bologna enough time... are you basing in Modena and going to Bologna for a day? You'll see nothing of either city. Choose one, or add a couple of nights. Also a day in Parma? You are getting into Modena, then going to Bologna the same day?
Base in Bologna and spend a full day or 2 there, then do a day trip to Parma (not a whole lot to see there. But the old city center is a simple 10-15 walk straight from the train station. If you day trip to Modena from Bologna the city center is a good 20-30 min walk from the train station.
Where are you basing at Lake Garda? The northern end will take you a long trip to get south to Modena or Parma. Desensano is a quiet option, but not a lot there unless you just plan to relax and look at the lake.
My question is...what are your goals for this trip? Museums? Active ( like a hike or bike ride), just relaxing and walking around the towns? I feel like you are pushing your trip trying to see too much in a day. You haven't figured in travel times to get between these cities.
The other thing is, are you really finding AirBnB's that will allow ONE night stays? Usually it's a minimum of 3 nights in my experience.