We'll be flying into Milan April 30th and flying out May 12th. I'm thinking three nights in Milan upon arrival and one night as we leave.
I'm looking for two stay recommendations for the other eight nights. We've been to Florence and Venice. I also have no problem driving in Italy.
Lake Maggiore-Stresa could be at end as it is an easy bus ride to MXP-no need to stay twice in Milan
Bologna
Bergamo
Verona
Lake Garda
We're flying in and out of LIN.
Who is we? Do they have a say? Do you like wine? Piedmont is a nice area to have a car.
I’m not a fan of Milan, so I would probably spend no more than 2 nights at the beginning or the end (a car is not recommended while staying in Milan, as it would need to stay parked in an expensive garage the whole time).
Christine suggested Stresa on Lake Maggiore, which is very close to the airport. I second the suggestion, and since there is so much to see in that area (Borromean islands, Lake Orta, Orta San Giulio, Cannobio, Locarno, Cento Valli scenic railroad, etc), I would probably spend 4 nights in Stresa.
A car for lake Maggiore and lake Orta wouldn’t be a bad idea, but it is possible to use only public transportation (buses, trains, ferries).
The list is really endless of other locations you might want to consider:
Langhe and Monferrato (wine country) of Piedmont
Val d’Aosta, Mont Blanc, and the Alps in the region
Lake Como, north of Milan
etc.
Also many interesting cities are in northern Italy besides Milan, such as:
Turin
Bergamo
Parma
Bologna
and so on.
Obviously cities, like the ones mentioned above, are best done without having a car, which would be a very expensive hindrance. So if you include cities in your itinerary, as well more rural/lake locations, try to concentrate the car rental days for rural areas and the no car days for the cities separately. For example you could start with the city of Milan, then take the train to Turin, and visit Turin for a few nights, then rent a car in Turin and head to the areas where a car is more useful (wine country, lake Maggiore and Lake Orta), and finally return the car to the Malpensa airport before flying home.
I had missed that you are flying in and out of LIN.
In that case the suggestions above for Lake Maggiore and Piedmont may or may not please your plans.
LIN is very close to Milan city center, therefore I would consider spending the Milan nights at the tail end of your trip. If returning from LIN, it makes sense to be in Milan the night before your flight home.
Upon arrival you could still consider heading out to a lake.
Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda (to the west and to the east of Milan respectively) are two options.
Lake Como to the north of Milan is another option. They can all be reached by train, although you can also rent a car and visit them by car (although I don’t find a car useful at all at Lake Como, as the important spots are more easily reached by ferry.
The Dolomites are another option (I prefer a car for that)
Verona, or the cities of Emilia Romagna could also be considered.
So many choices, not enough time.
Take a train to Assisi and enjoy the Umbrian countryside!
We've been in Umbria. We stayed two weeks in Todi and traveled about.
