Hello! My husband and I are taking a last minute trip in mid-May. We are arriving in Milan on a Weds afternoon and flying out of Milan Sunday am.
We want to rent a car in Milan and drive to Genoa, then spend our short vacation meandering from town to town, ending up in Nice before driving back to Milan on Sunday am.
We are planning to stay at Marriott hotels (have travel points), so that sort of limits the ability to stay in cute small hotels.
Any thoughts on how feasible this will be to drive and be able to park in these small (and some larger) towns?
Or any advice on must-see/eat/dos?
Thanks!!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15164 posts
The only Marriott hotels or affiliates you can find along your itinerary are in Milan, Genoa, Monaco and Nice.
If your flight back is Sunday morning, you need to be in Milan or its vicinity by Saturday night.
You can drive and park in any town. Some areas in historical centers of towns may have traffic restrictions. Just park outside the limited traffic zones.
Posted by
Seattle, Wa, USA
663 posts
With only 4 days, I don't know how wise it would be to travel far from Milan. You could just stay in Milan and do day trips by train. Lake Como is an hour away. Verona is about 1.5 hours. Venice is about 2.5 hours. Genoa is 1.5 hours.
That, and there are some things to do in Milan as well.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15164 posts
Actually, now that I think about it, you only have is 4 nights on the ground (Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat). That is 3 days only because Wed and Sun are air travel days. If you go as far as the Riviera, then Thu morning and Sat afternoon will be travel days too, therefore leaving you with only one day, Friday, to truly relax somewhere.
I think you are better off if you stay somewhere in Lombardy or Piedmont, rather than drive all the way to Nice. If you are interested in small towns on the water, Lake Maggiore is great and really close to the Malpensa airport. Lake Como is another choice. Of course there are plenty of nice cities, as mentioned above, that you can visit from Milan in less than 2 hours.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
If you're only connecting these big cities, which are served by train, then the car is not doing you much good. Once you get a parking spot in a large city (or in a small town with limited parking, like in the Cinque Terre), you're just going to leave the car parked. I had no significant trouble to navigate and park in Nice or Milan in the past, but I think Milan has since implemented more one-way and limited traffic zones. There is plenty to see within a closer radius and smaller towns (probably without Marriotts) are better candidates for driving.