N Italy itinerary

Looks ok to me although I would put your three days in Milan all together at the beginning. Or are you planning to land at MXP and immediately travel to Ravenna? If so, then go directly to Ravenna and keep your itinerary as is.

Yes, we land MXP at 10:45 AM. We would leave for Ravenna ASAP and stay there. We know that landing times are approximate, so we won't make a reservation on a train, just get the next available.

WOW ... love all the destinations BUT that back & forth criss-crossing of the country has tired me out, just reading about it.

It is 3 weeks, so I don't see the trip as rushed. The first day of travel to Ravenna may be a bit rushed. I'm looking at the options there.

Just a thought. Have you considered staying in Bologna and doing day trips to Padova and Ravenna? It would shave a couple of hours of travel off of your first day and allow you to see 3 cities instead of 2.

Just a thought. Have you considered staying in Bologna and doing day trips to Padova and Ravenna? It would shave a couple of hours of travel off of your first day and allow you to see 3 cities instead of 2.

That's an interesting idea. Ravenna in particular is hard to get to.

There's a lot to see in both Ravenna and Padua. With the time you have available for this trip, I wouldn't choose to daytrip to either of them from Bologna. That's how I handled Ravenna back in 2015, but I regretted doing so. I managed to get to all seven of the commonly mentioned mosaic sites, but there are others I wouldn't have had time for even had I known about them (plus a new museum out in Classe, near one of the Mosaic 7). I suspect many visitors would spend more time at individual mosaic sites than I (as a non-religious person) did. The town itself is also quite attractive. I'm going back in September and spending 3 nights in Ravenna to do all.the.things, or so I hope. I'm already a bit worried about having insufficient time this year, because I'll be flying from London to Bologna that day and probably won't have time for much Ravenna sightseeing until the next morning.

I did spend three nights in Padua in 2015, but I used one day to go to Vicenza, so I felt short of time in Padua as well. It's getting 3 nights again this year.

You won't be bored in Orvieto, either. If you're interested in a bunch of the local sights, the sightseeing card might save you money (though I haven't looked into the details since my 2015 visit).

Your trip sounds like a lot of fun.

It looks like they’re doing some work on Trenitalia.com right now, so I can’t look up specifics. But, I am wondering if you would rather stop at Padova, first, and then go farther to Ravenna after your two nights. I almost missed my connection at Bologna to transfer to Ravenna because my first train was delayed. For a jet lag day, I definitely wouldn’t have been running fast enough to make that one. For Padova, you would just have the train into Milano Centrale from Malpensa and then transfer to go to Padova.

I’m another person to vote for staying overnight at Ravenna. I really enjoyed spending one day looking at the main mosaic sites, and the next day I went through their interesting museums. Ita very flat town, too, if you would like to rent a bike.

Is there something specific you’re wanting to do in Orvieto? Otherwise, there are options that wouldn’t take as much time to reach since you’re not flying home from Rome.

But, I am wondering if you would rather stop at Padova, first, and then go farther to Ravenna after your two nights.

I am thinking more along those lines. I looked into the travel to Ravenna from Milan. There are 2 connections, and that's a bit much for the first day. The trip to Padova is a straight shot and there are multiple trains. So maybe we will switch the order.

Hi Paul, we flew from Seattle into Malpensa and took the airport-to-Milano Centrale train. Then we transferred to the train to Verona - which is near Padova. That was plenty for our first jet lag day!

Have a great time!

I think it's a great idea to tackle Padua first.

We spent 2 nights in Ravenna and loved it. We had 1-1/2 days there which was a little short. We did Padua as a day trip from Verona. I regretted not staying in Padua. It turned out to be a very long day due to train troubles going back. Sounds like a very nice trip