My daughter and I will be traveling to Italy in April. It is my first time in Europe and Italy has always been a place I wanted to see. We fly in to Milan and spend 2 nights there, then travel to Venice for 2 nights, then back to Milan for 4 nights. My question is which day trips to choose from our base in Milan. We think we can do 2, and our choices as of right now are Lake Como, Florence, and Cinque Terre. A trip into Switzerland would be wonderful, but I doubt we have the time. Thoughts and suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11851 posts
I would reapportion your nights and spend more time in Venice, for one thing.
Assuming you arrive before noon, as most flights from North America do, proceed immediately to Venice by train. You can take a train right from Malpensa to downtown Milano and change to the Venice train. We did this on our very first trip to Italy in 2010 and it was quite easy even for first-timers. Spend 3-4 nights in Venice. See Rick Steves' guide for all the wonderful things to do there, but be sure to spend a day going to the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. You can even day-trip to Verona or Padova if you run out of things to do in Venice.
Then travel to Lake Como for 2-3 nights.
Finally, travel to Milan for your final 1-2 nights. Make a reservation to see the Last Supper.
Three locations for sleeping is plenty in 8 nights. Trying to squeeze in the Cinque Terre, Florence, or Switzerland is not IMO feasible. The first two are not day-trip locations but worth 2-or-more nights each. Devoting nights to Switzerland takes away from your Italy time. Save all three of these for a future trip when you have more time.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
I agree with Laurel.
A great daytrip from Milano is Bergamo; the Certosa di Pavia and Pavia itself are good for a daytrip as well. If you add a night to Venezia, you can go to Padova, or leave Venezia early and spend the day in Padova before moving on.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
I would spend 2 nights in each - Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Milan.
Trains from Milan to Venice to Florence to Milan are all 1hr45min to 2hr15min in duration. Travel between 5pm and 730pm to make the most of each day.
Posted by
OP
44 posts
Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming! Our plane arrives in Milan just after 12 noon. We do have Airbnb apartments already booked. I think we may also be a bit limited by what we can do because it will be from the Tues. before Easter until the Wed. after. I fear things will not be open on their regular schedules.