November day trips from Rome and Milan

Oriveto is my vote from Rome. It is a beautiful hilltop town. Much to see. From Milan take the train to Varenna, a hillside village on the shore of Lake Como. Good for wandering along the lake and and seeing a slice of the beautiful Alps. Enough to keep you wandering for a day. If time, great hike to a caste ruin high above. Sorry missed the month. We visited Verona and loved it. Like a smaller Rome.

We spent a week in Rome in December 2012, but didn't wind up venturing out of town, unless you count Ostia Antica on the western outskirts of Rome. Although it wasn't buried by a massive volcanic eruption, it was buried over time by the port silting up, and what's there now is an excavated ancient Roman town with many buildings and thrilling mosaic floors. If the kids don't make it to Pompeii, this would be a somewhat similar taste of history.

After our week in Rome and a Christmas visit to Sicily, we stayed in Sorrento, and visited Pompeii from there. We also saw Ercolano (Herculanium), another Roman town buried in the same eruption, as well as the outstanding Archealogical Museum in Naples, so for anyone venturing towards Pompeii, there's a lot more there to experience than just Pompeii. No bad choices, just an abundance of choices.

Rather than Milan as your 2nd location, why not make the 2nd location Sorrento. You can let the others go to Pompeii for a day and you can meander Sorrento.

At that time of the year and with shorter daylight hours and likely weather I would prefer going south rather than north

My $0.02

Another possibility out of Milan is Bergamo with its evocative hill-top historic district. Weather-wise, I don't know whether a lake town or a hill town would be preferable. I think either one might be quite cool and breezy.

I would hesitate to try to combine Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio into a single day-trip. As mentioned above, there is a great deal to do in Orvieto even aside from wandering around the beautiful (and not small) historic area. It isn't one of those places where you're pretty much looking at nothing but tacky tourist shops and cafes. (Plus the food is good.) I suppose the combo is viable if you're willing to spring for a taxi, but would you plan to pay the driver to wait while you visit Civita? The taxi will have to drop you off at the far end of the long footbridge, so It won't be a super-quick visit. I really think trying to do the trip by bus would take too long. It was a bit of a pain in early June. I'm not sure whether the (infrequent) buses from Orvieto to Bagnoregio run as often in November, and the little bus from Bagnoregio to the Civita footbridge may not be operating. That latter distance is walkable, but it takes quite some time.

I'd stick with Orvieto.

From Milan, even though I love the lakes, I would not go there in late November. Stay in Milan the whole time. There is lots to see and do and three days is barely enough time. Get your tickets to the The Last Supper ASAP.

acraven said

I would hesitate to try to combine Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio into a single day-trip.

Yup. Orvieto a nice day but Civita' is difficult if not impossible without a car. Do not count on a bus for a visit there. With shorter daylight hours, Orvieto will be enough.

Skip Milano or any thought of the lakes in November. I love the idea form joes32F for Sorrento. Appeases your kids' desire to go to Pompeii. and it is such a nice little city. It will be sort of off-season there, but if the weather is nice, you can take a day trip to Amalfi where we have found it nice enough to dine outdoors even in December.