Rough Draft - Northern Italy (April 2018)

You could not pay me to stay in Milan for 4 nights. Firstly, it is barely Italy....seems more Swiss with the fashion business thrown in...so really unless you are attending an opera, it is not worth more than 1.5 days. That is WHY tourists don't go there, it is the banking, fashion and trade show center of Italy...a business hub that is easily accessible from France, Swizerland, and Germany.

I am all for staying put and soaking up the culture instead of ticking off tourist sights, but Milan is not where you will find joy, trust me.

Go to Venice.....it is the best place in Italy to celebrate an anniversary!

Arrive Milan take train immediately to Como Lake area 4 nights
Como to Venice via Milan 2 nights train is fast....
Venice to Milan 2 nights if you want or add one to Venice, last night in Milan
You can add in the Galleria and still see all the sights in one day....

You would not want to go to Venice straight away, as it is very intense and arriving while jet lagged is best avoided if possible.
If Venice is not for you, look at Genoa.

I love Milano, and spend several days there each trip. You could shave a day from it to spend in Bologna (foodie heaven). Bergamo is a nice day trip, too, but perhaps too similar to the Lake Como area. Visit Castello Sforzesco for the lovely grounds and the museum.

If you want, you can ferry around the towns on the lake from your base in Varenna, and take a day for Switzerland.

Thanks for the feedback. Even though the plan is to stay in Milan for 4 nights, I'm planning at least one day trip to either Verona or Bologna (or both depending on how Milan strikes us).

I'll put in a vote for Verona. It's a city of manageable size and has a good level of charm IMO.
http://www.turismoverona.eu/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=35298&lang=en

The Roman amphitheater is amazing and during the daytime I believe you can sit and relax there as long as you like.There are opera performances in the amphitheater every summer, but the 2018 schedule doesn't coincide with your April trip.
http://www.arena.it/arena/en

I've stayed 4 nights in Milan and considered it too long. Torino has better museums, if that's part of your city strategy. Consider Varenna (3), Torino (3), and Milan (2).

If you're a foodie, you might want to check out the Navigli area in Milan. It's where locals go to eat and the area come alive after 8pm. It's great to sit canal side and people watch, soak in the ambiance, and not feel like you're at a tourist place.

Our family loved Milan, precisely because we didn't run into that many tourists compared to Venice or Rome.:)
But, we wouldn't choose Milan over Rome, Florence or Venice if we only had one chance to see Italy.

Love Milano, but I'm a city boy. We're bending our itinerary to revisit it for half a day to have an epic meal and climb the Duomo and stomp on the torino in the VE-Mall. But we're also doing Torino, which has some amazing sites, and Milan you can really bang in a couple nights. Duomo, La Scala, Sforza, a museum or two very manageable, and the Last Supper. A risotto, a cotoletta, an osso bucco... it's both definitely Italian, and unlike the rest of Italy. The thing about Milan is that, beyond the Duomo and a few other buildings that are within walking distance, the architecture is kind of blocky and meh. If you like Brutalist architecture, Milan is your joint. But the people watching is amazing, as the folks are very stylish, even by big city Italy standards.

Torino, got the Superga Basillica, another big church, the best Egyptian collection outside of Cairo, chocolate, hazelnuts, film museum, the tower (where the film museum is), adjacent to the best wine in Italy (sorry Chianti and Super Tuscans, the King of Wines and the Wine of Kings has it all over you). Oh, and Eataly (which I'm not that interested in, as there's one here in Chicago).

I agree 4 days is too long for Milan.
Consider relaxing Stresa or verona as an option. All reachable by train.

I'll second for Verona. Easy city to get around. Car free in a good area of the city. Found a some restaurants that were exceptional as my husband and I are foodies as well.
In 7 trips I have avoided Milan, so much more intriguing areas to explore in Italy.
Our trip planned for next September may include 1.5 days as we are flying home from Milan.
Whatever you decide Lake Como is a great start. Take the hop on off ferry around the lake and make sure you spend some time in Bellagio. We spent 3 days in Varenna but would opt to stay in Bellagio the next time.
Enjoy

I would see Venice, Verona, Milan, and Turin.

(I am visiting central Italy and not northern Itay, in July. I have never been to Italy or contental Europe. Me and my brother had already agreed that these are the places in northern Italy to see; he read a book about the history of Venice and then I read a book about Pompeii. Also his college graduate degree was in urban planning, he thinks Milan and Turn are well planned, he is probably right; I can't quite actually justify my decision but I am vaguely sure about it. Verona is mentioned in a play by Shakesphere; I prefer to see big cities in general. Also, I suspect that in terms of culture or perhaps other factors, each region of Italy may feel a different country in some ways; parts of Italy were different countries until 1860. I read that the most commonly visited cities in Italy are Rome, Florence, and Venice. I am skipping Venice at least on my upcoming trip and I most wanted to see ancient Roman ruins; north-west Italy may have more facist-era or art deco architecture; it feels or seems newer or more modern than the rest of Italy; Turin and Milan may be well planned in terms of street grids and newer buildings and parks, compared to central and southern Italy. Read about the history and architecture of the cities in northern Italy and then you will know which towns or cities you want to visit).

4 days is too long in Milan. Go to Verona. It is lovely with lots to see and do. Great food.

Milan is a perfectly nice place, and there are some interesting things to see, but at the end of the day, it is a big city devoted mostly to commerce. Its physical surroundings are not beautiful, and it's not the sort of place where you will see something charming around every corner. You will have to take cabs to and from the train station for day trips. You will have to research restaurants--there is some excellent food to be had, but you have to hunt for it. So I think that, given your tastes and goals, 4 nights in Milan is too much. I would do 4 nights in Varenna, 3 nights in Verona (a smaller, beautiful place, and wonderful for just hanging around in parks and enjoying the scenery), and 1 night in Milan.