Hello, Italy experts...
My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in late September/early October of this year. Our original schedule had to be altered a bit, and now we're left with an extra Friday that I'm not sure what I want to do with. Here's where we're at:
Fri AM: Land in Milan and head straight to a lake (Como or Maggiore...tbd but opinions/alternatives welcome!)
Mon AM: Depart for Cinque Terre (staying at La Mala in Vernazza)
Thurs AM: Depart CT for...??
Mystery Friday!!
Sat AM (early): Fly home out of Milan (or could open-jaw it and leave from Rome, but that's obviously farther away...)
We were supposed to stay that extra Friday in CT, but it didn't end up working out---at least not at that hotel.
So...can anyone recommend a small, scenic town to visit instead? We can obviously try one of the other quattro terre, but I imagine we'll do some wandering throughout all the towns during our Mon-Thurs stay. Not sure I have much interest in either Genoa or La Spezia, so basically I'm throwing a hail mary in search of a little gem of a town that offers pretty scenery and yummy food.
Wherever we go, the plan would be to arrive Thursday, stay over, then leave at some point on Friday (as late in the day/evening as possible) and then spend the final night at a lovely-and-exciting airport hotel since either way---Rome or Milan---we'd have an early flight back on Saturday morning.
Final thing to note: I don't think we're renting a car for this trip, so trains and/or buses it is...
Thank you so much for any ideas or insights!! They are always appreciated.
Where to spend this one last day in Italy...
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Genoa is a beautiful city with loads to see and delicious things to eat. I wouldn't miss it!
How early is the flight out of Malpensa? If not too terribly early, stay in Milan your last night.
For your Friday option, I'd suggest either Parma or Alessandria. Both are on train lines with fairly frequent service from the CT and very frequent service onward to Milan (although probably later into the evening from Parma).
Thank you, both, for your response!
Plane leaves at about 9:30am, so not crazy early, but too early to do anything but wake up and go. (I realize the airport is pretty far from the city center, as well.) We'd stay in Milan if we were going to do a dinner there on Friday night---but not if we're going to get in at 10pm just to leave for the airport bright and early.
I'll check out each of the above suggestions...a quick Google Image scan tells me we can't exactly go wrong. They all seem to fit the pace of what we're looking for...we live in NYC, so big cities aren't our thing.
And just to be sure, you would recommend one of the above instead of just staying in a different town in CT?
Again, thanks so much!
We stopped in Parma for lunch on the way to Lake Como last Fall -- it is a terrific town. Definately get a reservation ASAP, as when we were there (Oct 1) they were having a Verdi Festival (may be annual?) and WOW it was a lot of fun, and filled with music lovers. We spent the night in Cremona, which was just opening their Opera season, and we got the last room "in town." There were so many musicians around, we felt somewhat out of place as we weren't carrying instrument cases!
I'm not a big fan of the CT, so 3+ days there would be more than enough.
Should you decide to leave from Malpensa, I recommend the First Hotel. We have stayed there twice and have been very pleased. Once you arrive by train at Malpensa there is a hotel shuttle for transport to the hotel. There is a wonderful breakfast included and free wifi, which is great for checking flight delays or changes. Located a few steps away is La Quercia, the most charming place for a final dinner in Italy. Shuttle will transport you the next morning to airport for trip home. I typically dislike hotel airports, but First Hotel ranks above the best I have experienced. I would choose Lake Como and experience all the lakeside villages by way of the ferry. Have a wonderful trip!