We need suggestions for allocating 3 days in Milan area between January 2 and Jan 4. (We will finish Milan in one day prior, assuming thats good enough.) We are set on taking some form of Bernina express ride. Our options may be: on January 2, take the BEX up to St. moritz and return to Milan on same day; Jan 3 & 4 : Milan day trips ( Thinking of Verona, Bellagio) Or We should do two days in swiss, by going to all the way to Chur on BEX, and may be up to DAVOS n local trains from there, and return to Milan on January 3. That will leave us one day in Milan, still. Our flight is early morning 5th. So the choice boils down to Chur,Davos vs Verona, or similar day trip. If people have other suggestions about BEX routes, that will be great too.

Thanks a lot for the help.

One well-planned day in Milan might be enough, but I don't know your interests. We've been there several times and probably spent nearly a week in the city in total. There are still things I would see if we returned.

Personally, I wouldn't make a day trip to Bellagio at that time of year. Lots of shops and restaurants in the town will be closed, and the more popular sightseeing spots (Villas Balbianello, Carlotta) would involve an additional ferry ride. (Check their open/closed hours during the holiday period.) Others like gardens will be closed. Definitely skip the lake idea if the weather is bad.

https://www.navigazionelaghi.it/doc/...20_feriale.pdf

I'm not an expert on Verona, but what I remember most about our visit were outdoor things, the arena, Piazza Erbe, walks along the river, etc. Not necessarily a place I'd want to be on a cold, wet day. Consider an excursion to Torino. Just an hour by train from Milan. It has several indoor attractions.

10 Reasons why Turin should be on your Italy bucket list

Bologna is also close but perhaps too big for a day trip. Again, it depends on your interests.

Are you saying you are allocating only one day to Milan itself? That would be a shame.

Milan is one of our favorite cities in Europe. It never fails to amaze me that people think there is nothing there but the duomo and La Scala.

We spent 8 days there in December 2 years ago on our last trip (one of many in the past) and could easily have spent another week or two.

Bellagio would be a total waste at that time of year.

Instead of focusing on how you can escape Milano, with all the winter travel fuss and expense that goes with that, I'd encourage you to research all the wonderful things you could do if you just staid put.

If you really like train travel and amazing scenery I'd dedicate 2 days to the train trip to Switzerland, it's much better than a long daytrip from Milan. Staying in Davos is a good idea.

Should you decide to stay in Milan, you can do daytrips to much closer places than Verona. Verona can be done of course if you really want to see it, but much closer options: Bergamo, Pavia, Certosa di Pavia, etc.

"with all the winter travel fuss and expense that goes with that"

What's that?

I agree with everything above and would just add:
Cremona
Parma,
Mantova,
Bergamo
Lugano, Locarno and castles of Bellinzona..

If you want to do the Bernina Express thing, make sure that the weather in the Alps is fine, otherwise it would be a waste of time and money.
Timetable:
Milano C dp 7.20 - Tirano 9.52/10.07 - Bernina Express - St. Moritz ar 12.36.
There are train connections every 2hrs, but only the train Tirano dp 10.07 is a Bernina Express train (with higher fare and somewhat larger windows).
Bernina Express can be combined with Glacier Express St. Moritz dp 9.15

I would definitely base in Milan the entire time and if you get good weather days and don't have anything 'else' to see in Milan than do day trips. All those suggested above are good. Lake Como and Lake Lugano are easy (one hour train trip) day trips from Milan and if you got a nice sunny day either of them could be glorious. On a rainy day I'd much rather be in Milan.

Here's part of a trip report I wrote about five days in Milan with day trips - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/20...e-lugano-pavia

Read about the city of Como also.