9days Flight in and out of Milan
 

Hi
My husband and I arrive in Milan at 7:45Am on 23 March and fly out at 14:30 on 1 April.
We have visited Venice previously so dont want to visit it again.
We would like to Visit Rome and would also like to fit Paris in if possible.Other than Venice it's our first trip to Italy.
Please suggest a few possibilities over our 9 days. We would prefer to use public transport rather than rent a car.
Thank you

If you wanted to visit Paris you should fly into Paris and out of Milan -elsewise it will take a day to go to Paris by train or plane and a day back - I'd stay in Italy and do Florence and Rome maybe and a Tuscan hill town to boot - like Siena - easy day trip from Florence. Anyway trains are great in Italy these days - Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia or www.italotreno.com lets you book your own tickets - at a discount if do it early enough to get those limited in number discounted ducats. Check www.seat61.com for more on that - general info trains and where to go www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

Milan is a fascinating city too so stay there a day or two on arrival.

It has been a few years so others can update, but I think you can make it to Rome by train in about 3 hours. For me, I'd save Paris for another time. Easily from Milan are the lakes, Verona, Vicenza, Bologna, Parma and others. Go to Rome for 4-5 days, then come back to Milan area.

Easter week in Rome can be very busy - but also exciting - like taking in Good Friday services, etc.

Why are you flying into and out of Milan? Makes no sense unless your trip involves northern Italy. You want to visit Paris? In only 7 days an you've got to get back to Milan????

Sorry, but it's ditsy. Good luck.

There is an overnight train Milan-Paris but if go to Paris spend the week there and maybe do day trips.

Have you been to Florence? It's packed with treasures but also makes a great base for day trips in the area using public transportation. Fiesole, San Gimignano, Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Bologna are all within 90 minutes of Florence by bus or train.

It's 3 hours by train from Malpensa to Milano Centrale to Florence. Florence to Rome is 90 minutes. Back to Milan is 3 hours, and then central Milan to Malpensa an hour. Return to Milan the day before your flight.

The flights were cheaper into Milan and out of Milan. Paris was just a thought. Thanks

Thank you

The flights may be cheaper but think of the time and money wasted on top of the flights to get to where you want to be. Your time is precious and you only have 7 days. Ideally you should fly into Rome and out of Paris, or other way round.

If you already have flights into Milan then I would focus on that area to use your time in the most valuable way. Or head to Rome on arrival and then head back north and spend time there before your flight home.

What are you interested in? What kind of places do you like to see:
more than 12000 ft high mountains, glaciers, vineyards, castles, stunning museums (art, technique, History, ethnogrphy, transports, acquarium, marine, oldtimer cars.....), sanctuaries, lakes, botanical gardens, cathedrals, opera performances, small medieval cities.......
all these things and much more can be found less than 150 miles around Milan Malpensa airport.

Charmaine - you have chosen your flights according to your specific situation so do not listen to those who say what you should have done. Arrival at 07.45 indicates an Emirates flight from Dubai which may not be the case but if it is has nothing to do with those posters who think everything stasts in the US. Opening a parenthesis - Emirates from JFK to Milan is probably the best flight there is in all classes.

IMO your choice (I would exclude Paris) is to do Rome at the beginning or the end of your trip and your choice may depend upon your religion. Obviously you will miss Easter Sunday but there is Venerdì Santo and part of Sabato Santo. But Rome will be very crowded during those days so hotels will be more expensive and other attractions will be busy. I would suggest you do Rome first. Depending where you are coming from I have always thought that the best way to deal with time zones is to immediately follow local time so when arriving at Malpensa take the Malpensa Express to Milano Central station and either the Frecciarossa or Italo to Rome. Based upon your arrival at Malpensa you ought to be in Rome around 14.00.

Then I would work back to Milan with obviously a stop in Florence. Your departure time from Malpensa means that you can easily spend your last night in Milan rather than seeking somewhere close to the airport.

Further info as to your preferences and interests can bring additional suggestions.

This is what we plan. Thanks.

This Sounds great. Than you. And yes we are travelling from Dubai. We would prefer to skip tgecEaster crowds. Since wecarriveearly in Milan we would opt to take the train to Rome and work our way back to Milan. How many days would you suggest in Rome?

In Rome, the week after Easter is when the major crowding occurs,. The week before is actually considered low season. Extra visitors before Easter will mostly be religious pilgrims, and they will mostly be at the Vatican. Since Easter is the 1st, visiting Rome before the 30th would not risk getting caught up in anything more than the usual crowds.

How many days to spend in Rome would depend on your interests. Do you have an idea of what you'd like to see in Rome? Or could you tell us something about your general interests?

Good Friday is a normal working day in Italy, and, although I've never spent that day in Rome, I've never seen any Good Friday services that would be worth mentioning. When I lived in the US, most churches had 3-hour long services from noon to 3 PM, the hours when Jesus was reportedly on the cross. In Italy, I've only seen short services, in the evening, when people have returned from work. Our town has a procession, where they read scripture readings, prayers, and sing hymns, It has no appeal to tourists, There is a procession in Rome, in which the Pope participates, and which ends in the Colosseum. It's strictly religious, and probably would appeal only to devout Christians. Anyway, it's almost impossible to get anywhere near the Pope (or the Colosseum) that evening. I think the Colosseum is closed the entire afternoon.

In southern Italy, but a lot further south than Rome, there are interesting folkloric processions and a lot of pageantry, often with pre-Christian elements.

I'm in a similar situation to the OP. 13 days in and out of MXP in November.

I don't have a detailed itinerary yet, but my plan is 8 days in Emilia Romagna and 3 days in Florence and an allowance for 2 travel days. I've never been to ER before and haven't been to Florence in close to 20 years. I enjoy exploring and getting lost in cities, some light hiking in the country, a little of the museum stuff, and obviously food and wine. I don't plan to have a car, but I try to go off the beaten path from time to time since I've discovered that some of the most interesting little towns to visit aren't in the guidebooks. I've visited Piedmont, Venice, Sienna, Rome, and Milan recently, so I don't need to repeat those destinations this year.

Does anyone have thoughts on what I should consider including in my trip?

Thank you

semihat - I would suggest you make a seperate posting to avoid confusing reponses.

Rome I'd say 4 days and perhaps include a day trip to say Ostia Antica - Rome's ancient port and a archaeological site similar to Pompeii sans the sweltering crowds - actually on edge of Rome -or day trip to Tivoli for Villa d'Este water gardens and Hadrian's Villa - research those! Maybe 5 days if two day trips.

Then spend the rest in Florence and maybe do a day trip to Siena by bus (1 hr) to see an iconic classic Tuscan hill town.

Maybe first night in Milan and one less day in Rome?

"Maybe first night in Milan..."

No. You land so early in the day, it would make more sense to keep moving to either Rome or Florence and have your time in Milan at the end. One less hotel check-in/out.

we flew in to Milan and immediately went to Bologna for 3 nights. Then we spent 3 nights in Florence. We spent our last night in Milan to ease our trip home. You could rather easily substitute Role for one of those cities. That said, I think Rome and Florence both deserve at least 4-5 days

Charmaine - despite a horrific departure time from Dubai you could get a few hours sleep on your way to Milan. Since you are travelling East to West (most posters probably thought you were arriving from the States) and the time difference with Italy is only 3 hours the obvious thing is to head immediately to Rome and from Milan Central station to Rome you have the chance of another couple of hours catch up sleep especially if you book the Quiet compartment of the FrecciaRossa - but set the alarm on your phone!

Personally I would consider Rome - Florence - Milan on a 3 night basis for each with possible side trips from each city. I would concur with PalenQ regarding Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa. As regards Florence a day trip to Siena as well as perhaps San Gimigniano (a medieval Dubai in terms of towers!). Milan offers a day trip to Lake Como. If you want to see the Last Supper and do not already have reservations follow the advice I have given in the past (I have seen it 3 times and never with a reservation). Go early in the day and ask when there is availability - almost always there is. Then depending upon the available time plan the rest of your day around Milan.

We also got a great price to and from Milan--we just made a big circle* and ended up in Bellagio. We took the train from Varenna-Esino into Milano Centrale and took the airport bus.

I forgot to note that you should pay attention to holiday hours over the Easter holiday. Also, book ahead as we experienced crowds over Easter weekend. Colleges let out and busses, trains were busy. This had not happened before in Italy.

*Here's my trip report: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...gio-tr-947180/

The only day that might have holiday hours is Easter Monday, which is a national holiday. Because it's a big holiday for the tourist industry, and the start of high season, many museums that are normally closed on Mondays have special openings on Easter Monday, so holiday openings are as common as holiday closings. Easter itself is a normal Sunday as far as museum and shop hours are concerned. Most major museums and archaeological sites will be open on Easter.

The Vatican Museums are closed on both Easter Sunday (as it's always closed on Sundays) and on Easter Monday. Other than that, all museums I know will either be closed that day just because it's a Monday, or will be open even if they're usually closed on Mondays,

Many shops will be closed on Easter Monday, but not shops that depend on tourist trade.

We noticed Easter Monday because we needed to take the ferry from Bellagio to Varenna (train station) and the hours were curtailed. We changed hotels for the last night.

On the Wednesday before Easter, the train station and a nearby bus stop were mobbed in Bologna.

Why not see just Milan and Rome? Connect the two by train. That seems about right for a 9 day trip.

That was probably the last day of classes at the university before Easter.

Sounds perfect. THANK YOU. Should we book our
train tickets before we travel?

Yes we also thinking of adding Florence. Thank you

Hi Jean
This is perfect. DO we have to book the trains in advance? Can we buy a pass? Thank you

Love this itinerary. How long is it from Milan to Malpensa. Which is the best way to get there? We plan to go directly from Malpensa to Rome. 2 nights there. Then off to Florence 3 nights.Hopefully Bologna for 2 nights and back to Milan for the last 2 nights.Can you advise on transportation and the current itinerary?

Yes, bvlenci, that was exactly the case. DH and I always arranged the next leg of our trip when we reached each base and we had done so in Bologna for Varenna. We arrived early enough to catch an earlier train but all the reserved seat had been sold out. A busy travel day (and time) in Italy.

Charmaine7, we took an airport bus from the Milan train station (we came back from Varenna-Esina). At the time, the buses ran every 20 minutes and I think it took about an hour. Bus Malpensa Airport - Milan Terravision

Hi
Thank you for your advice. We would love to visit the Vatican and Colosseum. We intend going straight from Malapensa to Rome. SO the first night in Rome. Then Florence , Bologna , Pisa and back to Milan for the last 2 nights.A museum along the way would be great. We love nature and seeing some of how the locals live. A village would be great to see. We would prefer to travel with public transport rather than hire a car.

Love the idea of the old port.

I love your suggestions. Would love to view the Last Supper. Advice on public transport please.Thank you

Charmaine - four flights arrive at Malpensa around the time of yours so it will take some time getting through passport control. If you have EU passports it should be a little quicker. Checking Flightradar24 over the last 7 daysthe flight from Dubai is always on time or even earlier. However, since you cannot calculate how long it will take to get to Milan I would advise not booking your train to Rome in advance. Working back from Rome I would recommend it so you can take advantage of the discounts available on either Trenitalia (Trenitalia - Homepage English - Trenitalia) or Italo (https://www.italotreno.it/en). Book these return trains as soon as you can.

If you cannot find availability for the Last Supper (Polo Museale Regionale della Lombardia ? Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano ? Milano) go there first thing in the morning and ask if there is any availability later in the day. This has always worked for me. Plan the rest of your day in Milan around this. Getting there is quite simple - from the Milano Cadorna station (it is both a station and a metro stop). It is about a 10 minute walk from the station. I am a great fan of Rome2rio which also shows walking routes and times (https://www.rome2rio.com/). Returning to the centre - say Piazza del Duomo is about a 20 minute walk and I would suggest you do via Corso Magenta and then Via Meravigli. One interesting stop is at Corso Magenta 15 -San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore. Note that the church was divided into two parts - one for the public and a private section behind the altar for those of the monastery. Nearby, and depending upon the time, there is a very small but excellent panini place called De Santis - Corso Magenta 9. A little further on is one of the oldest coffee shops in Milan Pasticceria Marchesi (https://www.pasticceriamarchesi.com/en.html)

The link to your trip does not work

It worked for me, Charmaine7. Try it without the https stuff:
Trip Report Turin, Spoleto, Bologna and Bellagio TR - Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

If it still doesn't work, your can search for the title:Turin, Spoleto, Bologna and Bellagio TR


I tried topping it--if you hit "trip reports" it should be high up.

Ttt