a week in Lombardia
 

My wife and I will be arriving in Milano for a week in Lombardia at the end of May. We won't be staying in Milano, we prefer the countryside but find all the guide books seem to cover only the lakes. For us a small scenic town/city with good lodging and restaurants would be ideal but as this is not vacation country (Tuscani) they may not exist. An Italian friend suggested Verase but if there are other venues it would be nice to know. Lastly, we won't have a car, I can speak some Italian and we've seen all the lakes so we were hoping to find someplace new.

Not sure if it would be too big to qualify, but I really like Bergamo - the lower city isn't much to look at, but Bergamo Alto is beautiful.

Lombardia is definitely "vacation country," but the main attractions are the lakes and the mountain parks.

I also like Bergamo, but I'm not sure I'd be happy there for a week without a car. Not enough public transportation options. FYI, Stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia cycling race will end in Bergamo on May 21.

Does it have to be Lombardia? How about Alba in Piemonte? The train line between Alba and Torino serves some charming, small towns... Monticello d'Alba, Bra, Carmagnola, and Torino itself is interesting. Great regional food plus the "Three Bs" wines.... Barbaresco, Barbera, Barolo. You can check to see if there will be any festivals/events during your dates.

In May, there are tons of wild flowers in the lower mountains of Lombardy.
Nice or interesting places in Lombardy:
Angera, Maccagno, Luino, Laveno (Lake Maggiore)
Campione, Porlezza (Lake Lugano)
Arcegno, Menaggio, Gravedona, Bellagio, Varenna (Lake Como)
Capo di Ponte (Val Camonica)
Iseo, Sulzano, Marone, Lovere (Lake Iseo)
Bergamo
Brescia
Limone sul Garda, Gargnano, Desenzano, Sirmione (Lake Garda)
Mantova
Cremona
Pavia

Bergamo, Mantova, Pavia, Cremona - those are my favorites in the region. Since you've already been to the lakes. Have you been to all of them? How about Lugano which is in Switzerland but only an hour from Milan.

The problem is that by public transportation the only really central place with good connections is Milan. I just got back from a week there and did day trips every day. I stayed at a hotel (the Berna, which I love) that is a five minute walk from Milano Centrale.

I think you have to pick good atmosphere vs easy connections to several places. Bergamo and Mantova would be my picks for atmosphere. You can spend some time on the trenitalia site to see what the times/timing is if you stayed in one of them depending on where you wanted to day trip to.

Here are my photos of the region - although Pavia and Lugano are not on there yet (just got back last night) - but the other towns mentioned are. http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p715732279