In early September we will be visiting Italy stopping in Milan and Venice, would love to hear your recommendations for
places to see and things to do. Of course we will be taking a gondola ride while in Venice. We will probably only be in
each city 3 days.

Hi Pugmom!

May be you want to know that september 3 Venice celebrates the Regata Storica, a big event. Just google Regata Storica to know f you are interested.

Enjoy those beautiful cities!

In Venice, if you plan to go inside St Marks Basilica you can/should make a timed reservation on their website. I also can recommend a tour of Doge's Palace.

Basilica San Marco Reservations

Palazzo Ducale | Doge's Palace | Venice

Most people would not devote the same amount of time for Milan and Venice but give more to Venice. However, a lot depends on your interests and the rest of your itinerary. If you're flying into Milan after an overnight flight, you might want a slow first day. And, FYI, three days in a place requires four nights. The train from Milan to Venice takes 2.5 hours.

You should do some research about sightseeing in both cities and then decide how you want to divide your time. Make note of things where reservations are mandatory or recommended. The Last Supper, for instance.

Just a word on trains - booking trains Milan-Venice ASAP - 90-120 days in advance for neat discounted fares- Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia - www.seat61.com has lots on tips on doing that. General info trains like first v 2nd class- www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

I may suggest cutting day or two off Milan and stopping in say Verona or Lake Garda area en route to Venice.

What Jean said exactly.

May I assume you are flying into Milan and out of Venice? International flights left very early when DH and I were in Venice. If that is still true, I'd add a day to Venice.

Others may will disagree, but there are many more cool things to see in Venice. Glass Island, Lace Island, Scuolas, Bridges, riding on the VAP, etc.

We had to get a reservation for "Last Supper". I believe you can do that online??? Milan's Duomo is beyond amazing--we took a roof top walk.

Enjoy your trip.

I don't think you need any special big plans for 3 days in Venice. It's a small central area so easy to explore on foot and using the vaporetto system. I've been only twice and stayed 5 days each time. My hotel both trips was Pensione La Calcina.

If this is your first trip to the area, I would certainly allocate more time to Venice than to Milan. On the other hand, we spent 7 nights in Milan in late November (having spent a couple of nights there already earlier in the year and both of us having passed through briefly many years ago), and we loved every minute of it and certainly didn't run out of fascinating things to do, great food, amazing museums, lovely people. We loved that city, especially because so many people say it's not worth of much time; we felt like we were really clued in to things people tend to miss. I would get hold of a good guide to Milan and see what appeals to you.
I agree you don't need to do much advance research for Venice (though it's always better if you do, so you know what you're seeing), but wander around, get lost, visit the old Jewish Quarter, take a boat out to Burano and Torcello, and don't have high expectations for the cuisine unless you do some serious research.

getting lost in Venice is easy and lovely - parts away from main tourist beaten track between train stations/parking area to San Marcos is often elbow to elbow in season but many sections of Venice are relatively vacant of tourists. So just get lost and wander - you can't get too lost as the main island is small.

Thanks everyone this is great information! We will be coming via train from Milan so I appreciate that info. Has anyone taken a
guided tour? What company did you use? StCirq and PalenQ I think walking around and "getting lost" is a good idea. When
we visited Paris in 2010 we actually got lost by mistake and really ended up seeing great areas and a neat street market.
Keep the suggestions coming friends.

Like suze I have been to Venice twice for five full days each time (might have been six). I did not run out of things to/do see, and I certainly felt no need for a guide. Get some guidebooks instead. Buy a vaporetto pass, perhaps a Streetwise map and/or use the maps app on your phone, and make sure to visit Burano and Murano and get away from the main drag between San Marco and the Rialto.

(StCirq - have you been to Turin? If not, and you liked Milan, I would recommend it.)

No, Thursdays, we didn't see Turin on our last run through this territory, though we wanted to (and will go back to visit it and other nearby places in the future because it's an easy, inexpensive trip for us). We got diverted to Bergamo instead of Turin for logistical reasons.

Burano and Murano are great excursions but for a really remote quiet island go also to Torcello - and its legendary feral hordes of feral cats (Venice itself has many too but at Torcello they are lurking everywhere IME.