We are going to Italy again this October! We are flying round trip into Milan (Marapensa) and I am going on a culinary tour to Parma for six days and my husband is joining me toward the end of that time. From Parma we are going to Florence (we've been before, but always felt rushed with only a couple of days). The question is how much time for Milan. As of now, we are booked for 4 nights in Florence and were planning to head to Milan early in the morning the day before our flight. That would give us most of the day in Milan. However, I'm wondering if we should add an extra day to Milan. Any advice would be appreciated!

BarbaraJ-- sounds like a lovely trip! I would like to go a cooking school someday. This time my husband and I are taking the kids (15 + 11) and we plan Milan only ONE DAY/night as next day we fly back to USA. (We also are in/out same Milan airport.) For us, that is enough time to show kids La Scala and the square it is in with all the high fashion in windows and on folks. I do not recall if there is a Duomo there to see. I have been before and it is basically an industrial city (that take nomral American lunch times). I think you planned correctly, especially the 4 days in Florence. We unfortunalty planned for only one day there also, as coming from Assisi, into Tuscan, we put our time of 3 days into a Tuscan farmhouse with pool for kids. We leave in August. Enjoy we you go!

It depends on what you like to do.

For me, I'd like to allow enough time to visit the Duomo & see The Last Supper so I would be satisfied with the amount of time you'll have there.

But I don't know if you would be satisfied.

A day is adequate. Of course this does depend on what you hope to see. If you want to see the Last Supper be aware you will want to prebook this online. Tickets go quickly and when I went I booked many months in advance. The Last Supper is the only main sight away from the center. The Duomo, which is one of the most grand cathedrals in the world, the shopping arcade and La Scala are all right together. Maybe see the Last Supper in the morning and head to the center to spend the rest of the day there. A day would be enough for me.

Thanks for your input. We're not shoppers (especially fashion)so we don't need time for that.

Samtraveler - how far in advance did you book the tickets for the Last Supper? On-line?

Ciaodeb - enjoy your trip! We were in Siena last year and I took a morning cooking class there and really enjoyed it. This is our third trip, and we decided not to try to pack in too much. It's only 10 days this time.

I can't recall exactly, but it was pretty far in advance. Check this link for great info on visiting the Last Supper

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...seumupdate.htm

Regarding Last Supper reservation: if you are looking for specific time, such as when the church opens, you should reserve asap. I watched http://www.cenacolovinciano.org/ everyday to find out when the reservation opened. There must have been a bug in reservation script, and even though the calendar showed slots available, it did not allow me to book online.

I called the reservation about 24 times without success. I ended up having my hotel make a reservation.

Hi Barbara,

I'd say 2 nights (one full day) to see the Last Supper, the Duomo and The Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele.

Even if you left early, it'd take you around 3 hours to get from Florence to Milan and if you count the time you'll spend getting to the hotel and checking in, you'll end up having only half a day.

Have fun!

<<I'd say 2 nights (one full day) to see the Last Supper, the Duomo and The Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele. >>

This is what we've planned (with a half a day on either side) and a half-day trip to Lake Como.

DH and I were in Milan last fall on business (DH's); we'd flown into and out of Milan several times, and never felt the need to stop.

We were both very pleasantly surprised by how much we liked the city. It wasn't real touristy, and we found many pedestrian-friendly areas to walk and people-watch. I'm not very interested in shopping and fashion, so that part of Milan was not a big draw.

We visited the Duomo and the Last Supper (more wonderful than I imagined). In addition, there are several smaller museums with some great art, if that appeals to you. The Castello Sforzesco now houses several museums, and is located in an attractive park.

If you've been to Florence before, maybe consider devoting more than part of a day to Milan. Look at the attractions of Milan in addition to the Duomo and the Last Supper, and decide whether they'd appeal to you more than the museums, etc. in Florence. Also, I'd say if you spend more time in Milan, there will be fewer crowds, but I'd expect that the Parma portion of your trip should also be relatively crowd-free.

Thanks again for all the information. I checked on reservations on the Last Supper and they just opened the reservations yesterday for times through September 30th. I'll check again toward the middle-end of May for October reservations.

After looking at a map, it would be difficult to do much after arriving and checking into our hotel. The earliest we would arrive would be 10 am. Maybe we'll take an afternoon train to Milan and then have an entire day there. I'll check the threads, but any hotel recommendations for Milan? Or areas to stay in?

We enjoyed Spadari Al Duomo - very central. It is next door to Peck and a short walk from La Scala and the Duomo. There are lots of restaurants nearby.

If you like opera, don't miss the museum of La Scala. We were lucky enough to see them rehearsing for an opera, in addition to seeing the museum.

We had three nights in Milan last September. Spent a day at the Duomo, people watching and Galleria; next day was a tour of LaScala, wandering through the area by the university and the castle/park area. Last morning was at the Last Supper which you really shouldn't miss. We were able to get tickets by leveraging our hotel concierge 6 weeks in advance. Be aware that many museums are closed on Mondays...strikes are also common at those locations. If possible, don't set the Last Supper viewing for your last day just in case there is a strike and you'd be out of luck.(no refunds, no exchanges). We stayed at the Sheraton Diana - close to a metro stop, easy to the city center, quiet and had the most amazing meal across the street at Cafe Piccolo! It ranks in our top 10 for all of Europe and was very unexpected.

Thank you Samtraveler and Greg for providing the web sites. I forgot to do this in planning hotels so glad you prompted me! I checked both and bought tickets for late August on day we will be in Milano, our last. Going to see the Last Supper in 18:00 hour; this will be our last Italian place to visit as we leave the next morning for USA!! Now I am going to reserve for Florence's Uffici.

cmeyer-

how did you do the tour of La Scala. I believe that limited entrance is allowed with a museum ticket, but not sure if that's the only way to actually see La Scala without buying opera tickets.

thanks!
dina

Yes,cmeyer54, I'd love to know how too!!

Anyone know of BEST site for Uffizi tickets as ones I have checked have high booking fees PLUS exhibition fees too!

Can someone tell me the cost of admission to see The Last Supper?

I paid E. 8 per person: my husband kids, 15 + 12 and me, as Americans. There was no additional fee and I used the above web address from Greg: http://www.cenacolovinciano.org/

regarding the la scala tour - we went to the museum to see the maria callas exhibit and then wandered into the opera house itself. there was a cruise ship tour group there so we listened in for a portion and then sauntered off to a box and ducked in, looked around from above and ducked out. they were setting up for a performance so we didn't get a full back stage kind of tour.