Italy 2 days between Florence and Milan
 

My husband and I have our whole trip planned at the end of April, but have 2 days extra in between Florence and Milan and I'm looking for ideas. Most other places on our trip are big cities.. so i don't want to do another one (like Venice) and we will have already been to Rome.. the hotel i want in Lake Como isn't available. and my husband doesn't want to go to Cinque Terre. Any suggestions for village, small town or cool experience we could train to easily from Florence on our way to Milan?

Are you flying out of Milan Malpensa? If so, you could take the train up to Lago Maggiore and stay in either Stresa or Baveno, on the lake, visiting the Borromei Islands and other such things. There is a regular bus service from those towns to Malpensa airport.

Other places you might check into:

Panzano -- this is quite close to Firenze, an hour by bus, but it is a very small town in the Chianti.

Both the small but beautiful food cities of Modena (balsamic vinegar) and Parma are on your way on the train line. You could stay in either and visit the other, and head on up to Milan.

There are many beautiful places to stay on Lago di Como. Are you sure you wouldn't like to try something else?

I would reconsider Lake Como if that's somewhere you originally wanted to go. Where did you want to stay?

That early I would not choose the lakes, which I do love, but do look at Santa Margherita or Camogli on the Portofino peninsula. I am surprised Zeppole did not mention it since she lives there.

We will have 3 nights in Barcelona, 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence.. We'll depart Florence on 4/22 and have to be in Prague by 4/26 (and my husband wants to see the Last Supper in Milan at some point).. So I think we need to be in a hill village, or beach or lake or countryside for those 2-3 days.. Maybe even train to Milan, then go to Switzerland before prague? I only want one flight to prague from somewhere on 4/25 or 4/26.. thanks for all the suggestions thus far!

Oh, and we wanted to stay at Villa D Este in Lake Como...

The end of April is when the azeleas and rhododendron are at their peak at Lago di Como, so I would reconsider. Why not check Tripadvisor and see what other hotels might appeal to you. You can always go have lunch or dinner at Villa d'Este -- or both!

Pretty as the Portofino promontory is, it is too much out of your way and similar to le Cinque Terre, which doesn't appeal to your husband.

Look at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio.

http://www.villaserbelloni.com/Bella...Customerlang=2

or the Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Tremezzo.

http://www.grandhoteltremezzo.com/

Neither of these hotels is in the same league at the Villa d'Este, but they are both very, very nice. FWIW, although the Villa d'Este is the top hotel on Lake Como, IMO its location is not particularly good for exploring the lake unless you have a car or driver.