arriving milan 2nd june and leaving milan 11 th june.renting car. itinery? any ideas

It would help just a teeny bit if you told us something about yourself - and who will be with you

And why you decided to go to Milan to begin with

What your interests are (history? wine tasting? clog dancing?)

Budget?

Any clue would be helpful.

sorry not used to asking help. we are a couple 71 years old (each)like views, art,local food, taking it easy etc. not too many changes of hotels. expect about 150 euro per day apart from car hire.

chose milan because there was a flight available. clog dancing sounds ok but would i have to go to netherlands? i think that would be too much driving for the ten days available.

Of course!
With that time, and a car, I would do this:
Get car at MXP---drive to Lago Orta---3 nites--day trip to Lago Maggiore--stay Hotel Orta

Drive to Luzern via Gottard Pass--stay Hotel Des Alpes--2 nites

Drive to Menaggio on west shore of Lago Como--stay at Hotel Du Lac in Menaggio---see Lake Como--last 3 nites

That is a tight loop---you could reverse the order since Orta is closer to MXP for departure.

Good luck !

Bobthenavigator gives you one suggested itinerary, but you have a many options for 8-9 days out of Milan.

You listed your interests as views, art, local food, relaxing, etc. Assuming this list is in order of preference, I would suggest concentrating on the Tuscany/Chianti area with a day trip into Florence. Bob's itinerary would be relaxing and very scenic, but the destinations are not places I think of for art and good local food. Tuscany/Chianti/Florence has everything on your list.

thank you so much for your suggestions

Two years ago we went to Lucerne, Lake Como, and Tuscany. Here are my photos. You might see something that interests you. For food, our favorite destination was Tuscany. For enjoying the surroundings, we enjoyed Lake Como best. Lucerne was a nice diversion, but I think you could spend all your time in Italy and be happy. I included Lucerne because I was able to use my frequent flyer points in/out of Zurich.

http://travelswithdiane.homestead.co...2006Page1.html

You don't have to travel the Gotthard Tunnel to see beautiful Swiss countryside (to Lucern) even though I love all of my visits to this gorgeous city.

You might consider driving up to Lago Maggiore and staying along the lake in Locarno Switzerland. It is west of Lugano area. It would be closer than driving through the 17k tunnel or over the pass. Take a look at the La Palma Au Lac Hotel in Locarno. It's lakeside. You can park the car and walk to shopping, dining, boat docks for lovely rides, etc.

Carol

i want to thank you all for your help

I would just like to point out that St. Gotthard Pass and Tunnel are two different things and the Pass is well worth the visit, IMHO.

However, if you are willing to focus on one country in such a fairly limited time, I would second others' suggestions that there is more than enough to cover in Northern Italy. The Lakes and Tuscany would be the obvious choice for your preferences.

As another option, I would add Verona and Venice, esp. if you haven't been.

Enjoy!