We are arriving in Milan on May 27, before our cruise which leaves from Rome on June 4. That gives us 8 nights in northern Italy and I need help with an itinerary. We have been to Milan, Florence and Tuscany, Lake Como, Rome and Venice on previous visits and would like to go to some new areas.

I need help deciding how best to use our time. We can either stay in Milan for 5 or 6 nights and take day trips to Bergamo, Verona, Bologna and or Parma. We just want to be back in Rome on June 2 or latest June 3 for our June 4 cruise from Cittavecchia.

We can also stay in Milan for 2 nights to get over our jet lag. Then leave our luggage at the hotel and take carry on to take trains to Verona for 2 days and Bologna for 2 days. (we are seniors who just cannot manage large cases on the train any more). Then stay one more night in Milan, collect our luggage and fly to Rome on June 3. It would look like this:
Milan 2 nights
Verona 2 nights
Bologna 2 nights
Milan 1 night
Rome 1 night

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

You could consider Lake Garda, which some prefer over Lake Como. We have been a couple of times, and here is a report of our first trip to Lake Garda among other places. Trip Report: Part 1 Northern Italian Lakes & Cities (12 days October)

We also loved Bologna and the great day trips from there. Here is that trip report. Florence or Bologna? 7 nights early October

You might also consider the Italian Riviera which has many wonderful places to visit. Here is our trip report from there. Rapallo/Cinque Terre/20 Places/8 Nights Sept/Oct

We always travel with only carry-on luggage (even if this includes a cruise ship component and even if our time in Europe is a month or two.) We know that doesn’t fit for most people, but it’s too bad that it appears your cruise attire is impacting your flexibility in Italy. Have you considered sending some of your luggage ahead for the cruise component? I have heard positive experiences with companies such as this one. https://www.luggageforward.com/cruis...kaAijbEALw_wcB

You're flying Milan to Rome to avoid luggage on the train? How are you getting to and from the airport to the port/hotel? Car?

TrenItalia has a luggage forwarding service.

That's

https://www.trenitalia.com/en/servic...tservices.html

TrenItalia

The porter service (the last one on the page) is only €5

i understand about not being able to manage heavy cases but for an 8 day itinerary in the summer you probably don't need to take that much anyway. And I am struggling to understand your itinerary which as well as involving a lot of moving about seems to have at least one unnecessary journey.

This is what you have now:

Milan 2 nights
Verona 2 nights
Bologna 2 nights
Milan 1 night
Rome 1 night

If you take the train from Bologna to Rome [2 ½ hours] you could avoid going back to Milan and give yourselves 2 days there to recover from jet lag. You could also do Verona as a day trip from Bologna [ 50 mins by fast train] which would lose another change of accommodation and need to take your cases on the train.

That would give you this:

Milan 3 nights
Bologna 3 nights
Rome 2 nights

If you fancy a stay by Lake Garda, you could do this:

Milan 2 nights
Pescheria del Garda 4 nights [1-1 ½ hours from Milan] [possibility of day trip to Verona - only 14 mins on the train]
Rome 2 nights [takes about 4 hours; plenty of trains from Pescheria del Garda but most require I change; the two direct trains are at 06.25 and 17.25]

If you wanted longer in Verona [would make the trains easier as none of them require a change of trains]

Milan 2 nights
Pescheria del Garda 3 nights
Verona 2 nights
Rome 1 night

The best app I have found for working out trains all over Europe is the SBB [swiss bahn ] app - they have a touch screen option which is fantastic. Otherwise Trenitalia is ok but it requires you to put in the exact Italian place names. OTOH you can register and then use it to buy tickets which is very convenient.

2 nights anywhere = 1 day anywhere. Which is never enough to see or do anything IMO.

I would stay in Milano, but I love that city and never understand why people rush to see the duomo and La Scala and then scoot out of town. There is so much more to that city.

Why the heavy luggage? Especially in summer, no one needs luggage they can't manage by themselves.

When we go to Milano, which we do fairly often, we go to Lago Maggiore, Stresa in particuliar, for a lakeside break from the city.

I believe the OP is looking for an itinerary before heading off on a cruise, hence the luggage issue. Of the two itineraries you mention, I would likely choose option B. I haven't been to Verona but I really enjoyed Bologna.

if you're going to fly from Milan Malpensa Airport and you want to relax, 30 minutes drive from the airport and you are on the Lake Maggiore, as beautiful as Lake Como, but less crowded...

when one has a husband there is no problem.
17 days in the Caribbean 4 people 93 kgms in 4 luggage plus 4 smaller backpacks.

Guess who carried the luggage 🙄🙄🙄