I will be visiting Milan for 3-4 days in late May and would appreciate itinerary suggestions (restaurant advice, bars ...)<BR>A day trip to Como is also possible.

The consensus opinion is likely to be: soend 75-90% of your three days outSIDE Milan - - at Lake Como the whole time or most of it. Search Menaggio or Bellagio or Varenna or Balbianello (four separate searches - - this is not a "Boolean" search engine) here on this forum and you will get lots of ideas and information.<BR><BR>Other options include Monza, Bergamo and/or Pavia.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

whoops - - "spend" - - not "soend" (as you could probably guess).<BR>

Hi Martin! A vote here for some days at Lago Maggiore. We really loved the islands & Stresa was a lovely town.<BR><BR>buon viaggio!

I infer that you will be staying in Milan for some reason. There are worthy sites in the city. No, it's not up there with the big three, but there are things worthy of your time:<BR>*The Duomo--one of Italy's finest, as well as being its largest. Definitely go up to the roof.<BR>*The LaScala Museum--the opera house is closed, but I believe the museum is still open.<BR>*The Galleria area.<BR>*Pike's Market.<BR>And, as Rex mentioned, a trip to Lake Como should be a must! If you are not required to spend much time in Milan, then I'd spend most of teh three days in the Lake Como area, staying in either Bellagio or Varenna.

I think Howard meant Gastronomia Peck, not Pike's Market (unless you're going to Seattle, too, and want to stop off at Pike Place Market). It's a wonderful high-end food shop. They also have a restaurant, which I haven't tried.<BR><BR>Some other museum ideas are the Poldi-Pezzoli, a small but nice collection, the Brera, and the Castello Sforzesco. If you like churches, Sant'Ambrogio is interesting.

If you're stuck in Milan for a few days, visit the Last Supper, the da Vinci Museum (his inventions, not his paintings) and the Naviglia (spelling is probably off) area. And I have no idea why everyone gets all giddy over shopping in Milan - the designer shops (like Armani) are no different than the same shops along Rodeo Drive or the boutiques in Bergdorf's or Neiman's, and the "off-price" shops have clothing that fits only famine victims or 8 year olds.<BR><BR>As for restaurant recos, you'd think I'd remember the names, as there are only 3 in the entire city (I exaggerate - there are 5). One really good place was in the Navaglia district, right on the canal - had an enclosed "sunporch" on the side. There's a place in the Gallery Vittorio Emanuel (entering from square in front of the Duomo, it's on the right hand side) with really good food.<BR><BR>And the park near the Castello Sforzesco has apparently turned into Needle Park.<BR><BR>And I really REALLY wanted to like that city, but it neeeever happened.

The fantastic thing about Milan is that most people think it's not worth seeing. The guidebooks say the same thing...and opinions here seem to reinforce that generalization.<BR><BR>I lived in Milan and return frequently. I definitely suggest that you pick one of the lakes for a day trip. Como is more populated, although it has some nice boutiques, huge mansions to gawk at, and a more worldly feeling. If you do go, try and have lunch at Villa d'Este. It's about $100 US per person, but worth it!<BR><BR>As for Milan, you should definitely see the Duomo (and a walk on the roof) and La Scala. If you get a chance, the Church of San Ambrogio is also worth seeing. Ambrose is the patron saint of Milan and his bones are on view.<BR><BR>If you are a fan of art, you should see the Last Supper (beware of odd hours for viewing), the Galleria La Brera, and the Galleria San Ambrogio. The two galleries hold some of the world's most important pre-Renaissance and Renaissance art. The great thing is that tourists tend to bypass them so they are never crowded or too busy.<BR><BR>My favorite restaurants is Bice. There also some nice places to sit and watch the crowds in Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele, next to the Duomo. As for bars, Shocking Club was hip a few years ago. There is also a bar just down the street from the Principe di Savoia hotel that is frequented by fashion types.

Ooops. Mea culpa. pca is correct. I meant Peck's and not Pike's (as in Seattle!)<BR>PS: I like Milan. And, I'll disagree with Elvira. The fashionable shopping district of Milan makes Rodeo Drive greatly pale in comparison. (Elvira, evidently you haven't seen the new Armani store that opened in Milan about 2 years ago!)