Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Milan Environs Sightseeing

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Milan Environs Sightseeing

Looking for suggestions on good day trips in the Milan region. We'll be staying in the downtown area. Thanks!

In the course of planning for our trip, one of our participants has found a website by a cool American family living in Milan - - www.hostetler.net - - and we have corresponded with them a little bit. They mentioned Pavia (less than 30 minutes south), with its "Certosa" as a place they love to take everybody that comes to visit them. They suggested the following web sites http://certosadipavia.cjb.net/ http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/renaissan...rtosapavia.htm They listed quite a few others too, but I haven't lookd at them yet. I invited this family to peek in on what "we do" here but I haven't seen any posts from them yet. Mr. Hostetler seemed to appreciate the contact, so maybe other invites will get them to be contributors, even if irregularly. They have a very good list of Italian holidays, festivals and feast days, as well as some extensive links. Of course, you will get many other suggestions about como (the town) and Lake Como with its many charming towns, villages and villas (don't miss villa Balbianello, if you get the chance) - - but I thought that Pavia sounded like something I haven't heard mentioned here before - - or at least not much. Best wishes, Rex

Hello Sherry, A few to add to Rex's suggestions, depending on how far you want to travel:- Parma, Bergamo(citta alta), Stresa, Verona ... and, of course, Bellagio! Steve

The Lake Como area is a simple trip from Milan. You can catch a train from either Milan station and be in the city of Como is less than 45 minutes. From there, you can take a hydrofoil to Bellagio or another town in less than an hour. It's definitely worth at least one day!

And here's a few sites to help while you're in Milan. --===--===--===-- ATM http://www.atm-mi.it/ The Transport Company of Milan (ATM) offers a public service in 84 town council in the area of Milano. It is organized into underground (3 lines), more than 100 tram and buses lines. The total extension of the public means of transportation in Milano city and neighbouring area is almost 1.400 Km. CIAOMILANO http://www.ciaomilano.com/ This is a service offered by SMAU to all the visitors of Milano for business or leisure, with cycle tracks, comments and information and updated latest news on what’s going on in the city. FIERA MILANO http://www.fieramilano.com/ Milano is the economic centre of Italy and this Exhibition Centre (established in 1920) is the engine which makes Milano run and work FUN IN TOWN - MILANO http://www.fun.it/milano/milano.htm This is a guide to the entertainment and fun in Milano with news on pubs, bars, discos and much more… I MUSEI DEL CENTRO DI MILANO http://www.museidelcentro.mi.it/ This is a site where 5 museums of Milan decided to realize to give all the cultural information such as special discounts, events etc… LA SCALA DI MILANO http://lascala.milano.it/ All the “premieres”, ballets, operas, concerts of the most important, elegant and luxuous Theatre of the city and most probably of the Nation. MILAN http://www.acmilan.it/ This is the official site of AC Milan with all the news on the players, how and where to find gadgets and all the latests… MILANO http://www.mi.camcom.it/milano/ This is the site of Milan which provides information to the companies, the professionists and all the cathegories of citizens. MILANO DI SERA http://disera.mgm.it/ How to spend the night in Milan? This site is an answer to your quesiton! MILANO IN http://www.milanoin.it/ This is one of the most visited sites from Milanese people. Shopping, sport, economy, transportation and fun, this is what you can find. MUSEI DI MILANO http://www.breatheweb.com/milano/milano.html A virtual guide to the museums of Milano, with infos on opening times, premieres etc. PICCOLO TEATRO DI MILANO http://www.piccoloteatro.org/ This Theatre was established by Giorgio Strehler and Paolo Grassi. Even after their “departure” the Piccolo Theatre continued its ascent on the theatre show business. SEA AEROPORTI DI MILANO http://www.sea-aeroportimilano.it/ Schedules, services and much more regarding our Airports: Linate and Malpensa. With a very nice graphic it helps you in being always updated.

This list of websites is quite helpful! I am also looking for first-hand personal experiences. Anybody have any reports they'd like to post? Has anybody been to Pavia, and what is a "Certosa?" Please pardon my ignorance; planning a first visit to Italy and just starting the research. :) Thanks for any input!

Aha! A church! Does anybody know if I can get to Pavia directly by train from Milan?

When I looked into it, there was a direct bus to the Certosa. You would get off at a stop north if the town of Pavia. The bus service was regular, but the Certosa closed in the middle of the day. I got info from the Tourist Info desk on the Duomo Square on Milan.

Thank you, Leo! (How cool is this board that I can get an obscure question like this answered in 30 minutes!)

topping again, for the person who just asked about milan.