Milan or Lake Area
 

I am planning on spending 3 days in I taly in early January on my way back to the states. Due to the airlines routes we will fly into Milan, I am not sure if I should stay in Milan, if so where. I have heard that Milan is more industrial and not as exciting or fun as Lake Como or surrounding areas. Any recommendations as to where to stay, would like musuems or other things to do during the day, as well as night life,

I was in Milan/Lake Como in June this year. Milan is nice but big. For me seeing Lake Como and its surrounds was magnificent. IT was so beautiful to sit sipping coffe by the water ,looking at the landscape and just watching and listening to the crowds go by. All around Lake Como and the other lakes is well worth visiting. I wish I had budgeted more time.

Hi mmalam, the City of Milan is the financial center of Italy. Personally I love Milan. I would not want to be at Lake Como or the other lakes in January. I would prefer Milan where one has beautiful shops, the Galleria, the Duomo, The Last Supper, Museums, wonderful restaurants etc. as the weather will be cold, rainy and probably foggy.

If Milan doesn't suit you and you have three days why not consider taking the train to Venice or to Florence for a couple of days?

I guess I'm one of the few people here who actually like being somewhere that is beautiful yet deserted and that's what Lake Como would more than likely be at that time of year.
Yes Milan is "big" but it isn't any bigger than some other places. But if those aspects that LoveItaly has mentioned don't appeal to you then consider another city or place more to your liking.

January is not a great time for anywhere in Italy, unless you're skiing. But there will be lots of shopping in Milan (sales start around the 7th) and there are museums and other places to stay warm.

If you get a nice clear day, as often happens in winter, take the train up to Varenna (75 mins) and see Lake Como from there. You could also take the boat from Varenna to Bellagio and back again.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

beginningwithi.com

I agree with Deirdre. Go to Lake Como as a day trip. However, depending on weather conditions, I would recommend more boat experience than just the hop to Bellagio and back.

Lake Como is outstanding. It was one of Winston Churchill's favorites places for his paintings and George Lucas used it because of its spectacular setting.

Thanks, I think we still stay in Milan and then take a day trip to the lake area, depending on the weather.
What is good area/neighborhood to stay in Milan. I have been looking for hotels, moderatly priced $100-$200 but have not really found anything. Any ideas on where to stay.

"I guess I'm one of the few people here who actually like being somewhere that is beautiful yet deserted and that's what Lake Como would more than likely be at that time of year." Dukey, I'm another one of those few people, and so is my husband. As far as I'm concerned, heaven is heaven no matter what the season...

Lake Como in Jauary is not exactly exciting and fun. More like cold, wet, dark, deserted...

We visited Milan last year for 3 days and really loved it. In particular the Galeria and the cathedral. You can go up on the roof of the cathedral which is totally pink and white marble and is fantastic. We stayed at the Hotel Liberty fo 90E per night. It was quite a decent hotel and though about 2 Ks out of the centre the public transport both bus and metro was very easy.

Eric S., with all due respect: it's all in the experience. For some of us, "cold, wet, dark and deserted" is not depressing or alienating...more like poetic and evocative. DEPENDING, of course, upon who one is, where one is, etc. Personally, I generally prefer to be in non-urban areas in the winter; e.g., NYC in January ain't my cuppa. But that's moi! I think we'd all agree that it's important that posters requesting this kind of information be careful to read through the lines of each response.

Re. "cold, wet, dark and deserted" - uh, that would be Bellagio, which seems to know no happy medium between overcrowded with foreign tourists and roll-up-the-sidewalks dead.

The rest of the towns on Lake Como are inhabited by actual Italians who have jobs and lives beyond tourism, and live and work and eat and play there year round.

Lecco, where I live, is off the tourist map even for Italians (unless you're a Manzoni fan), but it's a bustling town of 50,000 people with lots of shops at all ends of the scale and plenty of good restaurants, and there are activities (designed for the locals) all year round. Admittedly, many of the locals spend the winter weekends at their second homes in Madesimo, skiing!

The upside of deep winter on Lake Como is that it's neither rainy nor muggy - usually clear if not snowing (we got a lot of snow last year, this year seems set to be warmer). The air is crisp and clean and the views the best you'll get all year.

And, as Lucie says, even the gray days can be gorgeously evocative. The lake and surrounding mountains are stunning in all their many moods.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

beginningwithi.com

I was lucky, having been to Bellagion when it was neither overcrowded nor dead.
If it's a fine day, Lake Como will be gorgeous.
One other option is to take the train just a bit farther north to Lugano, Switzerland. That lake area is also beautiful and the city will be quiet but not dead. I've been Lugano in January and it was very pleasant. Most restaurants and shops were open, as was the city museum. In Lugano, the Hotel Pestalozzi is a comfortable budget hotel at the lower end of your price range and some rooms offer superb views of the lake.
However, I think Milan is a little under-rated. There is plenty to do there (aside from the mind boggling shopping, of course).

But the OP was asking for "exciting or fun"... I know very well Lecco, Como, and many other lake towns. While obviously not deserted, I wouldn't qualify any of them as fun and exciting in winter time...

Eric S, with all due respect, I guess "exciting" is one of those words that has come to mean different things to different people. E.g., neither I nor my husband, have ever, at any point in our lives, found rollercoasters exciting; yet our son thinks they're the cat's pjs. OTOH, my endorphins run riot at the sight of a constellation in a clear night sky, a glimpse of a Sargent painting, or a two-year-old eating an ice cream cone. (For that matter, my endorphins run riot when I eat an ice cream cone!)

[From Merriam-Webster]
Main Entry: ex·cite
Inflected Form(s): ex·cit·ed; ex·cit·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French exciter, from Latin excitare, from ex- + citare to rouse -- more at CITE
1 a : to call to activity; b : to rouse to an emotional response; c : to arouse (as a strong emotional response) by appropriate stimuli

But I was just answering the OP who mentioned "exciting" and "night life"
in the same post. I'm sure you will give me a Webster definition of night life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Life

Not Webster's. Assuredly not Webster's. ;-)

Mmalam-I'd DEFINITELY stay in Milano, Lake Como area will be deadsville. And as mentioned, the January sales will be on, and you will NOT want to miss those, in and around the streets of Montenapoleone (the main fashion street, with Via della Spiega and Manzoni, as well). Here are ALL the famous courture designers, Prada, Armani, Versace, Cavalli, Ferragamo (LOVE my new Ferragamo scarf-a gorgeous gift from someone in Italy!) just to name a few, are located. During that time period, you should see all kinds of models, and maybe even some celebrities, trying to get in to shop the good bargains, so why not do the same?. (stop into Armani's atelier and have lunch- the garden area will be closed though).

Plus, Milan's world-class sights: the Duomo, (interesting to go up on the roof when it's warm) Da Vinci's "Last Supper" at Chiesa Santa Maria della Grazie, the opera season will be in full swing at La Scala (if nothing else, take a tour of the opera house, it will not disappoint), the world-class art museum of Pinacoteca di Brera, and a castle-the Castle Sforzesco. There's a hop on/off bus in Milano that goes to all the major sites, that might be good to do in order to orient yourself, for something like 13 Euro for 24 hours. Also, there are subway stops that go directly to the Duomo, and also Montenapoleone.

But it's Milan's fashion district that is a must-see, to get a real sense of the city's culture.

And how many people know that Milano is the region of Italy where Panettone, the Christmas cake, is from? No fashion there!

I love Milano-wouldn't dream of staying elsewhere-you go traveling to see life, action, culture, not to moon around an isolated seasonal resort, contemplating your navel-heck, you can do that at home!