Milan to Venice-little bit confused
 

PLEASE HELP!!!! I will be flying into Milan on Thanksgiving for 5 days. I have to fly into and out of Milan because of the airline, so i thought i would go from Milan to Venice spending a few days in each. I have been reading over many postings and am trying to find out if i should leave directly from milan airport and fly to venice the day i arrive milan, or take a train to venice? then train or fly back to milan for the remainder of my trip? Or if i should spend a few days in milan, take a train to venice and then take a return flight or train back to Milan for a 10:00am departure. And also just how big of a problem am i going to have leaving from a milan hotel to the airport? Seems like its a big hassel. Any very nice hotel recomendations in Milan and Venice?

If you can find an affordable flight, I would fly directly onward to Venice. If five days IN Venice are more than you seek, I submit that you can find a lot to interest you within 90 minutes of Venice - - easily competitive with some of the charms (or lack thereof, to some of the "anti-Milan" crowd here) in Milan and surrounding areas. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

For your last night before the morning flight from Milan, there have been some very favourable reports on the Hotel Villa Malpensa, close to the airport. <BR>The website is www.malpensa.it/Villa.htm <BR>Have,nt used it myself but quite a lot of fodorites have, and all have praised it highly. <BR>Why not spend the first night in Milan, then train to Venice for the rest of your time and train back to Malpensa the day before you leave. This should remove a lot of the hassle. <BR>

If I'm not mistaken, to connect from Malpensa to Venice by train, you'd need to take the Malpensa Express train to the Milan-Cardorna station (about a 40 min. trip) then, taxi over to the Milan Centrale station to catch the train to Venice. Or you could take the Malpensa Shuttle (bus) directly to the Milan Centrale station. I don't personally find Milan very interesting, so I would bypass it alltogether. However, to connect by air directly to Venice could be tricky if your transatlantic flight is late such that you miss your Venice connection. With only 5 days in Italy, you don't want to be cooling your heels at the Milan airport, waiting for the next connecting flight to Venice. Therefore, I would rent a car at Milan Malpensa and drive one way to Venice, stopping in a couple of intersting places to visit on this drive, such as Verona (for your first night) then Vicenza or Padua. I think 5 nights in Venice is a bit much so you could cut that to 2 or 3. <BR> <BR>It will be easier to assure your connection on a one-way flight from Venice to Malpensa to connect to your flight home. <BR> <BR>Since Malpensa is so far from Milan central, if you do wish to visit Milan, then you should try to avoid making that trip to/from the airport to/from the city center more than once. After a long flight over, you might just prefer to train into Milan central and stay one night just to overcome jet lag.

the bus malpensa to milan statzione centrale is about an hour. imo, milan is worth some time. the duomo, the galleria, la scala and sforza museums are memorable. peck is a fabulous place for foodies and vinophiles. of course, venice is the most marvelous place on the globe. just wander about and get lost. the train from milan to venice is about a four hour ride. check "treniatalia" for schedules and booking. buon viaggio.

With only 5 days, assuming you arrive into Milan in the morning, I would take a train to Venice immediately, spend 4 nights there, and then train back to Milan and just spend the one night there prior to your return. Milan is underwhelming compared to most of the rest of Italy and I would not spend very much time there if I were you.