My boyfriend and I are doing a 9 day trip next month (mid March) from NYC, flying into Milan and flying out of Paris. We have booked a train from Milan to Venice, and then a cheap flight from Venice to Paris.....so basically our travel arrangements are complete.

We will be landing very early on Saturday in Milan, and will be there two full days, then traveling by train to Venice Monday morning, were we will stay until Thursday morning (2.5 free days) when we depart for our flight to Paris. We leave Paris Sunday morning, giving us 2.5 free days again there.

I was wondering what do you think the "Must-Do’s” are during that time. Both he and I have been to Paris before, so we have both done the major attractions, but I would not mind seeing the Eiffel Tower again. Neither one of us have been to Milan or Venice. In Paris, we are staying in the Marais district. In Milan and Venice we have pretty central accommodations - iIn Milan, near the Centrale Train Station and in Venice near St. Marks.

Also, we are looking to cut down on expenses as much as we can (although we did get amazing flight deals - under $600 for the entire travel mentioned above for the two of us), while also maximizing our time. Travel recommendations to/from the airports are appreciated as well.

Thanks, any and all information/ideas are appreciated!!

For Paris, especially since you are staying in the Marais, I would start by spending some time just exploring that area: rue des Rosiers, place des Vosges, etc. Definitely check out the Musee Carnavalet, which is free and chronicles the history of Paris. In the Marais you’re close to the Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis, which are great places to stroll around as well. If you do venture back out to the Eiffel Tower and want to pair that with something a bit ‘different’, you might want to check out Palais de Tokyo (if you’re interested in modern art), or a stroll up the Ile aux Cygnes, where there’s a miniature Statue of Liberty.

Milan : get the subway (line 3 ) to the DUOMO: an awesome daunting Cathedral, which is the must see nr 1 as far as Milan is concerned. The Duomo square is full of people. Then you can walk along the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele and the famous Galleria. (Experts say these two shopping malls - with all sorts of shops cafes and pastry shops and so on- are some of the most renowned shopping malls in the world.)
At the end of the Galleria you'll see the SCALA theatre,which you can visit by the way. It's not that amazing from the outside but it is fabolous inside, after all it's the most important opera theatre in the world.
If you walk along Via Dante you'll end up in front of another stunning building :Castello Sforzesco: a medioeval Castle (metro stop CAIROLI line 1) Do enter the interior garden and walk outsidei it because you'll just end up in Parco Sempione, the largest park in Milan. From there you'll see the RAI tower ( State broadcaster's Milan headquartiers) .
On saturday night I would suggest an altogether different itinerary. Whereas the Duomo square and the area all around is awash with people during the day the area is gradually deserted in the night. Well there are still people around and I would suggest you catch a glimpse of the Duomo and the Castle in the evening notheless. Nevertheless, after a quick glance, I would suggest you to go to an other area of the city, where the action is . From Centrale get the subway line 2 to Porta Genova, and then walk to the Navigli, the Canal district in Milan where tons of people (mostly young people ) hang about at night at weekends. The area of course is full of pubs, bars,restaurants...and places to do the aperitivo or Happy hour. What does it mean? In these places you jsut pay for a drink and help yourself to a buffet and you can eat evrything you want for how many times you want. That's how the Milanese aperitivo works. And it's very unexpensive.
Milan in a nutshell ?a cosmopolitan, big, fast paced city. Around 15 % percent of the inhabitants are not Italian. The city is safe, just be careful on the metro
Let me know if you need any other advice. If you click on my nickname you can read other advice I gave about visiting Milan

I forgot telling you you can climb up the roof of the DUOMO . From there you'll see the city and its skyscrapers and the mountains (the Alps) in the distance, hopefully the sky won't be overcast

I'm a fan of Milan, but I think you can see the main tourist sights in less time than you are allocating. Whereas, 2.5 days in Venice isn't much for a first-time visitor. IMO, there is much more to see in Venice than Milan, and your time allocations should accommodate.

Consider leaving Milan late Sunday afternoon or evening to give you 3 full days in Venice. Your hotel should be willing to hold your luggage after check-out, or you could store it at the train station until your departing train.

If you're interested in seeing the Last Supper in Milan, you'll need to make reservations.

I wasn't as charmed by Milan as others have been (though I agree you should see the Duomo), so unless you have a lot of specific things you need a couple of days to see in Milan, I'd agree with Jean: add an extra day to Venice or even stop in between somewhere like Verona for a night or even as a day stop-over on the way to Venice.

Before you give up on Milan, read the blog "Spotted By Locals," which you can find online. It is really a young person's city and the blog has lots of budget tips and interesting attractions.

But if you wake up in Milan on a day so beautiful day it simply screams "Go outdoors!", I suggest you take a day trip to Lago di Como for a few hours. Walk to the handy train station and buy a ticket for Varenna. If it's lunch time, you won't want to eat at one of the overpriced restaurants (and you won't be missing anything!), so grab some pizza or a sandwich, but do take the boat over to Bellagio and back.

But if it's rainy, you'll find plenty to do in Milano. My personal favorite for small museums is the Pinocoteca Ambrosiana, which doesn't only have paintings (but there are few gems) but lots of unusual objects (Napoleon's glove?) and rooms. It's near the Duomo.

Feda's ideas are all great and cheap.

Yes, Zeppole is right !
Infact my suggested itinerary can be done in a day.
The following day you might as well make a sidetrip to Varenna, as zeppole has suggested . Take the trip to Tirano or Sondrio and it will take you about an hour to get there.
I also warn you that since the train to Torino (Turin) and to Tirano (the one you would need to get to Varenna) are generally next to eachother many people get confused and board one instead of the other, even Italians, so be careful about that.

Varenna/Bellagio in mid-March will be fairly deserted and chilly if not downright cold. I would save Lake Como for a time you can visit when there are flowers in bloom and warmer temps.

Again, I like Milan more than most people, but I think you could give some of the Milan time to Venice.

You can look at the temperature when you are there and decide for yourself if it is too cold for you. You are likely to find some flowers in bloom in mid-march if that's a huge deal for you but more importantly, Lago di Como is simply gorgeous even if you never see a single flower.

No one is suggesting you go if the weather is chilly or rainy. Honestly, when I read Fodor's posts of pretending "authority" about weather and places being "deserted" during non-touristy times of year, one just wonders what is going to make people stop spreading misinformation to people trying to plan a trip.

Many, many MIlanese and other people who LIVE in Italy head up to the lakes spontaneously on a nice warm spring day. This is ITALY for heaven's sake, not Siberia.

If you want to spend more time in Venice, do! But I assume you can read a weather report and if you would like to see Lago di Como, don't let internet strangers stop you.

As far as temperatures are concerned ( for the Italian part of your trip ) check out the Italian SKYTG24 website .

Jean, it is hardly ever cold in march in Italy. Maybe a bit rainy but definitely not cold. And on the train from Milan to my town which is northern that lake Como I always meet American who are headed to Varenna in spring

I have skied about an hour from Varenna at the end of February. I guess two weeks and a little altitude make the difference. I still think both Varenna and Bellagio will be very quiet.

And I still think the OP would enjoy more time in Venice.