Norhtern Italy - Yes, here's another plea for expertise & input
 

Hello my fellow travelers!

I’m fairly new to this forum but just love it so much. I originally started planning a trip to Provence and the Cote. However, there’s been a change of plans 😉. I’m traveling with my husband and our adult Son. We are Italian and have been to Rome, day trips to Amalfi coast, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Tuscany, Napoli, and Puglia. We have not traveled to Northern Italy so that is what we are planning to do now. HELP!!!!!

I’ve read so many wonderful trip reports and posts that once again I find myself overwhelmed. We will have about 12 days in total. We love small charming towns, great food, art, shopping, and just getting a feel for the lifestyle and people, etc.

Here’s my dilemma:

We were thinking of going to the lake region (lake como). From what I’ve read it sounds like Ravenna is the place to stay and then take the ferry to other lake regions. I would love to get your input/experience. If Ravenna is the best place to base in this region is there are particular area that we should look to stay?

I’m not sure if we should see both Milan and Torino and if so, should we base ourselves in one or the other and again, in what area?

And…..we would love to go to Piemonte Region. Visit some wineries, maybe a truffle hunting expedition, etc. Similar questions as above. Which towns do you think are a must. Where should we base ourselves and in what area.

I should probably stop here for now. I’m hoping to get some encouragement and great insight from all the experts and travel lovers out there.

Grazie mille
p.s. I’m interested in any feedback or other ideas you have. Not sure which City to start end and where to end ;_)

I think you mean Varenna, right?

Not understanding, Venice, Tuscany etc are in northern Italy.

Hello Holly and Bilbo, No you know why I need help ;-). Yes, I meant Varenna and you are correct, those cities are Northern. I meant to say we never gone further North than I guess Bologna. Looking forward to hearing about your favorite spots and any tips you can share.

I think very little can beat the area north of Bologna in the Po valley, do Mandova, Ferrara, Padova, Verona and Venice are a wild life friendly area with lots of cycle paths, canals, rivers and other small walled cities (lots along the railway lines). That opens up a whole load of Valpolicella wines all the way up to Amarone.

Milan to Turin opens up some very expensive wines but I sometimes find them hard to measure against the price. Piemont has this problem, though they do make some good sweet fizzy wines that might be ok and some clean whites down in Liguria

Brescia is another little gem, Bergamo alto the same. Milan is a real city with a some perfect spots, anyone like football?

What time of year? Weather and temperatures/humidity would be a big factor for me...

"Northern Italy" covers a lot of geography. Twelve days isn't very long. You could spend the entire time in Piemonte and/or split with some days at a lake and a day or two in your arrival/departure city/cities. Or follow bilboburgler's suggestion of the Po Valley (plus Lake Garda if you want a lake). Where to fly in/out depends on where you live. Have you checked your flight options to various airports?

Charming towns, great food, wine, shopping are all easy to find. Art too, but you might want to do some research/planning to include specific things like the mosaics in Ravenna, the town of Dozza near Ravenna, the Last Supper in Milan, Scrovegni Chapel in Padova, Vicenza and Palladian villas, perhaps Assisi... Piemonte (other than Turin) is a bit "light" on art treasures, although Genoa isn't far away. It all comes down to your personal priorities.

Look at staying in or near Alba in the Piemonte, Bellagio on Lake Comd. Ortisei in the Dolomites!

Look at staying in or near Alba in the Piemonte, Bellagio on Lake Comd. Ortisei in the Dolomites! And, of course, Venice. The northern areas of Italy are favorite places to travel.

Was there in November. Strongly suggest you use the search button above for posts and threads to view what others have recently said. Love youtube to get a sense of a place as well. Loved Como, Bologna and Torino.

Hello everyone and thank you again for your comments and support. We had a bit of family emergency so I've been preoccupied. Luckily, things are improving and getting back to normal. I'm starting to panic because time is going by so quickly. Based on your comments above and my reading through trip reports, etc. I've come up with a very sketchy plan.

I'm looking for any feedback you might have on (1) the number of days we are spending in each place (2) should I change the order of places we visit (3) any recommendations for lodging. Once I get the itinerary set, I'm hoping to but it out there with more details regarding things to see/do and places to eat, so that i get additional feedback from all of you experts!

Are dates are somewhat flexible. However, we are planning to travel in September. September 18-30, 2023 Fly from Las Vegas to Milan – Milan back to Las Vegas??
Traveling will be me, my husband, and our adult Son. Ideally, looking for nice airbnb's in the 300ish. a night range

2-3 Nights in Milan

--Look to stay in Brea neighborhood or ???. Any recommendations?

3 Nights – Piedmonte (pick up car and drive from Milan)

--Look to say in Asti, La Morra, Alba or ???. Any recommendations?

--Visit Cremona, Barberesco, Nieve, Barolo, Saluzzo

--Truffle hunting?

3 Nights Torino (drive from Milan to Torino)

---Recommendations for what area to stay in

3 nights Varenna (train from Torino)?? I know it’s closer to Milan so I may be going about this backwards.

---Any recommendations for where to stay?

---See Lake Maggiore, Bellagio, Como, Garda/Salo?, Sirmione, Stresa. I’m a little confused between the different areas of the lake region in terms of logistics.
---Train to Milan. Fly back to Las Vegas

Ttt

Hi folks,

It's me again...hoping to get some bites. After doing a little more research it looks like this order would make more sense. Any comments on this and MY ABOVE QUESTIONS would be most welcome. Thank you.

Fly into Torino and pick up a car for 2-3 nights
Drive to Piedmonte region for 3 nights
Train or drive to Milan? drop off car in Milan? 2-3 nights
Lake Como region (Varenna)
Fly out of Milan???

Are you skipping Torino? I really liked the NH Collection Piazza Carlina there, great hotel, great location on a beautiful square, easy walking distance to many sights.

I would indeed stay in Brera in Milano. Last trip I stayed Brera adjacent (well, the hotel calls it Brera but I'd say it's sort of between Brera and very near La Scala, close also to Montenapoleone). Hotel Milano Scala.

Sorry, I am terrible at logistics and always come up with the nuttiest itineraries for myself, so no advice there.

Hahaha, I guess there's no telling what you and I would come up in terms of logistics :-). Thanks so much for you comments.

My mistake, yes we are still planning on Torino, however, I'm kind of 60% yes and 40% unsure about it. Wondering if maybe we would enjoy doing Ravenna and Padua or just spend more time in the lake region, Milan and Piedmonte wine region?????

I will check out your hotel recommendations. Really appreciate that!!!!

Why would you go over to Ravenna or Padua for this trip? I think Milano-Torino/Piemonte-Varenna-Milano sounds good. Seems fun and not too busy. You'll get two big cities, and then some R-and-R in the country/at the lake.

I just realized how far away Ravenna is from our other locations so...it makes no sense to do that. I was thinking of adding a few other small towns in place of Torino since we will already have Milan, but as you say we may have a good mix. I don't know if I'm just tired and have read too much or not but Torino wasn't really grabbing me. It might be might mood right now.

I hope you don't think i'm crazy or not appreciate of all the feedback I've received thus far. We now looking at another trip to Italy for Christmas which would include Rome over new years and Umbria for about 6 days. I've read many trip reports that really helped me narrow our focus in Umbria. However, I'm still in need of help fine tuning the itinerary.

We are big foodies, enjoy shopping, trying to feel like locals in the towns, soaking up the culture. We enjoy architecture, beautiful churches, passeggiata, art, etc.

I'm considering staying in Perugia or Orvieto for one or two nights and then moving to Spello, Spoleto, or Todi for 4 nights.

I know many of you have first hand experience. What do you think about Perugia or Orvieto for one or two nights and....would you recommend Spello, Spoleto or Todi for the remaining nights based on our interests.

Hope to hear back from you. Many thanks!

Ttt

I think if you want to visit Northern Italy and in summer, don't miss the Dolomites.
I think it is one of the most beautiful parts of Italy.
Milan is worth spending 1-2 days, Lake Como is also nice, and I think Lake Garda is worth 2-3 days too. I think these are the best places in the north of Italy.
Ravenna is good if you want to go to the beach. But I would also recommend Jesolo or Bibione.

You might want to read this article to help you decide about Umbria:

https://www.italymagazine.com/featur...mplative-charm

I like Umbria. We've stayed in Orvieto, Todi and Spoleto on different trips but not in winter. I'm not a big fan of Perugia, but I'm also not a shopper and Perugia could be the best choice for that. Spello wouldn't appeal to me in winter.

As to your other trip, unless you have direct flight options into or out of Torino, I'd use Malpensa. I'd do this trip this way:

Land Malpensa and immediately train or private transfer to Varenna.
If you're lukewarm on Torino, you could train Varenna to Alessandria and rent/return the car there.
If Torino is "in," train Varenna to Torino and rent-return the car there. (If you rent in Torino and return in Alessandria, there will likely be a one-way surcharge. If it's an amount you can tolerate, consider doing that or in the reverse order.)
Train from either Alessandria or Torino to Milan and spend the last nights there.