NewToItaly

Hi,

My boyfriend and I will be traveling to Italy for 5 days in April. We are flying into Orio al Serio (Bergamo) outside Milan. We don't have any itinerary other than we want to go to Venice... Other than that, we're pretty open... Any suggestions for itineraries, must-sees or hidden gems? We're open to renting a car, traveling by train or a combo of the two. We thought about the Cinque Terre but aren't sure. Did I mention we're flying into Bergamo on Easter Sunday...? We're trying to travel as inexpensively as we can, so any hotel or hostel recommendations would also be appreciated.

THANK YOU!

krgystn

5 days is a pretty quick trip. Hopefully you are flying there from within Europe. Are you flying into and out of Bergamo or do you have some flexibility? That will partially determine how much you can do and where you can go.

NewToItaly

Yes, spending a few days in London before flying to Italy. We are flying into Bergoma but out of Malpensa -- so seems like basically in and out of Milan.

krgystn

If it were me, I would train directly from Bergamo to Venice (which should take about 3 hours.) Venice, of course, is one of the most expensive cities in Italy which won't help with the budget. Stay in Venice for 3 nights and return to Milan for 2 nights. There is not really time for much else. If your flight out leaves late on the final day, that could help a bit.

Sean_Hanley

IMO maybe take a train from Milan to beautiful Lake Como {one hour train ride) and spend a night or two in Varenna, then return to Milan and catch a train to Venice for the rest of the time and then back to Milan for your flight home.

Lifeman

Milan is in the west of N Italy, Venice is in the East and Bergamo is between the two. Bergamo is not like flying either into or out of Milan as it's around 90 kms from Malpensa. This will take almost an hour and a half by road.Bergamo to Venice is 230kms and would take around 3 hours by road.

You'll be doing an awful lot of driving if you want to include Cinque Terre and Venice as they are on opposite coasts of the country, so with only five days, you are going to have to make some choices. As Cinque Terre, whilst being nice scenically, isn't worth the effort you'd have to put in, (IMHO) I'd give it a miss this time.

The other thing to recognise is that during Easter, prices will be high, that's even assuming you can still find reservations anywhere, so you may have to bite the bullet financially. So with 5 days to use up, catch a train to Venice from Bergamo and spend your first two nights there. It's not long enough to see everything but you only have 5 days. Then hire a car, drive to Verona to see the city and then on to Lake Garda to spend two nights there and use the car to get round the Lake to explore.

Drive to Milan and spend your last night either near the airport or in the City (preferably) close to quick transport links to get you to the airport for your flight.