paolok

Hey everyone! I'll be an exchange student in Steyr, Austria from Sept to Jan.

I'd like to visit Italy, but the longest break I have is 4 days! Considering that from Steyr to Milan, it already takes 8 hours or so - what itinerary would you recommend, so that I can experience the best of Italy, in just 4 days?

I know that it's impossible to cover a lot of ground, and personally, I'd rather immerse myself in 1 or 2 cities, than waste all of my time hopping on and off of trains. That said, we can't decide on the 1-2 (3 at most) cities we'll be visiting in that period of time.

We were thinking, Milan and Rome?

Also, since we're students, and on a budget, we don't mind sleeping on night trains and so on Thanks for any suggestions!

nytraveler

I wouldn't waste all that time on a train - but would check out low cost flights from your closest airport directly to Rome or Florence/Pisa - otherwise you're stuck starting out in Milan - not one of the tourist highlights of Italy,

ellenem

From Steyr, looks like your best budget flights are from Vienna. From there, AirBerlin flies to Venice, Milan and Rome.

J62

There is a late night train from Austria (Kufstein & Innsbruck) to Florence via Verona and Bologna that I took many times as a student - a couple of times just for 2days in Florence. You could get to that train from Steyr via Linz.

It's another 90min from Florence to Rome. I wouldn't put Milan high on my 1st time to Italy list. From Linz you can also take an overnight train to Venice - I think you can pick it up in St. Valentin, which is close to Steyr.

For 4 days I'd do 2 in Venice, 2 in Florence

or

2 Rome, 2 Florence.

Considering the time it would take you to get to Vienna airport, checkin, wait, fly, etc. in your case (location & energy of youth) using overnight trains makes some good sense to me.

paolok

Thanks for the advice!

I'm just curious - why isn't Milan one of Italy's highlights?

ira

Hi P,

>...why isn't Milan one of Italy's highlights?<

Because it is in Italy.

If it were in Bulgaria, it would be the no. 1 city.

It is overshadowed by Rome, Florence, Venice, the Amalfi Coast, the Cinque Terre, Orvieto, Pisa, Siena, Naples, Sicily......

paolok

I see... what would you recommend then, if I had to pick just 2 cities?

Our new alternative plan (which involves a lot of train time, sadly; I don't want to miss out, though!) involves going to Italy for 1 weekend, just to visit Rome.

Then, during the 4 day break, we'll visit Florence and Milan.

Also, I'm considering a flight to Italy, but doesn't it take a lot of time to check in and out, etc. - so in the end, it'll take the same amount of time as a train?

Sorry, this is my first time to travel alone, so I'm quite clueless ^^

J62

What's your fascination with Milan, especially over Venice?

J62

Sorry - didn't mean to be curt. I would not spend the time to visit Milan over Venice. Milan is a big, very big, modern city. In many ways it is indistinguishable from other big, modern cities anywhere on earth. Yes, there are some beautiful, historic sites - namely the Gothic Milan Cathedral and Da Vinci's last supper, but it doesn't rank on my top 5 places to visit in Italy.

Venice, on the other hand, is absolutely unique. There's only one Venice.

Trains from Venice to Florence take 3hrs - doesn't classify as a lot of train time in my book.

paolok

My friend has a relative in Milan, where we can stay overnight. She also offered to tour us. I'd like to catch a football game, as well!

But if the rest of the city isn't as worth visiting as Venice/Florence/Rome (still haven't decided which 2 we'll go to) then we'll save it for another day