Suggestion for a packed vacation!
 

Hi! I'm hoping someone can offer me suggestions for my really packed vacationin Italy. We're 3 students ready to live up our mid-winter vacation. As we will not be renting a car, we will be doing all traveling with public transportation.
We'd like to get to know as much of Italy as we can in the 8 days that we are there. Although there is so much to do in each city, we'd like to see the most interesting sites in each city, as opposed to spending several days in all the museums and galleries.
How does this seem?
Wed - arrive in Milan (major sites and opera)
Thurs - one day trip to Lugano
Fri & Sat - Venice!
Sun & Mon - Florence
Tues & Wed - Rome
Thurs - head back to NY...
If we feel that the trip involves too much art, galleries and such, does it make sense to spend one day in Tuscany area (Siena...)
I'm welcom to all critiques and suggestions! Thank you so much for taking the time to help!

EstyOst1, you are traveling by train I assume. Arriving from US? East coast or west coast? Landing at Milpensa Airport? What time does your plane arrive in Italy.

8 days is really not long enough for what you have planned. Why Lugano? Unless you have a specific reason to go, I would skip it. Pick up a Rick Steves Italy book. He gives some suggestions for towns between Milan and Venice if you must stop somewhere before Venice. Lugano is in Switzerland??? Did you mean Lake Como? Did you check to see that the museums you want to visit are open on the days you are there?

Thanks for replying. We're coming from NY, arriving in Milan at 8:00 in the morning. I guess you can say we're ready to use lots of energy on this trip, yes I now we'll be exhausted at the end of it - but we still have some vacation when we get back.
About Lugano, basically we thought we can go on the cable car rides to a really nice view of the Alps, but then we realized they're closed in December. Also, being in Milan and not going to Switzerland is a bit of a tease...
How about Lake Como? I know all these places are not as nice in the winter, but should we really skip it bec. its cold?
Thanks...

Lugano is on a lake. When we were there in summertime, the major activity we did was to ride the boats around the lake and visit other villages. I can remember seeing the Alps way in the distance.

My daughter loved the little town of Varenna on Lake Como but again, we rode the ferry to Bellagio and there wasn't too much to see in the little town.

I'm sure some Italy "experts" will be along tomorrow to give you some ideas.

Have you found the German train site yet: http://www.bahn.de/pv/view/index.shtml

It is a German site but has listings for all of Europe. Click on English on the left just below where you type in departure city.

Personally, with 8 days I would stick with Italy and do Switzerland another time.

By the way, where are you returning from? Rome or Milan?

We're arriving in Milan and then leaving from Rome.
If we decide to skip Lugano, is there another nice town between Milan and Venice where we can get a nice view of the Alps? It's tough finding winter attractions on the tourism websites.
Thanks for your help

You can go to Lecco on the southeastern tip of Lake Como, it's a 40-minute train ride from Milan's central station. Then catch the #5 public bus (stops right across from the railway station), whose last stop is the Funivia (cable car). Take the cable car up to the Piani d'Erna, at which point you are well up ON an Alp (the Resegone). I don't think there's a more comprehensive Alpine view within easy reach of Milan - you're not at the top of the mountain (you'd have to hike - no go in winter), so your view is of the high mountain you're on, other mountains around, and down to the lake. You can see some of the view (towards the south) in a picture I took this summer on http://www.straughan.com/italy/travel/lecco.htm

Thanks for that tip. I checked out your picture which is really nice. Is this cable car open in the winter? In addition, aside for the view is there anything else that we can do on a cold winter day in Lecco or nearby to make it into a full one day trip?
Thanks!

Hi EO,

Is this your first European Expedition?

Yes this is our first "expedition" to Europe. ...And we'd love to make the most of it!
Winter in Italy!
Tips? Suggestion? Critiques?

About lugano - the cable car to san salvatore mountain is closed in the winter months. it is a beautiful city though.

What time do you arrive in Milan and are you willing to spend a LONG day to get a real view of the Alps?

TopMan - the way you capped LONG scares me! :-)

First of all, what do you call long?
Second, we want to travel to Venice that evening, so if the looooooonngg day ends us in Venice then the answer will probably be yes!

Arriving in Milan Wed. 8:00 AM. Spend the day locally and sleep in Milan. The next morning (Thurs.), we want to go somewhere with a nice view of the Alps and then travel to Venice in the evening.

Suggestions?
<b>Lugano</b> was a try but the cable car is out in the winter and there's not much else to do there mid-December.
<b>Lucco&lt;B/&gt; was another suggestion - any helpful details to make it into a nice trip where we can continue to venice in the evening?</b>

woops, sorry about that last bold face typo!

Since you want to stay locally in Milan that first day my idea won't work for you. You'd probably be better off spending the day going no farther than Lecco or perhaps as far as Domodossola.

If you had some extra time, such as in four hours you could actually rail as far as Brig in Switzerland and even another hour and 20 minutes farther to Zermatt but to get back from there all the way to Venice would be pretty much out of the question although it might be accompliched if you left Milan very early and then caught a Cisalpino back from Brig through Milan and on to Venice.

At Lecco you could at least get views of Lake Como..the Alps it isn't but it is scenic at least.

Thanks for the reply.

What's in Domodossola?

Your Zermatt idea is my dream... ! I would have liked to leave to Zermatt Wed after arrival and then spend Wed-Thurs there (skiing, snowboarding, nice views...) and head to venice Thurs night. However, my friend would really like to be in Milan Wed night for an opera. (Its not even beinng in La Scala!)

IMO the &quot;best&quot; thing in Domodossola is, don't laugh, the restaurant at the Hotel Eurossola which is directly across the square from the rail station.

When we were in Brig this past April we took the short train ride down one evening and had absolutely one of the best meals I have had in one of our many trips to Italy.

I'm sorry the Zermatt excursion won't work for you. The view from the Gornergrat or Kleine Matterhorn above Zermatt of the entire Monte Rosa massif is spectacular and you'd find yourself in the midst of the highest alps (save Mont Blanc) of all. Keep it in mind for a future trip..unforgettable.

Yes you did give me a laugh! Other than food :-) what else is there in that town?

What do u think of the suggestion to go to Lecco and Piani d'Erna for a cable car ride and view?

I'll take any suggestion for a one day trip between Milan and Venice that does not consist of museums, galleries and monuments...!

Why not try Verona? Even though it won't be summer and the opera festival will not be going on at the Arena, it still is an interesting town for wandering and is about mid-way between Venice and Milan. Yes, there's a castle with museum and San Zeno church and some Roman sites, most notably the Arena, but we found it fun to wander as well, and to EAT!

topping