Trips from Milan?
I'm traveling to Italy in December for 7 days. A friend in Milan offered me her apartment in Milan. . .am trying to capitalize on having a free place to stay and avoid spending too much on hotels in other cities while not missing out on some great places (have never been to Northern Italy). Any recommendations on itineraries? Am thinking of spending at least a night in Venice to start, have been told that I must go to Como (even in winter?). Am a female in my early 30s, will be traveling solo.1
Lots of interesting places around Milan..presumably you will be travelling by train,not by car?Of course there are disadvantages to doing only day trips...you tend to be in places when all the other tourists are there too (like Venice) rather than in the evenings or early mornings.
And you might get tired of taking the train every day...allow a couple of days in Milan itself to break it up a bit.
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Exactly where to go depends on your interests,how long you are prepared to spend on a train in one day,and the weather.I'd have a look at a guide book..apart from Venice,you could consider Lake Como,Verona.Torino,Mantova,Bologna....etc.
You can also have a look at Trenitalia.it....you can see how long it takes to get to and from these places......
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Lake Maggiore is also easily reached, in my opinion nicer than Como. With the new fast trains Florence is easily reachable but you would be recommended to book a train for that a.s.a.p5
To add to the list, there are several smaller places such as Crema, Cremona (where the violins come from!!) and Bergamo all within an hour of Milan, and a fast train will take you to Lugano in southern Switzerland in an hour too. You're spoilt for choice!6
Dont' worry about traveling solo..you won't have problems in Italy. :) Of course, I wouldn't go around alone on late night in the suburbs, but that's it's a must in every country.7
The problem is that many places make for a much better visit of 2-3 nights rather than a day-trip--Genova, Turin, certainly Florence and..Venice: if you spend only one night, I'm not sure it's worth it. But more than one night, and you're paying for hotels when you could be staying in Milan free. Decisions, decisions!
Plus, December. You'll want destinations with at least some indoor attractions. The fun of a place like Bergamo is wandering around. Verona also to a large extent. I guess you could nip into cafes for a warm-up as often as you wanted or needed.
Como? In December? The people I've asked (Milano residents) are evenly divided.
Brescia has a very nice, often overlooked and immense museum complex: Santa Giulia. And a surprisingly seedy train station.
What does your friend in Milan suggest?
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Thanks so much for the responses!!!My friend in Milan is studying for exams and it looks like the apartment may fall through, so it's all hotels now which doesn't help the budget but gives me more flexibility.
