Originally Posted by
sscott77
Headed to Northern Italy in a few weeks for a 10 day trip. Flying in an out of Milan. Third trip to Italy. Second time to Milan. Second time to Florence, if we go to Florence.
It is my fiance's first time in Milan, so we will likely check out the Duomo and a little shopping on the first or last day. From there, we are open. We are going to have a rental car. I was thinking of driving to Venice, then doing a loop through Bologna down to Florence, back up through Modena, Parma, etc.
Would love any recommendations for restaurants, sights, or other towns to visit. We are pretty flexible.
Thanks in advance!
If you plan to go to Venice from Milan, I'd take the train. You can't drive, of course, in Venice. You have to park your car on the mainland which is expensive and highly inconvenient. You pay for a parked car that you cannot use, and take a ferry from the parking structure to Venice.
Over ten days, seeing Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Modena, Parma, means that you won't see much of anything. It takes a couple of days to see any of those cities. If the first and last day are in Milan that leaves you eight days to see the other five cities, minus the not-so-scenic winter drive time. That's barely leaves a day for each city.
For all intents and purposes you cannot have a car in Florence either. It can be wicked cold up in the north at that time of the year. Have you considered just taking a train to Rome, where the weather will be cold, but definitely nicer, and more conducive to walking around? The advantage to a January trip is you will have the cities to yourselves, without many tourists. You can basically just walk into the Sistine Chapel and the Uffizi, and walk streets of Venice without waiting in lines or standing shoulder to shoulder with crowds of tourists.
It might be a good time to take advantage of seeing the more popular places during their non-touristy times, and save Modena, Parma, Bologna, and other less popular areas for high season when Rome, Venice and Florence are too crowded.