Any suggestion for 7 days trip in italy; Milan Venice Florence Rome.?

Question

I will go to italy in easter week, and plan to go to milan first. I am not sure that it is good idea to start trip to milan.
Please also suggest me for buying train ticket? Should I buy italy railpass Or night train? for this trip.
Thanks,

Answer 1

I'm Italian and then I'm feeling entitled to give you a few advises.
I partly agree with a previous answer that was suggesting you to leave Milano up. In effect it's widely the least interesting of the 4 towns of yr planning and also to visit just 3 of them in only 7 days it's really a short time by considering the huge number of spots / highlights offered by Venice, Florence and even more by Rome.
If I were you I would arrive in Rome, I would spend the first 3 days there (use the subway to move from one side to another one, it's easy connected and cheap) and in the evening of the 3rd day take a train to Florence.The Eurostar trains take nor 2 hours, you can sleep in Florence and in the morning you're ready with yr Florence's 2 days visit. Florence it's easy to be visited by walking since top spots are concentrated in an area of abt. 2 square miles. In the late night of the 5th day you can take an Intercity Night train that takes about 3 hours and half to get Venice. You'll spare the hotel room since you can sleep during the trip (it's not too long but better than nothing).Actually there is just 1 train doing this special service (but this can change depending on the period of yr visit,in spring/summer you'll have more options) leaving Florence Campo di Marte station at 01:47 am ( beware of that it's not the main Florence station FIRENZE SMN !) and arriving to Venezia Mestre at 05:24 am. It will take about 1 hour from there to take the bus and the ferry to reach the tourist area of Venezia and you will be just on time for a good cappuccino in the St.Mark's square.This is your 6th day in Italy, you can visit Venice the whole day and decide what to do (one day for Venice it's a bit short but it can be enough). You can take a plane from Venice to Rome the day after and fly back home or you can hop on an overnight train from Venice to Rome (leaving Venezia Mestre at 00:04 am and arriving Roma Tiburtina at 06:56 am sparing another night in hotel...!!) or go to Milan by train from Venice and fly back home from there. If you like this idea and if you need for further infos feel free to contact me (click on my profile for the email address).
Anyhow I'm passing here below 2 useful links
Euro Railpass http://www.railpassdirect.co.uk/tickets/default.asp?AFF=RPD
Italian railways - Trenitalia
http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Edit #1 - By reading better yr question I've just noticed you're coming here in the Easter week. This makes above planning rather harder since trains and flights will be overcrowded. You need to plan yr trips and book tickets / making reservations starting from now, immediately. In normal times is not necessary to book in advance but in that period you must do it for sure !!

Enjoy yr trip to Italy !!

Answer 2

7 days is really not enough time to see all of these places. People often make the mistake of trying to 'see Italy' in a short period and you end up not seeing that much at all. There's so much to experience in this amazing country that you'll be overwhelmed.

My advice is this: forget Milan. Spend a day there at the end and fly out of one the airports - there are three in the vicinity. Of all the places you mentioned, Milan is the least interesting. It has the allure of being the fashion capital, but its really rather a dull city - and you'll get better (and more affordable) shopping in most anywhere else you visit. Start your visit in Rome and then work your way up to Florence and then Venice. Venice is the most unusual and fascinating city in the world, a city of no cars and it should not be missed. It's quite easy to get a direct train from Rome to Florence and as Florence is in the centre of the country to go from there north, to Venice. I'd certainly invest in a rail pass.

Answer 3

I have been to Milan only once and didn't love it. I know you can get rail passes and that is what most Italians do. I love Florence the most. There are so many beautiful hill towns in Tuscany. You can get to most of them with using the public bus system. Sienna and Lucca are also beautiful towns and very different from Florence. By car Florence is over 4 hours away.I would plan very little of the 7 days in Milan. Have a wonderful time. Italy in April is beautiful!

Answer 4

This is a very bad time to visit big cities in Italy. I would recommend you spend some time in any town (e.g. lakeside) near Milan, then some nice town near Florence (Pisa, Siena, etc), then somewhere near Rome. You can always visit Rome or Florence for the day from there, for what they are worth. Avoid Venice: lots of loud tourists , lots of crowds and queues, expensive prices, full hotels and restaurants...

Answer 5

Hi,

Skip Milan and concentrate on your other cities and surroundings.

Buy a trainpass asap!
Here is a good place to search:
http://www.italyexposed.com/bookings.shtml#train

Just follow the: "Find all your EUROPEAN RAIL PASSES and Tickets here" link.

Hope you find something to use there.
Have a nice easter trip!