Milan
Milan is one of the best-placed cities in Italy for day trips by train. Bergamo, Lake Como, Pavia, Oltrepò Pavese, Verona and Switzerland — all without a hire car.
Day Trips
Verona is up to an hour and fifteen minutes from Milan, Bologna, and Venice by fast train — a 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre still hosting opera under the stars, medieval piazzas, Shakespeare's balcony and some of the best wine in Italy. One of the most rewarding day trips in northern Italy.
Day Trips
Lake Como is less than an hour from Milan by train — beautiful in any weather, and one of the easiest escapes from the city. This guide covers the circular Varenna–Bellagio–Como route, the villas worth seeing from the water, and whether a day trip is enough.
Day Trips
Less than two hours from Milan, the Bernina railway crosses into Switzerland and climbs to 2,253 metres through glaciers, frozen lakes and the high Alps. A UNESCO World Heritage line, and one of the most spectacular train journeys in the world.
Day Trips
Just outside Milan by train, Oltrepò Pavese is Italy's largest wine-producing area in Lombardy — and one of its least visited. Rolling hills, medieval castles, native grape varieties you won't find anywhere else, and wines at a fraction of Tuscany's prices.
Day Trips
Less than an hour from Milan by train — or 15 minutes from Orio al Serio airport by bus — Bergamo's medieval Città Alta is one of the most rewarding day trips in northern Italy. Cobbled lanes, Venetian walls, extraordinary food, and views to the Alps.
Day Trips
Just 25 minutes from Milano Centrale, Pavia is one of northern Italy's most rewarding train trips — medieval towers, a covered bridge over the Ticino, a university older than the Renaissance, and one of the finest monasteries in the country.