The 8 best day trips from Milan

Fast-paced, fashion mad and good looking as hell, Milan injects a lot of life (and style) into northern Italy. But a few days winging around the city’s outstanding galleries, Da Vinci-festooned basilicas, glamorous restaurants and world-class opera are just the prelude to a region still ripe for discovery. Cue Lombardy and the Italian Lakes.

Boat trips across ink-blue waters to crazily pretty villages, road trips through the vines with tastings at open-door cantine (cellars), ancient ruins, grand palaces and Roman amphitheaters are all on Milan’s doorstep, just an hour or two by train or car. Read on for eight of the best day trips from Milan to get you started.

1. Slip off the radar in Varese

Travel time: 1 hour 

In the mad rush to get to the big-hitter lakes, many entirely overlook Varese, northwest of Milan. And what a shame that is. The under-the-radar region packs a hefty scenic punch, with lakes, lofty mountains and charismatic hilltowns that see blissfully little tourist traffic. 

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Kick off in Varese, a low-key city just south of the Campo dei Fiori hills, with a pretty Città Vecchia. Wandering around the old town’s tangle of historic lanes brings you to the lavishly baroque Basilica di San Vittore, the freestanding Torre Campanaria (Bell Tower) and art-slung Villa Panza, with knockout views of the Alps from its landscaped gardens on clear days. Lunch at Da Annetta, in business since 1928, is the clincher. Try standouts like fagottini di pasta rossa, ricotta, pesto, olive e crema di burrata (red pasta parcels filled with ricotta, pesto, olives and mozzarella cream).

How to get to Varese from Milan

Varese is roughly an hour’s drive via the A8 motorway (traffic permitting), but it’s easier and more relaxed to take the train and the journey time is the same. There are regular connections from Milan’s Porta Garibaldi station. 

2. Rewind time in Castelseprio and Torba

Travel time: 1 hour 

For a shot of culture without having to jostle with Milan’s crowds, stray an hour north of the city to the quiet forests of Lombardy, where historic treasures surprise. Parco Archeologico di Castelseprio is home to the ancient archaeological site of Sibrium, a Lombard castrum (fortified settlement) where you can nose around the ruins of Roman and early medieval fortress walls, churches and towers. 

While you’re in this neck of the woods, tag on a visit to Monastero di Torba. A 5th-century watchtower turned Benedictine convent, it provides a fascinating insight into the lives of medieval nuns. Close by, the pre-Romanesque Chiesa di Santa Maria Foris Portas entrances with 1400-year-old frescoes that depict scenes from the infancy of Jesus Christ.

How to get to Castelseprio and Torba from Milan

You’ll want your own wheels to zip around the sites as it is not practical to visit them by public transport. Both are roughly an hour’s drive north of Milan.

3. Find the Italian dream in Bellagio

Travel time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Hugging the shores of mountain-rimmed Lake Como, exquisitely pretty Bellagio and its bobbing boats feel a million miles away from the hustle-bustle of Milan. This is the Italian fantasy in a nutshell, with steep cobbled streets and staircases marching ever higher past red-roofed, shuttered houses in a fresco painter’s palette of pastels, flower–filled gardens and cypress groves. Each bend reveals views of the lake’s blue glitter to make you gasp out loud.

Begin with a stroll around the centro storico, glimpsing the Romanesque church, then make for the statue-strewn gardens of neoclassical Villa Melzi d’Eril, brimful of azaleas and rhododendrons in spring. Or tread in Queen Victoria’s dainty footsteps to the terraced park and gardens at equally grand Villa Serbelloni. 

Looks can come at a price and Bellagio’s beauty is no secret. Dodge the biggest crowds in peak summer and instead visit in the shoulder seasons or midweek for a quieter feel.

How to get to Lake Como from Milan

Trains run frequently from Centrale, Cadorna and Porta Garibaldi stations in Milan, stopping at Como Lago. It’s around an hour’s journey. From Como, it’s a 35-minute boat ride to Bellagio.

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4. Walk the Venetian walls of Bergamo 

Travel time: 40 minutes 1 hour 

With the Alps puckering up on the horizon, Bergamo impresses at first sight. And it just gets better the deeper you dive. Spreading photogenically across the hillside, the upper town, Città Alta, is fantasy stuff. It has medieval alleys and 5km of UNESCO-listed walls, built high and mighty by the Venetians, commanding views over the city to the Lombard plains beyond. 

Go straight for the heart: visit the Piazza Vecchia, a graceful ensemble of Renaissance palazzi, pavement cafes and the medieval Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, with its mishmash of Romanesque and Gothic styles, distinctive black-rose-white banding and trompe l'œil facade.

For art fans, the big deal is the Accademia Carrara, which showcases an internationally prized collection of great Italian masters, including works by Raphael, Botticelli, Canaletto and Titian.

How to get to Bergamo from Milan 

Frequent trains for Bergamo leave from Milan's Porta Garibaldi, Centrale and Lambrate stations, and take around 40 minutes. Or it’s around an hour’s drive northeast of Milan on the A4. Parking can be a pain in the Città Alta, so look outside the city walls.

5. Find motors and majestic palaces in Monza

Travel time: 1 hour 

If fast cars excite, Monza is unmissable, with the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, one of the most famous and oldest (1922) racetracks in the world and host of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.  With its long straights, zippy corners and tricky chicane, the circuit is dubbed the “Temple of Speed.“ Catch a race here if you can or – for a thrilling minute in the life of a motor racing legend – take a spin on the circuit in a Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini.

But there’s more to this elegant Lombard city than motors. The white-and-green banded, ornately frescoed Duomo is a Gothic beauty, smuggling away the early-medieval Corona Ferrea (Iron Crown) in its chapel. Legend has it the crown was made with one of the nails from Christ’s crucifix and was once worn by the Frankish-Lombard king, Charlemagne. The adjacent Museo e Tesoro del Duomo is a repository of precious artifacts and holy jewels. 

Monza’s gardens also impress. Go for a stroll or bike ride around the vast, river-woven Parco di Monza, one of Europe’s largest enclosed parks. Stop to eyeball the Villa Reale, a grand neoclassical palace built by Hapsburg royalty in 1780, and tour its opulent state apartments and contemporary art exhibitions.  

How to get to Monza from Milan

Don’t drive – getting to Monza from Milan is a breeze by train. It’s just an 18-minute hop from Milano Lambrate station.

6. Slow the pace in Oltrepò Pavese

Travel time: 1 hour 

To properly escape Milan’s buzz, rent wheels to leisurely explore the wooded hills that ripple across Oltrepò Pavese, which unfurls between the Po Valley and Apennine Mountains. Often hailed as the “Tuscany of the north“ (minus the crowds), this region still flies largely under the radar. The reason remains a mystery, as the terracotta-roofed, alley-woven hill towns, medieval castles and vine-ribbed slopes sum up everything Italy does best. And the food? Superb. Family-run osterie (taverns) pair local wines with multi-course feasts of dishes like tortelli di zucca (pumpkin-filled pasta), Varzi salami and cinghiale con polenta (wild boar with polenta).

For a real flavor of the region, hook onto the Strada del Vino e dei Sapori dell’Oltrepò Pavese, a 60km route dipping into Lombardy’s biggest wine area. Many cantine (cellars) open their doors for free tastings. Try punchy local reds, from sparkling Pinot Noirs, full of juicy berry aromas, to spicy, medium-bodied Bonarda reds. If you stop in just one village on your road trip, make it Fortunago, a stone-built, hill-hugging medieval heart-stealer. Follow the Sentiero della Rocca through the historic lanes to the church of San Giorgio for far-reaching views.

How to get to Oltrepò Pavese from Milan

By public transport the main hub is Pavia. The journey takes just 20 minutes by train or an hour by car. To explore remote corners of the region (and the wine route), you’ll need to drive.

7. Go for Romeo in Verona 

Travel time: 1 hour and 15 minutes to 2 hours 

Wrapped in Renaissance romance, Verona is instant love – and it was here that Shakespeare set his famous play of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Wander the lanes and piazzas, passing ancient churches and crossing bridges loping across the river Adige and you’ll soon be touched by the beauty of this Veneto city. 

The city’s showstopper is the Roman Arena, a colossal pink-tinged marble amphitheatre dating to the 1st century AD, where you can almost hear the gladiators roar. Bigger than Rome’s Colosseum, it survived a 12th-century earthquake and now hosts to the world’s biggest open-air opera festival each summer.

A romp of the Città Antica also whisks through Piazza dei Signori, framed by Renaissance palazzi and topped off by a statue of the poet, writer and philosopher Dante, who was given refuge in Verona after being exiled from Florence in 1302. Close by is the Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s House), with the famous balcony and walls plastered with love notes. There’s little to see inside, so you’re better off just admiring the facade. 

How to get to Verona from Milan

Verona is a 1 hour and 15 minute ride by fast train from Milan. You can almost double that if you are driving on the A4 motorway.

8. Escape to islands on Lago Maggiore

Travel time: 1 hour and 30 minutes  

Nudging up to the Swiss border and with arresting views of the not-so-distant, snow-capped Alps, Lago Maggiore is astonishingly beautiful. Densely wooded mountains and botanical gardens fling above piercing waters, and terracotta-roofed towns and grand belle-époque villas bead the shores. Dreamy? You bet. And all the more so after spending a busy few days ticking off the trophy sights in Milan. 

Stresa – the easiest town to reach by train from Milan – makes an enticing springboard, with dress-circle views of the lake. Begin with a saunter along the waterfront Lunolago. Twisting through lush gardens, the elegant belle-époque promenade leads past Liberty-style hotels, cafes, statues, fountains and sculptures. 

From Stresa, it’s a quick, phenomenally scenic ferry ride over to the Borromean Islands and Palazzo Borromeo, where 10-tiered terraced gardens envelop a baroque palace and peacocks strut on by. In spring, the gardens are a riot of azaleas, tulips, camelias, rhododendrons and violets.

How to get to Lago Maggiore from Milan

There’s a frequent rail service between Milan’s Porta Garibaldi and Centrale stations and Stresa. The journey takes about 90 minutes by train or car.