Italy'S Best: North to Center
Seven days, four bases, zero rushing. This route strings together Italy's heavy hitters at a pace that lets you actually taste the espresso.
Milan → Lake Como → Verona → Venice → Bologna → Florence → Orvieto → Rome
Milan Arrival & Lakes Tease
(85km, 1.5h drive)
Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP)
Grab your car, shake off the flight. Stop at an Autogrill for your first mediocre-but-charming cappuccino—it's a rite of passage.
Duomo di Milano
Milan Cathedral, or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary, is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Archbishop Mario Delpini.
Navigli District
Aperitivo o'clock. Walk the canal, watch Milan's young crowd spill from offices into bars. Campari spritz, olives, gratis snacks. This is where Milan loosens its tie.
Lake Como Slow Day
Early enough to beat Como day-trippers.
Depart Milan
Early enough to beat Como day-trippers.
Bellagio
Bellagio is a city in Lombardy, Italy, situated at the picturesque junction of the three legs of Lake Como. Many celebrities are known to pass through this small Italian town. This fame has become somewhat of a point of pride and some stores display pictures of famous people who have passed through. The name of the town and some of its looks are used by the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
Villa del Balbianello
The Villa del Balbianello is a villa in the comune of Lenno, a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy, overlooking Lake Como. It is located on the tip of the small wooded peninsula of Dosso d'Avedo on the western shore of the south-west branch of Lake Como, 1500 meters east from the Isola Comacina. The villa is famous for its elaborate terraced gardens.
Varenna
Varenna is a fairly sedate, attractive lakeside village in the central part of Lake Como in the Lombardy region of Italy. Varenna is the fifth richest municipality in all of Italy for income paid by taxpayers. It is traditionally a fishing village and has colorful houses and villas built close to each other on a little piece of land just below a mountain.
Milan to Venice, the Long Haul Split
Straight shot east on A4. This is your transition day—don't fight it.
Depart Milan
Straight shot east on A4. This is your transition day—don't fight it.
Verona
Verona is an historic city with a population of about a quarter of a million in north-eastern Italy's Veneto region. It's most famous as the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Resume to Venice
Cross the Ponte della Libertà, leave your car at Piazzale Roma. You're mainland Venice now.
Venice Without the Stampede
Early. The point.
Bus to Piazzale Roma, walk
Early. The point.
Basilica di San Marco
First entry of the day. The mosaics glow different when you're nearly alone. Book the "Pala d'Oro" add-on—the Byzantine altarpiece is 1,900 years of looted glory, blinding.
Rialto Market & cicchetti crawl
Skip sit-down lunch. Hop bar to bar in Cannaregio or around the market—baccalà mantecato, sarde in saor, small glasses of ombra wine. Stand at the counter like a local, pay local prices.
Dorsoduro wander
Accademia Bridge views, then lose yourself. No map goal. The further from San Marco, the more Venice breathes. Stop at Squero di San Trovaso, the last gondola boatyard, watch craftsmen work.
Venice to Florence, Hill Towns En Route
Collect car, depart: Back over the bridge.
Bologna
Bologna (Emilian: Bulåggna) is a beautiful and historic city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northeast Italy. It has the oldest university in the Western world, a lively student population, excellent food, a striking brick terracotta-roofed cityscape, and lots to see and do. The city had a population just under 395,000 in 2020.
Florence
Florence is the capital and most populous city of the Italian region of Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants as of 2025. It is also the capital of the eponymous metropolitan province, which counts 989,460 inhabitants.
Florence, the Essentials
0km, no car
Galleria degli Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best-known in the world and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance.
Mercato Centrale upstairs
Lunch chaos, in a good way. Fresh pasta stations, truffle everything, cheap Chianti by the glass. The downstairs market is for photo ops; upstairs is for eating.
Piazza della Signoria & Ponte Vecchio
Outdoor sculpture gallery, then the bridge. Skip the jewelry shops, climb to the secret Vasari Corridor viewpoint above (book ahead, or just admire from below).
Piazzale Michelangelo sunset
Hike up or bus. The city unfolds—Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, hills beyond. Everyone says do it; everyone is right.
Florence to Rome, the Final Stretch
Early start, big finish.
Depart Florence
Early start, big finish.
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city in Umbria. Designed to be impregnable, it was founded by the Etruscans on the top of a steep hill made of tufa, a volcanic ash stone.
Final push to Rome
A1 south, traffic thickens near the city.
Colosseum
The Colosseo district is the heart of ancient Rome and the Roman Empire. It has the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Capitoline Museum.
- Longest single leg is 280km, all manageable
- Italian autostrade need toll cash/cards; keep small bills
- ZTL zones in Florence and Rome will bankrupt you—park outside, walk in