Recomendation for a 4 days long trip

[rubenm]

I will be this summer in Italy for a short trip of 4 days. Can anyone recomend me what to visit?

In the past I visited Rome, Milano and the Lake Como (Lago Maggiore & Lago di Como). I look for a place to visit by renting a car and spend days driving from one city to another (no far from a big city with airport, like Milano or Rome), like Lakes when I drove from L.Maggiore (stressa) to L.Como (Bellaggio) visiting several cities like Arona, Baveno, Lugano, Tremezzo, Varena, Menaggio, Como, etc...

Thanks

R

[roma55]

Ciao Rubenm

Your question is difficult to answer as anywhere in Italy has good places to visit. The choice is truly enormous!

To help you make the most of your trip could you let us know where you would be landing, what sort of things you are interested in (for example seaside or mountains?) and whether you prefer seeing famous sights or going off the beaten track, whether you like towns, castles/parks or natural environment.

Please let me know and I'll try to help.

roma55

[rubenm]

Ciao,

I am open to any possibilities, but not interested in beach as I plan to stay there for just 4 days travelling to see several cities/towns/places.

As I have to travel there by plane, I'll fly to Torino, Milano or Roma so I have to go to a place/s no more than 150 km away from our Base quater (Milano/Torino/Roma)
last year I was in Como/maggiore Lakes and I think the farest city was lugano (swiss) in that case we visited several small cities and saw sightseen from the lakes and the mountains.

I would like to have that kind of trip again but in a different place. e.g florence would be great but I believe it is a little bit far from rome/milano (around 200/250 km)

anyway, proposals will be welcome

Regards

[roma55]

Caro Rubenm

reading between the lines I guess you would really enjoy a mixture of country and city, and the freedom of the car.

This suggests that my very home town, Rome, would possibly not be a good choice, for a number of reasons:
1) it is not a car friendly city but above all
2) just to get a first impression of Rome would require the full allowance of your 4 days.
Using it as a starting point only would not do justice to the city.To be honest I lived and there for 26 years and did not manage to see half of it!
So, better to leave this destination for another car free trip. Having said that, the area on the south side of Rome is very beautiful especially around the vulcanic lakes of Albano and Nemi, an area known as the Castelli, of wine fame. But as I said, I would be reluctant to recommend Rome for your kind of trip.

I think landing in Turin and exploring the surrouning area is probably a very good choice. Unfortunately I don't know this region personally but I know it has the right character and pace for what seem to be your style. Turin itself is an elegant town, formal capital of the kingdom of Savoy an then Italy. A visit to the town will possibly demand a day of your time. From Turin I suggest you visit the following places:

Saluzzo, a very beautiful medieval town: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saluzzo
Alba, famous for its towers and truffles. This is South of Turin. It sits in the middle of an interesting rural area called Le Langhe. Find information on this town on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alba_(CN)

You may also wish to squeeze in a visit to the North, either to Aosta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aosta
or to the Grand Paradiso Alpine area [a national park] see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Paradiso

If you prefer to land in Milan, you will find this city more congested than Turin and more practical than pretty, with the exception of some notable tourist sites such as the renaissance church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (with the famous Leonardo's last supper fresco - you need to book in advance to visit this), the medieval St Ambrogio Church as well as the renown Cathedral square, Piazza del Duomo and adjacent Galleria- a turn of the century shopping centre of the highest spec!.

There are many beautiful towns accessible from Milan. I would suggest the following:
Pavia as seen on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavia and Mantova http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantova with its stunning location surrouned by waters. Both are to the West of Milan and within easy reach. Lastly I think Bergamo could be to your liking, the original town of Arlequin, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamo ,this time to the North of Milan and on the slopes of the Alps.

I hope you have a great trip. Don't forget to tell us about it!

roma55