Day 1 Milan arrival 🛬
- Arrive in Milan in the morning. Take Malpensa Express 🚄 from airport to Milano Centrale train 🚉 station.
- Stay at hotel close to Milano Centrale just for few hours.
- Lunch at Pizzium about 15 minutes walk.
- Take 5:45pm train 🚞 to Bolzano.
Waiting to get on the plane to Milan from Newark EWR airport.
Day 2 Lago, Cortina, Tre Cime 🏔️🏔️🏔️
- Walk to train station to pick up rental car 🚗.
- Drive to Lago di Braies ❅ about 1.5 hours away.
- Drive to Cortina Di Ampezzo, walk around the town, have lunch.
- Drive to Tre Cime. In winter the road is blocked about 20 minutes away from Tre Cime. Can take snow shuttle before 3 pm.
- Drive back to Bolzano.
Standing on the frozen lake Lago di Braies.
Day 3 Seceda 🚠, Dolomites 🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️
- Drive to Seceda. Take cable car to the top. Walk around to enjoy the view from all angles.
- Have lunch at the restaurant on the mountainside.
- Drive to Santa Magdalena, park in public parking in the town. Hike to the panoramic viewpoint of the picturesque church 🔔 against the Dolomites.
- Back to Bolzano to return the rental car.
- Dinner at Indian Tandoori Grill 🍛.
Admiring the uber rugged spectacular mountains at Seceda.
Day 4 Bolzano, Gondola & Markets 🛍️
- Drop-off luggage 🧳🧳 at train station luggage 🛅 holding.
- Breakfast at Loacker 🧇 cafe.
- Take Ritten Gondola 🚡 to Sopra Bolzano and then train ride to Oberbozen for spectacular views along the way. The towns are a perfect mix of Italian, German and Austrian architecture.
- Lunch in Bolzano at Obernon 🍝.
- Walk around and explore the Christmas 🎄 markets in Piazza Walther and the next Piazza.
- Arrive back in Train station for 5:30 pm train 🚆 to Florence.
Stunning view of the Tyrol mountains aboard the train rolling between the mountain villages.
Day 5 Pisa, Sienna, Tuscany 🚌!
- Get to the bus stop 🚍 at the end of the tram line to begin the Tuscany tour.
- Start in Pisa. Visit the square with the cathedral, the basilica and the leaning tower of Pisa. There is just over an hour here. We used the time to go inside the cathedral as that was free. The Basilica and climbing the tower of Pisa requires a ticket from the box office and more time.
- Next the tour took us to a beautiful Vineyard 🍇 for lunch 🍷.
- Sienna self-explore. We visited the cathedral, did some shopping and snacking.
- San Gimignano - about an hour to explore, shop and get some food if necessary.
- Back to Florence. Had some dinner and headed back to our Airbnb.
Majestic cathedral and the leaning tower at Pisa.
Day 6 Florence 🎨 ⛪️ 🔔, Markets 🛍️ & Pasta class 👩🏽🍳
- Matinee entry to Uffitzi Gallery 🖼️.
- Have breakfast 🥐 at cafe.
- At Ponte Vecchio walk around, take some photos, do some shopping.
- Leather markets along the way for some shopping.
- Stand in line to visit the Florence Doumo. Took about 1.5 hours in the line and about 15 minutes inside.
- Head to lunch.
- Explore leather 👞 💼 markets.
- Pastamania cooking class from Airbnb Experiences. We learned to make 3 types of pasta from scratch.
- Back to Airbnb after some gelato 🍨.
Admiring the beautiful Ponte Vecchio and surrounding buildings charm.
Focused and engaged during the Pasta class.
Day 7 Puglia, Bari & focaccia 🫓
- Early train 💺 to Bari.
- Arrive at Airbnb in Bari. Relax for some time and head out to explore the town.
- Not much was open in town but we wandered about for an hour or so.
- Went back to Airbnb to relax until 5:30 pm when things start opening.
- Tried the famous focaccia of Panifico Fiore.
- Headed to dinner.
- Picked up some desert and breakfast for the next morning.
Walking and discovering the streets of Bari.
Day 8 Trulis, ruins & beaches 🌊
- Took Taxi to car rental facility.
- Once we had the car we drove 🚙 to Alberobello.
- Explored the town and enjoyed the views of the Trulis.
- Had paninis for lunch.
- Drove to the beach with Roman ruins called Calette di torre cintola.
- Visited the beaches, port and old town of Monopoli.
- Drove to Polignano a Mare. Visited the old town, hiked down to the rocky beach and saw the view of the beach from the old town view point. Walked down to the cliffs to get another view of the ocean and village.
- Drove back to Bari. Returned the rental car. Had dinner at Frulez.
- Back to Airbnb.
The fantastical rooftops of Alberobello.
The cliff top buildings and coastline at Polignano a Mare.
Day 9 🏛️ Roma! 🏛️
- Took the morning train to Rome.
- Once we arrived, took the metro train to our hotel near the Colosseum.
- Dropped off our bags and headed out to explore.
- Stopped for lunch to try the authentic Roman dish Casio de pepe at a restaurant nearby.
- Walked to Spanish Steps as that was the furthest point from our hotel. Traced our way back stopping by the Trevi ⛲️ fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Piazza de Campidoglio before making our way back to the hotel.
- Dinner was pizza right across from the hotel.
The majestic and most famous Trevi fountain!
Day 10 🏛️ More Roma! 🏛️
- Started the day with breakfast at the hotel.
- Headed to the Colosseum with pre-purchased skip-the-line tickets.
- Explored the Roman Forum, taking in the entire premises and climbing up to various viewpoints for panoramic views.
- Inside the Colosseum, checked out the exhibits on the second level before exploring all the viewing platforms to appreciate the entire complex.
- Made a stop at the gift shop 🛍️ for souvenirs.
- Enjoyed a delicious falafel lunch at a nearby restaurant.
- Took a leisurely walk towards the Roman Forum and the ancient city.
- Returned to the hotel to pick up our bags before walking to the train station.
- Tried a local delicacy, trapazino, at the food court located at the back of the train station.
- Boarded the train to Milan.
- Checked into the hotel and walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
The sprawling and impressive Roman forum.
World wonder it is, the Colosseum!
Day 11 Lago Garda ⛵️ & Sirmione 🏰
- Started the day by grabbing breakfast pastries and coffee at the train station.
- Took the train 🚄 to Desenzano del Garda.
- Upon arrival, walked down to the port area from the train station, following the directions provided by the tourist office.
- Planned to take the ferry to Sirmione del Garda, but it was closed due to high winds. Instead, opted for a taxi 🚕 from the stand across from the port.
- Arrived at the entrance to the Sirmione Castle after being dropped off by the taxi.
- Purchased tickets and explored the 🏰 castle grounds.
- Explored Sirmione briefly before taking a taxi back to Desenzano del Garda.
- Wandered around the town, discovering most shops were closed, but found a restaurant for lunch.
- After lunch, strolled along the lake while enjoying hot ☕️ chocolate, despite the cold, windy, and rainy weather—the scenery remained stunning.
- Returned to the train station in time for the journey back to Milan.
- Upon returning to Milan, visited a Venchi store to purchase chocolates 🍫 for souvenirs. Also, stopped by a small grocery store to buy some delicious Italian treats.
- Dinner consisted of falafel 🥙 wraps, which were picked up near our hotel and enjoyed in the comfort of our room.
Sirmione caste 🏰 walls and dock area on the lake.
Very cute shops all around the area.
Day 12 Return 🛫 back home 🇺🇸
- Woke up extremely early, around 4 am, to catch the bus to Milan Malpensa Airport for our 7 am flight.
- Since the train to the airport didn’t start until 5:30 am, we discovered a bus stop on the other side of the train station where coach buses operated to the airport as early as 3 am. It was a fortunate discovery, considering the distance to the airport made taking a taxi impractical.
- The bus service ran every 10 minutes and cost only 10 Euros per person.