sheilamarsco

my son and i share birthdays and as he's now living with me in abruzzo we've thought that it might be nice to have a weekend away somewhere in italy. we would like to fly from pescara to bergamo and visit milan. would we be better to book a hotel in bergamo and commute to milan for shopping etc. or would it be better to book into a hotel or b and b in the centre of milan. neither of us have ever been to milan so any advice would be most welcome, many thanks sheila

37100

I'd opt for a b&b in Milan because though bergamo is near in theory, it takes at least an hour by train more by bus. Can't reccomend any hotels etc in Milan, but I'd suggest looking for one near a metro station or tram line if you don't stay in the centre.

Lorna at Vicenza

some on-line map tells me that Bergamo is 53 Km from Milan - so might not be great going backwards and forwards each day.

TestaRossa

It's an hour on the bus. I would only stay there if you want to visit the lakes as well. Can't recommend any hotels but I can tell you that Tripadvisor is reliable for ratings by users and Venere.com is good for rates.

Patty

Milan is great for shopping. The big street (sort of like Oxford street) is Corso Buenos Aires. The metro goes there.
The really really posh streets are Via Montenapoleone and Via Sant'Andrea and all that area. (just to window shop ) You must visit Piazza Duomo (&the Duomo) and the Galleria, which is where one of only 2 seven star hotels in the world is situated .
The Scala Opera house is just the other side of the Galleria and Piazza Duomo.
Have a great time

TestaRossa

I wanna go too!!

Only ever been in the square outside the impressive but amenity shy station, so I've never had the incentive to explore further! Shouldn't judge a book by it's cover and all that! I can be there in 2 hours now as well!

Patty

I only know cos I used to live there and daughter was born there
I know its a big noisy city but there are some nice parts too.
I forgot Castello Sforzesco as well - well worth a visit.

indiebird

We have been to the Duomo. It is fantastic and you can go up onto the roof which my kids really enjoyed!!

TestaRossa

Was there a lift?! I've never taken Antonia up the duomo here cos she would moan all the way up!! Took her up the campanile in venice but that had a lift!

indiebird

yes there was a lift but it costed more than the stairs!

TestaRossa

Lol! With Antonia it would be worth it!!!

LivingHere

There is a department store next door. I can't remember which one but it has a roof terrace that overlooks the Duomo. You get the same view plus a view of the facade.

TestaRossa

Even better!

There's a few rooftop cafe's here that people don't realise are there - the main one is on top of Rinascente. The Uffizi cafe' used to be really good, then they stopped you going up to the barrier and looking over...

lindaf

I thought I would have a look at this 7 star hotel in Milan - just to see what it looks like, what the prices were like you know.

Well I've looked at the prices and we're not going to bother after all Apparently it's fully booked a lot of the time as well !

IdaB

It's better to book a hotel in Milan, Bergamo is too far for commuting there every day. And there is not so big difference in hotels' prices in Bergamo and Milan. I've stayed in 2 star hotel (but it was worth 3 I guess) 20 minutes walking from Duomo and got really nice rate. It's called hotel Siena or something like that.
If you've got enough time don't forget to visit Pinacoteca di Brera to see its' most famous exhibit - Da Vinci's Last Supper.
However Bergamo is a nice city as well, small, but lovely. Staying there is worth only if you take a car hire, then it's easier and much faster to go to Milan every day. I did it when stayed in Rome 2 weeks this summer (to get cheap hotel or B&B was impossible, so I booked one in a place approx. 50 km from Rome and drove to Rome and other places around by car). I booked with decode car hire Rome as they had good rates for that time.

Whatever you choose I hope you'll spend great vacation!