Northern Italy itinerary: 4 fantastic itinerary ideas you’ll love

Carefully crafted Northern Italy itinerary with recommended stops and tips for visiting. This guide has been fully updated in October 2024.

The north of Italy is a beautiful and varied part of the country, with areas of great natural beauty, stunning cities and important UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

It is a great destination for first time travelers to Italy as it has mellow atmospheres, good services and excellent roads; yet is it also fantastic for returning visitors as it till has pockets of lesser visited areas, which allow to get a different and deeper experience of Italy, away from the most beaten path.

There are infinite ways to go about a trip to Northern Italy but, out of the many, I have some favorites! Today, I share my favorite Northern Italy ideas with you, hoping they can inspire your next trip.

Safe travel planning!

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Recommended northern Italy Itinerary: option 1 Venice, Lake Garda, Dolomites

One norther Italy itinerary I adore explores the Easter part of the Italian north and mixes time in the cities of Venice and Verona with the opportunity to enjoy areas of great natural beauty.

This itinerary opens my list as it is my favorite of all, as it allows to see some of the places I adore the most: Venice, Verona and the Alps!

• Suitable for: all types of travelers including families with kids
• Car needed: no, but can be useful for Lake Garda / Dolomites
• Best season: late Spring to early Autumn
• Length: 10 days
• Airports: Venice, Milan, Verona

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Venice	Venice city center, main Venice attractions, Venice Islands
4-9	Lake Garda	Lake Garda, day trip to Verona and Dolomites
10	Milan	Milan city center

By following this itinerary, you can:

See Venice, its main attractions, canals and islands. Three days in the city also allow for tapping into Venice food and traditional crafts such as lace, mask making and glass blowing.

Resources to help you plan and book this stay:

• Find accommodation in Venice using our tried and tested list of Venice hotels and rentals
• Pick the best town to stay on Lake Garda with our Lake Garda guide
• Book a car with DiscoverCars to explore the lake and Dolomites in your own time

Recommended northern Italy Itinerary: option 2 Milan, Lake Como, Langhe

Lake Como and Langhe Area (Piedmont) are two of the most beautiful areas in the north of Italy and, combined, offer a varied, interesting trip perfect especially for couples or for a girlfriend getaway.

Lake Como offers elegant, mellow atmospheres and the option to visit beautiful gardens and villas.

The Langhe area is famous for wine (this is Barolo area!) and is therefore ideal if you are looking for relaxing time staying and visiting vineyards and hilltop towns.

The area is stunning and safe, yet slightly lesser known to international tourism than Tuscany, so it it fantastic if you want to experience wine country away fro the maddening crowds.

• Suitable for: all types of travelers but especially couples / small groups
• Car needed: yes, for the Langhe portion of the trip especially
• Best season: late Spring to early Autumn
• Length: 7+ days
• Airports: Milan, Turin

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Lake Como	Milan sightseeing
4-6	Langhe	Vineyards, Wine Museum, Alba etc
7	Milan	Milan sightseeing and departure

By following this itinerary you can:

Relax in beautiful Lake Como, taking in the beauty of famous Bellagio, Varenna, their famous villas and castles

Explore the stunning wine area of the Langhe, in Piedmont, taste the local wines, truffles and chocolate (the area is famous for gianduia, due to the production of hazelnuts!)

Resources to help you plan and book this stay:

• Book a car with DiscoverCars to explore Lake Como and the rural area of Langhe
• Use Booking.com to find accommodation to suit your needs: for instance, check out this one and this one

Recommended Northern Italy Itinerary: option 3 Milan, Lake Como, Cinque Terre

Lake Como and Cinque Terre are among the most famous destinations in Italy and while a trip here will inevitably mean having to deal with crowds, i feel they are so beautiful and such bucket- list type places, I couldn’t possibly have northern Italy itineraries without including them!

• Suitable for: all types of travelers
• Car needed: no
• Best season: late Spring to early Autumn
• Length: 7+ days
• Airports: Milan, Turin

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Lake Como	Bellagio, Varenna, Gardens, Castles, Villas
4-6	Cinque Terre	Cinque Terre towns, Pesto class, Portofino
7	Milan	Milan sightseeing and departure

By following this itinerary you can:

Relax in beautiful Lake Como, taking in the beauty of famous Bellagio, Varenna, their famous villas and castles.

Explore Cinque Terre, take a boat tour, swim (summer), take a pesto class, visit world famous Portofino.

Resources to plan this itinerary:

Book your accommodation on booking.com

• Get train tickets direct from the ticket provider Trenitalia.com
• Pick the perfect accommodation in Lake Como with Booking.com. For instance, in Varenna, which you can reach by train, check out this one
• Pick the perfect place to stay in Cinque Terre with our guide to Cinque Terre towns
• If traveling with kids, see how to make these areas kid friendly with our guides to Lake Como with kids and Cinque Terre with kids
• Explore Milan with our one day in Milan guide

Recommended Northern Italy Itinerary: option 4 Venice, Verona, Bolzano

Venice, Verona and Bolzano occupy a very special place in my heart as they have been the backdrop of our family holidays for several decades now: we adore the area and keep coming back as we never seem to have enough of them!

The area has a lot to offer in all seasons, but since Bolzano is close to the mountains, I recommend you come in summer or winter so you can make the most, respectively, of the local hikes (summer) and Christmas markets / skiing options.

• Suitable for: all types of travelers
• Car needed: no
• Best season: winter; summer
• Length: 7+ days
• Airports: Venice, Verona

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Venice	City sightseeing, activities, islands
4-6	Bolzano	Bolzano, Ortisei, Verona
7	Venice	Departure

By following this itinerary you can:

Enjoy Venice and its main attractions, learn local crafts, explore the Venice islands of Murano and Burano

Enjoy Bolano’s Christmas market (winter), one of the best Christmas markets in Italy, visit the stunning town of Ortisei and famous Seceda for a taste of the Dolomites and spend one day in pretty and historic Verona.

Resources to help you book this trip:

• Our guide to Venice with step by step itinerary
• Find accommodation in Venice with our guide to where to stay in Venice
• Our guide to Bolzano
• Book your train tickets direct from the official provider trenitalia.com
• Book accommodation in Bolzano via booking.com (look at this one! Isn’t it fabulous?)

Best airports in Northern Italy

There are several international airports in the North of Italy that make a good starting point to visit the area:

• Venice Marco Polo Airport: an excellent, well served airport with great international connection. Especially recommended if you arrive / depart during the day (out of hours connections are harder as the airport is on the opposite side of the lagoon from Venice proper)
• Verona airport: a good alternative from several European cities
• Milan Airport: a very good option, but make sure you factor in travel time to/ from it as it is rather far from the city
• Bergamo Orio al Serio: low cost airport goof for budget flights

How to get around Northern Italy

You can easily explore Northern Italy by car or train.

The train system is easy to use and efficient and you can get tickets in advance and with no extra agency charges on the official train site trenitalia.com. Train is particularly useful in the area of Cinque Terre which is hard to access by car.

You can find here >>> all about train travel in Italy

If you opt for a driving vacation, you’ll be happy to hear that roads in the north of Italy are well kept and easy to drive on. Some areas such as Lake Como have some bendy roads, just because of the nature of the terrain, but driving in this areas is not as daunting as in others in Italy and it is therefore suitable also for first time visitors (for context: I do not recommend driving on the Amalfi Coast of Naples area, so this is not a blanket statement, it is specific to my experience of this area).

You can fin useful:

All you need to know about driving in Italy and what you need to know about parking in Italy.

What to pack for northern Italy

Northern Italy has varied weather depending on the season and location.

In winter, you will get cold, wet and even snowy conditions to wrapping up is paramount: make sure you have a good coat, scarf, hat and gloves and full on mountain gear if going to the Dolomites.

In summer, except for the mountains you will fin hot weather: summer clothing, walking sandals and sun protection are key.

In the mid season (autumn and spring) you can expect mild weather but be prepared for rain. Good walking shoes, a mid season jacket, a travel umbrella and layer will be your friends.

If traveling with kids, I recommend you bring a carrier (find our favorite baby carriers for Italy here) and a stroller (find our favorite strollers for Italy here).

To help you with moving around, I recommend you choose sensible luggage: you can find my recommendations for the best bags for Italy travel here.

I hope you enjoyed this recommended northern Italy itinerary ideas and it helped you plan your time in this beautiful part of the country. Safe travel planning!

Northern Italy Itinerary ideas: pin this!