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

Carefully crafted Northern Italy itinerary with recommended stops and tips for visiting. [Updated for 2027]

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 1: Venice, Lake Garda, Dolomites

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

This itinerary is fantastic for first time visitors to Italy especially: it touches on some of the most beautiful and famous places in Northern Italy (so, no FOMO with this one!); it is easy, as this is a part of Italy where transport works well and English is well understood; and it is rather varied as it has the city of Venice, the small town and natural beauty of Lake Garda and the breathtaking Dolomites, perfect for lovers of the outdoors.

This itinerary can be easily done by public transport (or car), it can be covered in about 10 days and is suitable for all ages.

The best airports to fly in for this one are Venice, Verona or Milan.

At a glance, this itinerary is:

Suitable for: all types of travelers including families with kids and first time travelers to Italy.

Car needed: no, but can be useful for Lake Garda / Dolomites

Best season: late Spring to early Autumn. With children, I recommend coming in summer so they can enjoy the lake (pools, lake swimming) and plenty of outdoors time in the Dolomites.

Length: 10, ideally 14 days.

Best airports: Venice, Milan, Verona

Sample Itinerary

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Venice	Venice city center, main Venice attractions, Venice Islands
4-6	Lake Garda	Town hopping, cycling
7-9	Dolomites	Hiking, enjoying the views
10	Fly out airport	Return

This itinerary also has one advantage: it is the type of itinerant you can be totally spontaneous about but also one that allows for planned activities and tours.

If you love being free to live each day as it comes, all these destinations allow you to do so: all offer options to just stroll, casually walk into churches and museums and stumble upon amazing food.

If you prefer planned activities and tours, you will be spoilt for choice: Venice has many wonderful tours and Lake Garda offers the option of cooking classes and wine tasting.

The Dolomites are a hiking destination but you could also decide to plan this as a day trip from Venice, should you be more inclined to move less and not set on hiking.

Resources to help you plan and book this stay:

Find here >> my recommended itinerary for 2/3 days in Venice

Find here >> my recommended itinerary for up to 4 days on Lake Garda

Find here >> my guide Ortisei, the place I recommend for this short stay in the Dolomites

Recommended northern Italy Itinerary 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 especially.

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.

The best way to experience this area is by car. The city of Milan and Lake Como area easily enjoyed without one, but Le Langhe are pretty much inaccessible without one and having your own vehicle is a must.

At a glance, this itinerary is:

Suitable for: all types of travelers but especially couples / friends. While the area is family friendly, we found the area of Lake Garda better suited for children than here.

Car needed: yes, for the Langhe portion of the trip, a car is a must

Best season: late Spring to early Autumn

Length: 7+ days

Best Airports: Milan, Turin

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Lake Como	Bellagio, Varenna, all Lake Como’s most famous sites
4-6	Langhe	Vineyards, small towns such as Alba, Neive, Barolo
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 plan this trip:

Find here >>> My travel guide to Lake Como

Find here >> My travel guide to the Langhe region

Recommended Northern Italy Itinerary 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!

At a glance, this itinerary is:

Suitable for: all types of travelers, included first time visitors

Car needed: no, this itinerary is actually more suited to train travel

Best season: late Spring to early Autumn. If going with kids, I recommend coming in summer because, despite the crowds, this would be the only time when they can truly enjoy water play and swimming.

Length: 7+ days

Best Airport: Milan

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:

Find here >> My travel guide to Lake Como

Find here >> my travel guide to Cinque Terre

Find here >> my guide to one day in Milan

Recommended Northern Italy Itinerary 4: Bologna to Venice

The area between Bologna and Venice is full of beautiful towns and it is particularly suited to visitors who love art, historic cities, mellow atmosphere and food!

The area is easily discovered by train and I recommend it especially to returning visitors to Italy or visitors who enjoy small cities and are more drawn to sightseeing than places of natural beauty: while you do have beautiful nature near here, it is the historic centres that take the lion share of attention here.

With this itinerary, you can see Bologna city center, which is well worth a stroll; Ravenna, which has incredible. mosaics of a style and magnitudes pretty much unrivalled in Italy; Ferrara, a beautiful, off the beaten track location perfect to immerse yourself in mellow Italian atmospheres; Padua, which is a really treat for art lovers with the incredible Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto; and Venice, which of course needs no introduction.

Good to know: with additional time, you could also add some days on Lake Garda should you want to have a break in nature.

At a glance, this itinerary is:

Suitable for: all types of travelers, although this has less to offer to kids than other destinations and is more sightseeing based than activity based, so it is only suitable to families who enjoy sightseeing.

Car needed: no, you could do this easily by train. Part of this itinerary can be done by staying in one locations for instance Ferrara or Bologna and take day trips from there.

Best season: spring and autumn, but winter is also ok.

Length: 7+ days

Best Airport: Bologna, Milan, Venice, Verona

Day	Location	What you will see
1-3	Bologna and Ravenna	Bologna city center (sightseeing, food tour), Day trip to Ravenna
4 – 6	Padua and Ferrara	Sightseeing (Scrovegni Chapel, Palazzo Schifanoia)
7-10	Venice	Sightseeing

Resources to plan this recommended northern Italy itinerary:

Find here >> My guide to Bologna

Find here >> My guide to Paudua

Find here >> My guide to Ferrara

Find here >> my guide to Venice

Best airports in Northern Italy for these itineraries

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. This is a particularly good airport to get to Lake Garda and the Dolomites

Milan Airports: very good options, but very different depending on which one you can use. Linate is small and very close to the city. Malpensa is massive and far – make sure you plan sufficient time to make your way to and from it, it is longer than it seems.

Bologna Airport: this is a good option for the last itinerary recommended on this page.

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 opportunities for car rental in this area abound and 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 find useful my guides >> All you need to know about driving in Italy and what you need to know about parking in Italy.

Good to know: I strongly recommend you book your car rental well ahead of time, especially if hoping to secure a good price. My go-to car rental platform is DiscoverCars, that allows me to see what is available, compare prices, reviews and book.

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.

Need to know! A common misconception is that the north of Italy doesn’t get hot in summer. This is absolute not true! being further north than Sicily does not mean the north gets mild summer, this is very much not the case. The North may be a little colder than the south in winter but summers are scorching here too – if hoping to escape the heat, in Italy proximity to water and altitude are what helps, not latitude.

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!

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