Northern Italy by train: Milan, Como, Verona, Venice and Bologna

Northern Italy by train comes down to five cities lined up like stops on one railway: Milan, Como, Verona, Venice and Bologna. You do not need a car here, because these are cities with narrow centres, and every station sets you down right in the centre. The route follows the order you would actually travel, and whether a train is fast or regional (reserved seat or not) decides which ticket you buy.

The route starts in Milan, at Milano Centrale, opened in 1931, with high vaults of steel and glass. The Duomo comes first. The Duomo is all white marble from the Candoglia quarry, and its construction began in 1386; the roof climb costs €16 stairs · €18 lift. Right beside it stands the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, covered by a glass dome, free to enter, while The Last Supper is seen only by reservation (€15).

1 dayMilan hour by hour, before the train moves on:Milan in 1 day →

From Milan, one day goes to the lake. The train from Cadorna to Como takes about 1 h, and the return fare is €9.60 (train, return). Lake Como is one of the deepest in Europe, about 425 metres, and is shaped like an inverted Y; the town at one end of it has a cathedral whose construction, with interruptions, ran from 1396 to the dome of 1770. The Como–Brunate funicular, opened in 1894, covers the way up to the viewpoint in 7 min, and a one-way ticket costs €3.60 (one-way), €6.60 (return).

Getting aroundThe boat to Bellagio and Varenna, if the day stays long:Getting around Lake Como →

After the lake the main line heads east: from Milan, Verona is reached by fast train from Centrale in 1 h 13–15, and the station is Porta Nuova. The Arena dates from the first century, built of pinkish-white limestone, and still serves the purpose it was made for: opera has been staged in it since 1913. Entry is €12, and it is closed on Mondays. At Juliet's house the balcony dates from the twentieth century, added to a medieval house; the courtyard costs €12, with reservation.

2 daysVerona hour by hour:Verona in 2 days →

Further east, from Verona to Venice, a regional train runs in 1 h 15 – 1 h 20, and the return fare is from €18 (2× about €9 one-way). Santa Lucia station stands right on the Grand Canal, so you step from the carriage onto steps and water, without a single car in sight. The city has been on the UNESCO list, together with its lagoon, since 1987. A vaporetto costs €9.50 per ride, and St Mark's Basilica holds gold mosaics and the Pala d'Oro, an altarpiece with its own separate ticket (€2). The morning fish market at Rialto runs until noon and is closed on Mondays.

2 daysVenice day by day, with a morning for the fish market and the sestieri:Venice in 2 days →

The last stop is Bologna, the junction where the railways of northern Italy cross, so the route either ends here or branches. The city has three nicknames: la Grassa for its food, la Dotta for its university, dated to 1088 and held to be the oldest working without a break, and la Rossa for its red walls and roofs. The porticoes, kilometres of vaulted walkways, have been on the UNESCO list since 2021, and the longest leads to the sanctuary of San Luca: about 3.8 kilometres and 666 arches, and entry is free. From here the train runs on: the fast train to Florence, where Tuscany begins, takes 37 min, and Ravenna, with its mosaics, stays on a direct regional line.

FoodWhat is eaten under the arcades, from tortellini to ragù:What to eat in Bologna →