Road Trip

We arrived in Milano on April 25th — Liberation Day. Around 100,000 people filled the city centre, streets were closed, and reaching our parking garage felt almost impossible.

After endless detours and a little luck, we somehow made it.

Exceptional location and an incredibly helpful host. A little cramped for four, though.

Driving to Milano? Check Area B and Area C before you go — access rules depend on your vehicle. We travelled by electric car, so Area C was free for us.

The Duomo wasn't in our plans. With almost no queue, we decided to go up — and we're glad we did.

Gelato, a walk through Milano and no real plan. Exactly the kind of Sunday we needed.

Milan's metro couldn't be easier — just tap your payment card at the gate. One card per traveller, so having a prepaid card for each child comes in handy.

We headed to the newer side of Milano, expecting skyscrapers and glass. Instead, my favourite part was the wildflower meadow beneath Bosco Verticale.

We're not Milan or Juventus fans — we just enjoy a good football match. This one ended 0–0, but experiencing San Siro on a match night was still worth it.

We stayed at Casa Esmeralda. Our host was incredibly helpful — she arranged private parking, met us at the garage and walked us to the apartment. The train station was within easy walking distance, which was practical for Cinque Terre, even though the apartment itself sits a little outside the centre.

We chose three Cinque Terre villages — Manarola, Monterosso and Vernazza. We travelled between them by train, then switched to the ferry for Porto Venere and returned to La Spezia by bus.

One detail I loved: with streets this steep and narrow, even deliveries work differently — small tracked trolleys carry supplies up the steps.

Vernazza was our favourite of the three. We stopped for lunch, then climbed to the small castle and viewpoint above the village. The entrance cost just a few euros — and the view was absolutely worth it.

The weather was beautiful, the trains were crowded, and some of the best views of Cinque Terre are from the sea. So we paid extra for the ferry — and it turned out to be the perfect choice.

While deciding which Cinque Terre villages to visit, Porto Venere kept coming up — even though it isn't actually one of the five. So we added it to our route. A lovely little village and definitely worth the stop.

Pisa was just a short stop on our way south. We wanted to see the Leaning Tower — and in person, it somehow wasn't quite what I'd imagined.

Before heading north, we made a small detour to Peccioli for a glimpse of the Tuscan countryside — and hopefully a nice lunch along the way.

We stayed at SEI Garda Apartments, right on the road to Gardaland and a short walk from the centre of Peschiera. For us, the location was perfect.

The kids had been looking forward to Gardaland the entire trip. We'd been before when they were younger, but this time they were ready for almost all the big rides — starting with Raptor.

We had already bought the Venice access fee. But plans can change.

After Gardaland and several days on the road, we were tired. With 1 May being a public holiday, we expected Venice to be extremely busy.

So we changed our minds and chose a slow drive home instead.

Venice can wait for another trip.