Fly to Milan and holiday......where?

[Bejazzled]

We managed to get decent flights to Milan next June. Having been to Lake Garda (and loved it!) many times we wondered about Lake Como/Lake Maggiore area this time.

12 nights, so should we split between a big town/city then lakeside break or can anyone recommend a good base for the full time from which we can use train, bus or ferry to explore.
3 adults btw

All the Lakes are so different in feel. Just gorgeous.

Como itself is a proper town c. 90K inhabitants. Plenty of mooching eg to Duomo (do wear proper clothing), funicular railway, watching the boatplanes (expensive but you can take a trip). Never managed it but tea at villa D'este. Plenty of architecture -often 20thC. Art exhibitions at the Villa by the Lake (often 2nd class but small enough). Easy trains to Milan or to Switzerland. Ferries up and down the Lake to eg Bellagio (very touristy), Villa Carlotta.

Fairly easy driving to other lakes eg Orta, Maggiore. Love Stresa and of course the Isola Bella with the gorgeous verbenas. I think there are some lovely gardens at Villa Taranto.

Can also go to the Italian Grand Prix track by train I believe.

From Milan it's a simple 1hr40 train journey to Genoa on the coast. From Genoa you can get the train to several places including Portofino (45 mins) and Pisa (1hr50).

Thanks for the answers. Very interested in maybe 4 nights/8 nights split between places so I'll look at these.

Depends on who you're going with & your budget & I know many people like it but personally I wasn't wowed by Milan. We went there 3 years ago at the end of a multi-centre rail trip so to be fair to Milan, we were knackered & at the end of our budget but I found it less attractive than the places we'd been & bloody expensive! Having said that, it's got some interesting sites, good museums & if I'd gone there in my very fashion conscious sod the cost twenties I'm sure I'd have had a whale of a time! Just my thoughts but I think it's probably not worth more than 2 days.

If you are in Milan there are lots of options ...if you have not been to Venice its an easy option by train and if your adventurous you can get a very cheap flight (nearer the time to Croatia from Venice) or like someone else recommended venture down to Genoa and Liguria which I really love and is an amazing area for adults to explore...Rapallo is stunning and makes a good base for exploring places like Santa Margarita/Portofino and the Cinque Terre...there are lots of boat trips that will make journeys very enjoyable and I am pretty sure you can get down to Portovenere too...(Genoa can be quite uncomfortable in the summer due to being a port (lots of migrants) so would recommend staying further down the coast)

Rome area is also possible and so is Sorrento by train (very comfortable and inexpensive if booked when released - probably 4 months in advance).

Internal flights within Europe tend to be incredibly cheap - we paid £30 for flights from Venice to Croatia ...so have a look at skyscanner in a few months time and also take a look at seat61 for possible train journeys.