9 Awesome day trips from Milan for families with kids
Expert round-up of the best day trips from Milan for families with kids based on our family’s experience.
Milan features on the itineraries of many families visiting Italy, both as a destination in itself (the Milan Duomo! The Last Supper! The shopping!) and a convenient place to fly in and out of.
I have talked before about the best things to do in Milan with kids and how I recommend you spend one day in Milan.
Today, I want to move beyond the city’s boundaries and recommend family day trips from Milan that will enhance your experience of this area and give you a wonderful family time!
In true Learning Escapes style, these day trips are a mix of:
- DIY day trips you can take in your own time, by using public transport or a rental car
- Organized day tours
- Attractions for kids
- Cultural attractions you can visit with kids
I hope you enjoy these ideas!
This is our round up of the best day trip and day tours from Milan.
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Family- friendly day trip from Milan to Lake Como with kids
The most popular day trip from Milan for overseas visitors and locals alike is a day on stunning Lake Como
Fabulous Lake Como is one of the most popular and well known destinations in the North of Italy and a wonderful place to visit on a day trip from Milan for couples and grown ups but, maybe surprisingly, also for families with kids!
While the lake has a mellow vibe that may not immediately scream ‘kid-friendly’, there are many kid-friendly things to do on Lake Como that will make your day there packed with fun, without being overwhelming.
The Lake lies at the bottom of the Italian Alps and has a distinctive Y shape, with arms stretching along beautiful valleys.
At the meeting point of its two arms lie the most famous towns on the lake: Varenna, Bellagio which are also the best places to see on Lake Como from Milan.
In my experience, there are two best ways to visit Lake Como as a day trip from Milan with kids:
Do-it-yourself day tour, by taking the train from Milan to Varenna and then local ferry or private boat tour to explore the area from the water (amazing!)
An organized tour that takes you to Como and then along the lake on a cruise to see Cernobbio, Bellagio and, depending on the tour, also Varenna from the water.
Good to know! Lake Como is a very popular day trip from Milan for locals and foreigners alike. In the good season, it gets VERY busy, especially at weekends. Planning private transport and avoiding the ling ferry Iines is best if visiting at a busy time. Have a look at Il Medeghino as a taxi / private boat service
Some organised tours of the area to consider are:
Day tour from Milan, by coach, including guided tour of Como and lake cruise
Day trip from Milan to Lake Como, including a visit to Bellagio and Lugano (Switzerland)
Leolandia
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Lake Como, in terms of kid friendly day trips from Milan, we have Leolandia theme park, basically heaven on heart for little kids!
Leolandia is a fantastic theme park for little children with all you can expect from a child friendly attraction of this type: rides, shows, cartoon characters (Masha and the Bear, PJ Masks and more), theme areas like the Old West and Pirate Land.
Leolandia is designed for little kids and families so it has rides suitable also for kids under 90cm of height, baby changing facilities, rides suitable for expecting moms (such a nice touch!) and of course food and dining areas.
You can find info and tickets here Leolandia Official Site
Day trip from Milan to Turin with kids
Another fabulous day trip idea from Milan for families is visiting Turin.
Turin / Torino is a wonderful city, with tons to do for kids and a quiet, off the beaten track vibe.
It is a city that deserves a few days however, there are some specific attractions that I believe make it worth a day trip with kids!
Depending on what your children like, I recommend you go to Turin to see:
Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile – National Automobil Museum: Fabulous also if your not into cars!
National Egyptian Museum – huge and wonderful, super interesting and with fun trails for kids
Royal Palace – for elegant castles lovers!
You can read here >>> our guide to visiting Turin with kids
Monza
Exceptionally close to Milan, so close, in fact, to even be a great solution as a base to ecplore the city, lies the lovely Monza, a great place especially for car lovets thanks to its Autodromo!
Monza is a typical north-italian town and it is worth visiting it you want a taste of a real Italian working city, off the most common tourist itieneraries.
In Monza for kids there is a walkable center, a lovely park and the Autodromo Race Course, perfect if, like me, you have a car lover in the family! They call it ‘The Temple of Speed’ so I guess the name says it all!
Find here >>> Monza’s Autodromo website
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is a beautiful, large and family friendly Lake to the East of Milan.
The lake is about 2 hours from Milan so it a longer drive or train ride from the city.
However, the West and Southern Coast of Lake Garda are well connected to Milan but motorway or train so if you ever wanted to see Lake Garda, it’s easily done!
From Milan, cool places on Lake Garda to see with kids are Sirmione and its fab castle or he’d towards Limone to enjoy its lovely ciclabile (Bike greenway).
The best ways to get to Lake Garda from Milan are rental car or the train Milan > Desenzano-Sirmione and then local transport.
Day trip Milan to Verona with kids
Verona is just a little over an hour away from Milan by train and a wonderful city to visit with kids.
Verona’s two main landmarks, the Roman amphitheater and the so called Juliet’s balcony, are visitors magnets.
However, Verona has a lot more to offer: medieval squares, sunning palazzi, amazing food and scenic river being just the beginning!
Verona is walkable, has a cute tourist train, a great info point with free scavenger hunt for kids and a family friendly vibe.
The city is one of my favourite day trips from Milan for families if you want to see a stunning, mellow city and experience a different region with its unique food and vibe.
Read here >>> how to spend one day in Verona with kids
Bernina Pass – best day trip from Milan for mountain lovers
I first heard about the Bernina express and railway from my parents in law.
They visited this area from Ireland with an organised tour and came back with amazing photos of the Bernina pass, which they enjoyed immensely.
The Bernina express is a trains serving the Bernina pass, an alpine pass between Italy and Switzerland and holds the record for being the steepest railways in the world.
The train connects Tirano to St Moritz, in Switzerland, and is a great way to spend a day in this glamorous resort town.
If you are staying in Milan, day tours are available to help you reach the train and make you way back home.
I believe for the Bernini Express an organized day tour is the best way to proceed as getting to the train’s starting point is not easy.
Have a look at this one, which comes with a handy cancellation policy in case of you need to suddenly change your plans.
Need to know! A day trip on the Bernina Express is a long day for kids. I recommend you only do it if you have time to rest the dat before and after or it can get overwhelming fast.
Family friendly day trip Milan to Bologna by train
Bologna is a wonderful city, famous for its university (the oldest in Europe), it glorious food and its intellectual vibe.
Bologna is a great place to call home for a while and a fab base for day trips.
However, it is also a great destination for a day trip from Milan as it us easy to reach and beautiful!
With one day in Bologna you can see the city center, get a feel for the city’s famous cuisine or you can treat the kids to a fun day in FICO Bologna or the gelato museum!
You can read here >>> our guide to visiting Bologna with kids and one day itinerary around the city
Genova
One of my closest friends is from Genova but there is more than personal reasons to make me recommend this day trip from Milan.
To put it simply, Genova is stunning and super kid-friendly!
The best past of Genoa to visit with kids for day is Old Port. Here, you have the famous Genoa Aquarium, the newly refurbished Citta’ dei Bambini children museum, a panoramic lift and tons of cool places to eat and walkable areas.
You can read here >>> how to spend one day in Genoa
I hope you enjoyed this selection of day trips from Milan for families and it helped you plan your trip. Safe travels!
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