If you’re heading to the Lombardy region specifically for your holiday, you’ll likely arrive in Milan, if you need to arrive by plane. Once there, you have several choices if you’re staying in Milan.

The city has an excellent system of public transportation, so you can feel comfortable knowing you can get around fairly easily. The Metro is considered one of the best ways to get around with on-time service. You can purchases passes good for 24 hours or up to a week. If you plan to stay in Milan and not venture out into the other towns and areas of Lombardy, using the Metro (and cabs) to get around is probably your best bet.

If you do use The Metro service, be sure to ask at your hotel about strikes. There are semi-frequent strikes by Metro employees, but these are usually prefaced by a warning, so your hotel should know the facts.

Many tourists enjoy taking the trams around Milan, as you then get a view you might miss while on the subway, but the trams are often running behind, and get caught in traffic, a problem you won’t have if you choose the subway.

If you plan to leave Milan and explore other parts of Lombardy, be sure to rent a car so you can get around easily and on your own schedule.

If on the other hand you would like to use the region's efficient public transport system, you will find the complete schedules of ALL train, bus, and boat services in the entire Lombardia Region on www.trasporti.regione.lombardia.it. Although the website is in Italian only, it should be fairly easy to navigate.  Note that 'feriale' means weekdays(Mon./Sat.), 'festivo' means Sundays, and  'Navigazione' means of course boat service.

Log on to www.trasporti.regione.lombardia.it

Click on "orari e informazioni sui mezzi di trasporto"

On the next screen, click on "collegamento tra le principali localita' della Lombardia"

On the next screen enter, for example, "Bellagio" as "localita' di partenza" and "Gallarate" as "localita' di destinazione".

Press enter. Bingo!