Farway Journal
Day trips from Milan with children: 6 destinations for a day out
Six day trips from Milan that work with children: Varenna on Lake Como, Bergamo Alta, Monte Isola, Crespi d’Adda, Vigevano and the dinosaurs of the Parco della Preistoria. All of them doable in a day, many without a car.
10 June 2026
There are Saturdays when Milan feels too small and the urge to leave arrives at breakfast. The good news is that you don’t need to plan a trip: around the city, within an hour, there are lakes, villages on the water and even dinosaurs.
A day trip out of Milan with children works when the distances are right, when there is something to explore on your own two feet and nobody has to rush. Every destination in this short guide can be done in a day, and many of them without a car.
Here they are, from the most classic to the most unexpected.
In short:
- Six day trips from Milan with children: Varenna (1 hour by train), Bergamo Alta (50 min + funicular), Monte Isola, Crespi d’Adda, Vigevano and the Parco della Preistoria dinosaur park.
- Varenna, Bergamo Alta and Vigevano are easily reached by train, no car needed.
- With a pushchair, the easiest are Varenna, Vigevano and Crespi d’Adda.
- The formula that works: leave early, one goal per day, a light backpack.
01 — Varenna, the gentle village on Lake Como
An hour by train from Milano Centrale and you step out into one of the loveliest villages on Lake Como. In Varenna you walk along the boardwalk over the water — they call it the Passeggiata degli Innamorati, the lovers’ walk, but it is just as good with a pushchair — between colourful houses, gardens and views that look painted.
It works with children because everything is built for short legs: the lakefront, a gelato at the little harbour, ducks to say hello to and the train home leaving from just around the corner.
02 — Bergamo Alta, the city on the walls
For a child, Bergamo Alta, the old upper town, begins in the best possible way: with a funicular. You climb up between the rooftops and come out in an ancient city of cobbled lanes, small enclosed squares and Venetian walls — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — to be walked from end to end, with the plain laid out below.
Piazza Vecchia deserves the long stop: the fountain, the pigeons, a gelato sitting on the steps. And if legs still hold out, a second funicular climbs even higher, up to San Vigilio.
03 — Monte Isola, the island without cars
In the middle of Lake Iseo there is a green island where cars do not exist: you get around on foot or by bicycle, among fishing villages, olive trees and lanes along the water. The ferry from Sulzano takes five minutes — and for children the crossing is already half the trip.
In Peschiera Maraglio you can hire bicycles, including ones with a child seat; the loop around the island is long, but the good part is stopping: a jetty, a small pebble beach, a plate of lake fish in the shade.
04 — Crespi d’Adda, the village that stopped in time
Crespi d’Adda is a late nineteenth-century workers’ village left intact, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: neat rows of little houses with gardens, the monumental factory, the tree-lined avenue running down towards the river. You visit it simply by wandering, and it is a time machine children understand at once.
It is the right trip when you want to walk without crowds, with a story to tell at every corner — what was it like to go to school here? And to work in the factory? — and the cool air of the Adda a couple of steps away.
05 — Vigevano and the most elegant square in Lombardy
From Milano Porta Genova, half an hour by train takes you to one of the most beautiful Renaissance squares in Italy: the Piazza Ducale in Vigevano, a drawing room of arcades and frescoed facades where children can run free while the grown-ups look around.
Behind the square, the Castello Sforzesco is enormous and is explored like a maze: courtyards, stables, the raised covered road. A short trip, and a good one for half a day too.
06 — Parco della Preistoria, dinosaurs along the Adda
At Rivolta d’Adda, inside a large wood along the river, dozens of life-size dinosaurs live. The Parco della Preistoria, the prehistory park, is a shaded walk of a couple of hours among brontosauruses and tyrannosauruses, with the little train, the fallow deer and picnic areas for the lunch break.
It is the trip that never fails between the ages of three and eight: you come home tired, happy and with at least one favourite dinosaur each.
How to make a day trip with children work
The best trips have three ingredients: leaving early, expecting little and leaving room for the unexpected. A few things that make the difference:
- Train whenever you can: for children it is part of the adventure, and you arrive without hunting for a parking space.
- A light backpack: water, fruit, a change of clothes and little else. Everything else can be found along the way.
- One goal only: a square, an island, a castle. The rest, if it comes, is a gift.
- Comfortable shoes and clothes that breathe: the day is long and there is sweating, running and sitting on the ground.
How to dress them for a day out
A day trip calls for pieces that keep up: natural fabrics that breathe in the warm hours, comfortable cuts for climbing onto ferries and funiculars, and just enough neatness to make the photographs good without getting in the way of play. A light shirt or a muslin dress, soft shorts, and one extra piece for the way home.
For inspiration, the Weekend by the Lake collection brings together the Farway pieces made for days of water and walking: natural, washable, serene.
Frequently asked questions
Which day trips from Milan can you do without a car?
Varenna, Bergamo Alta and Vigevano are easily reached by train; for Monte Isola the train goes as far as Sulzano with a change at Brescia, then the ferry. For children, the journey is already part of the trip.
Which destination should you choose with a pushchair?
Varenna (the lakeside boardwalk is flat), Vigevano and Crespi d’Adda are the easiest. In Bergamo Alta a baby carrier is better for the smallest ones: the cobblestones are charming but bumpy.
When is the best time of year for these trips?
Spring and early summer give the best light and the right temperatures for walking. In high summer, the lakes are better — Varenna and Monte Isola — where the breeze off the water helps, setting out early in the morning.
When a single day isn’t enough, the next step is slow weekends in Lombardy; for days in the city, there is the one-day itinerary in Milan.
The perfect trip isn’t the one that goes without a hitch: it is the one that, on the train home, someone asks to do again tomorrow.
