Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Rome | Sep-Oct 2022.

DISCLAIMER

This is just our itinerary. It was a pretty chill trip. We planned out our cities, flights/trains, and hotels in advance; but day-by-day, we kind of just planned what we wanted to do as we went. We didn’t stress about seeing many historical sites, especially because we’ve been to some of these cities before. We spent a lot of time shopping, to be honest.

SOME NOTES

Hotels

A lot of european hotel rooms are small, so if you are traveling with someone and if your pockets allow, definitely recommend upgrading room to suite so yall have some space.
Do not recommend the Glam Hotel in Milan. It does have a great location, but they also have the rudest staff we have ever encountered and hotel rooms need updating.
The Hyatt Tribune in Rome is a decent hotel, maybe overpriced for how small the rooms are though.
We loved the other hotels! Hotel Spadai is expensive, but worth every penny. Walkable to everywhere in Florence you want to get to.

Here’s the website we used for the train bookings
From Madrid, can also consider taking a day trip to Seville. We initially had it on our itinerary but took it off, so we didn’t tire ourselves out too early.
Since this trip had a lot of stops, it was easier to just annotate the itinerary with comments about the activities we did, instead of compiling a separate list of activities. See our itinerary below, hope it helps you plan your trip!
A few things on the intinerary, we didn’t actually do/see, but I kept them on the list anyway.
Justine made a vlog of our trip, if you would like to see more visuals and hear some of her thoughts on the trip.
Here’s a link to my google doc which has all the information from this post (minus the pics), which may be easier to reference.

Our Itinerary

Day 0 – Wed (9/28)

JFK to BCN Delta 168

Day 1 – Thurs (9/29): Barcelona

Land in Barcelona at 10 AM
Occidental Diagonal 414 Hotel
- Great location, kind staff.
Brunch @ Lato Cafe (highly recommend!)
Walk around Passieg de Gràcia

Luxury shopping
High street shopping
Artist Gaudi buildings: Casa Mila-La Pedrera, Casa Batllo

Explore the areas

Gothic Quarter

Can start at the Cathedral of Barcelona

La Rambla
Snack at La Boqueria Market

Picasso Museum (free Thurs 6 -9:30 pm)
Dinner @ El Salon
After dinner option: Tabú

Day 2 – Fri (9/30): Barcelona

Breakfast @ Molinet Cafe Antique (or Brunch & Cake)
Park Guell
- A park designed by Antoni Guadi with interesting and beautiful architectural elements.
- UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Recommend visiting in the morning, when it’s less busy.
Sagrada Familia
- Designed by Antoni Gaudi. Largest unfinished Catholic Church in the world.
15:00 Lunch Reservation @ Sercotel Rosellon

Rooftop terrace with UNBELIEVABLE view of Sagrada Familia. Highly recommend!
Must have reservation (or be staying at the hotel) to visit the rooftop terrace
- Only allows you to make reservation 1 week in advance, and time fill up quickly, so set a reminder!

Beaches: Barceloneta or Bogatell
Dinner @ Mazah (Lebanese)

Ice cream/gelato across the street: Luciano’s

After dinner drinks @ Mr. Robinson or Paradiso

Day 3 – Sat (10/1): Madrid

Breakfast at Eat My Trip Barcelona
Train to Madrid

Barcelona - Sants @ 10:40 AM
Arrive at Madrid - Puerta de Atocha @ 13:25

Canopy Madrid Hotel

Rooms are small, but hotel is beautiful and has a rooftop.
Room service, cocktails at bar and breakfast selection were great

Lunch at hotel
Shopping at mall: El Certo Ingles
Dinner @ Restaurante Tricolo

Day 4 – Sun (10/2): Madrid

Breakfast @ Zenith Brunch & Cocktails — highly recommend!
Walk around Gran Via

Shops, restaurants

Plaza Mayor
- Town square. Lively large esplanade with restaurants, street vendors. We got a terrible, yet funny, caricature done.
Mercado San Miguel: food hall/market
Palacio Real de Madrid
Churros at San Gines
Dinner @ La Taberna de Penalver (get the paella!)

Day 5 – Mon (10/3): Milan

Breakfast @ Canopy Hotel
11:30 AM flight to Milan (MXP) (arrive at 1:45 PM)

Iberia 3252

50 min train ride from MXP airport to Milano Centrale Station.
Glam Hotel

This was our least favorite hotel of the trip, definitely needs some updating and staff were not very friendly.
A good thing about this hotel is that it is walking distance from Milano Centrale Station.

Walk around Corso Buenos Aires: multiple shops, restaurants
Dinner @ Maccheroni Cucina Italio

Nearby gelato @ Gelataria Concordia

Day 6 – Tue (10/4): Milan

Breakfast @ Macha Café
Duomo di Milano - Milan Cathedral
Shopping

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
- Italy’s oldest active shopping gallery.
- Luxury shopping. Right next to the Duomo.
DMAG: luxury outlet store
Quadrilatero della Moda

Lunch @ La Locanda de Gatto Rosso
- Seafood risotto and bolognese were delicious!
Naviglio (Corso San Gottardo): canal-side cafes, best in the evening
Dinner @ Casa Osteria Tua (get the bolognese!)

Day 7 – Wed (10/5): Florence

Breakfast @ Starbucks Reserve Roastery
- largest Starbucks in the world
Train to Florence – Departs @ 12:40PM; Arrives @2:35PM
Hotel Spadai Firenze

Pricey, but luxurious hotel.
In prime location, steps away from Duomo and walkable to really everywhere in Florence you could want to visit.

Lunch @ Cantinetta Cavour
- Get the crab linguine! We became soul-tied to this restaurant’s crab linguine and had it everyday we were in Florence.
Duomo di Firenze
- Absolutely breathtaking, looks unreal.
Walk around Piazza della Republica

Also a lot of luxury stores in this area

Plethora of restaurant options walking distance from the hotel

Day 8 – Thurs (10/6): Florence/ Pisa

Breakfast @ hotel
Day trip to Pisa

Train from Firenze Santa Maria Novella (@10:28) to Pisa Centrale
- Return train @ 14:32
Leaning Tower is about 25 min walk from train station
2-3 hours is plenty of time. Also allows time for shopping/lunch in Pisa. Plenty of shops and restaurants on the walk between the train station and the Leaning Tower.

Dinner at restaurant nearby hotel
Gelato at La Strega Nocciola

Day 9 – Fri (10/7): Florence

Breakfast @ Hotel
Walking street food tour @ 10:30
- Ehh, not a must at all. But it was cool and cheap.
Wine window “buchette del vino” @ Babae restaurant
- “Windows” were used to sell wine during the plague pandemic in the 17th century
Ponte Viccho Bridge
- This is also the place to visit if you want to buy gold items, countless jewelry stores
Piazzale Michelangelo