Welcome back to Italy! And welcome back to Milan, which is eager to host American travelers after a long year without them

As travel gets moving again, there’s a temporary window of time when travelers can see the most popular attractions in Milan with fewer crowds than in many years. Indeed, this is a phenomenal time to see this bucket list destination. Milan is one of the most stylish and aesthetically refined cities in the world.

Italy, the country that produced the Renaissance, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, is still the world capital of style. And the center of Italian fashion and style in the 21st century is Milan. It’s where many of the top-tiered brands of international fashion are headquartered, including Giorgio Armani, Prada and Versace, among others.

Milan is northern Italy’s center of culture and commerce. It attracts visitors for a great variety of reasons. There is the Grand Prix Monza (Sept. 9-13), the Milano Film Festival in October, and opera season at Teatro La Scala beginning in December and running into July 2022. From September to December La Scala presents a series of symphonies and ballets.

While in Milan, your clients shouldn’t miss the spectacular Cathedral or Duomo of Milan, along with the Duomo Museum and the elegant Church of St. Gottardo in Corte from the 14th century. Milan's Codex Atlanticus exhibits an extraordinary collection of works of art by great Renaissance painters and philosophers, including the world's largest collection of original Da Vinci drawings. And, of course, your clients can’t leave Milan without visiting Da Vinci's Last Supper painting, located pm the wall of the dining room of the former Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Milan's epicurean pleasures alone justify the trip. Its culinary heritage is unique and rich, bringing its own style to northern Italian cuisine, with its unique Milanese flavors and accents, very distinct from the Mediterranean cuisine served farther down the Italian peninsula.

In a fashion capital such as Milan, shopping is a must, and it’s why Via della Spiga, Via Montenapoleone, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II are the busiest and most famous shopping streets in Milan. The other reasons to visit Milan are far too numerous to list, but the city is also a great base for exploring further into the incomparably rich landscape of Northern Italy, pushing off the beaten paths of tourism. Milan serves an excellent base for trips to some of the most fascinating towns and villages in the surrounding region.

There are six towns within easy proximity to Milan that are prime locations for extending your clients’ explorations of Italy into the countryside and beyond—Genova, Torino, Bologna, Mantova, Parma and Como. These towns are all connected to Milan by way of Italy’s excellent comprehensive and super-fast rail system. Rail is the ideal mode of travel for exploring Italy’s towns and villages. With an ItaliaPass, your clients can cover all their train trips with a single purchase.

It’s also possible to rent a car, for those who prefer to fashion their trip in self-driving Gran Turismo style. Your clients can visit all these towns in a series, or pick their favorites and spend more time in them. Here’s a rundown of

Genova: Known as Genoa in English, this is the city where Christopher Columbus was born. It was a major sea power on its own, the capital of one of the most powerful maritime republics from the 11th century to 1797. Genoa is historically one of the most important ports on the Mediterranean and is still today the busiest port in Italy. Genoa's historic center, its Old Town, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Genoa is brimming with history, great architecture, music and fine arts and great restaurants. The city, with its historic center and its sumptuous baroque palaces like the Palazzi dei Rolli, is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

Torino: Also known as Turin in English, Torino is one of Italy's historically great cities. It was the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1865, and today is the third strongest economic center in Italy after Rome and Milan. Torino is steeped in culture and history accumulated over its many centuries as one of the premier cities of Italy. It has an abundance of art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theaters, libraries and museums.

The city is an architectural feast with some of the world's greatest examples of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical and Art Nouveau buildings. Turin's many fine educational establishments, such as the University of Turin and Turin Polytechnical, help to create a lively, stimulating atmosphere.

Bologna: The seventh most populous city in Italy, Bologna has a rich history going back to its founding as an Etruscan capital. Later it was a Celtic city and then a Roman city. Traces of human habitation have been found here that date back to the third century B.C. And Bologna’s many layers of history are well preserved, creating a spectacular showcase of European history. The prize of the beautiful Bolognese landscape has been fought over by a long succession of tribes and nationalities since the dawn of history.

Bologna's 350-acre historic center is the second largest in Europe and preserves a wealth of medieval, renaissance, and baroque artistic monuments. Among the things to include on your clients’ Bologna tour are the Torre degli Asinelli in Porta Ravegnana square, with its two towers, the Asinelli and Garisenda. The views from the terrace here are some of the best in the city, especially of the Basilica of San Petronio.

Having lunch in a traditional tavern in Bologna is a way to experience an ancient culinary tradition from the Middle Ages. Bolognese cuisine is appreciated all over the world: lasagna, tortellini, tortelloni, tagliatelle with ragù (what in the US is called Bolognese-style sauce) were all created here. Bologna is a place not to miss.

Mantova: This town, known as Mantua in English, was named the Italian Capital of Culture in 2016 and the European Capital of Gastronomy in 2017. In 2008 Mantua's old town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. That's just a small indication of the cultural and historical richness your clients will feel walking the streets of Mantua.

As one of the major European centers of power in the 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries, Mantua is one of the most important towns for art, culture and especially music in Europe. The city had a major historical role in the development of opera. It's also known for architectural treasures and artifacts, ornate palaces, and the medieval and Renaissance cityscape.

Parma: This town is located between the flatlands of Padana, the Apennine Mountains and the seacoast of the Liguria region. Parma features art masterpieces and wide open green spaces. Its history is rich and colorful, including such historical gems as the story of the reign of Napoleon’s second wife Marie Louise, or Maria Luigia, as she was known in Italy.

Even though she was Austrian, Maria Luigia was allowed to remain in power until her death in 1847 even after Napoleon was deposed in 1814. One of her legacies was Parma yellow, a sunny color that was used on many buildings during her reign. One of the best examples is Teatro Regio, built at the behest of Maria Luigia and opened in 1829. It's where the Verdi Festival takes place every October.

Parma also is known as the birthplace of Giuseppi Verdi, but its importance as a musical capital extends far beyond that, also named Italian Capital of Culture for 2020-21. Much of the city's cultural and historical legacy is preserved in its many museums, including The Museum of Opera, the Glauco Lombardi Museum and the Museo Casa Natale Arturo Toscanini, where the great conductor was born. And if music or art is not your clients’ thing, there’s always food: The region around Parma is known for the famed Food Valley for Parma ham and endless food delicacies..

Como: This town at the edge of the glorious Lake Como is surrounded by mountains. Come is known for its enchanting villas and colorful gardens, as well as the lake itself. The town’s breathtaking lakeside landscape and pastoral environment within and around the city are enough to justify a visit, but it’s also a major cultural and historical landmark.

You can find such attractions as the Archaeological Museum, Museo Storico Giuseppe Garibaldi Risorgimento and

Pinacoteca Civica, which preserve a great sampling of the region’s rich history. But there is no better museum than the streets of Como, where you can take in great architectural treasures from various periods, set against the gorgeous mountain landscape, and the pulsating street life of the living city, with its welcoming restaurants, shops and cafes.

Courtesy: Italian Tourist Board