Ca' Grande, Milan

Advantages: cheaper than many in the area, clean, comfortable, easy access to sights
Disadvantages: bathroom not great, no restaurant

...Named the 10th most expensive city in the world in terms of cost of living (Mercer's Cost of Living Survey, 2008), Milan isn't generally a city you'd associate with budget hotels. However, that was exactly what I was in search of when travelling to the city for a 3-night stay in October 2008. Knowing that a large proportion of my money would be spent on shopping and eating out, I was on the hunt for accommodation that was cheap, central and comfortable. You'l struggle to find anything that fits the bill in the centre of the city - anything in the Duomo (cathedral) or main shopping areas tends to be more pricey, or cheap for a good reason (i.e., incredibly basic). We were happy to look a little further out, and eventually decided to book a twin room at Hotel Teco through laterooms.com. LOCATION Hotel Teco is located on a tiny... Read review

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Advantages: Clean, Loads of restaurants, comfy seats
Disadvantages: No where to smoke

...Imagine being tired, yet handcuffed to a running machine thats on full pelt, welcome to Milan Malpensa. The Airport that doesn\'t accommodate the needs of the smoker, (And the staff almost start laughing when you ask where the smoking area is!) brings to you the largest Duty free shop Ive ever seen in the EU, quite a few restaurants and cafe\'s and several bathrooms (Where the occasional smoker hangs out waiting to be handcuffed and pinned to the floor by the Italian Police) The airport is connected to Milan by the Milano-Varese motorway as well by a dedicated train called \"Malpensa Express\". It is also connected to Linate Airport by a scheduled bus service. The Milan airport system has a third international airport, Orio al Serio Airport, which serves low-cost and charter traffic. Malpensa handled over 21.7 million passengers... Read review

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Advantages: Vibrant, cosmopolitan city and stunningly beautiful lakes
Disadvantages: Pricey, dirty and plagued by annoying gypsies

...that public toilets in Italian cities are virtually non-existent. The Galleria houses a series of bookshops and also various smart cafes and restaurants, the one exception being a branch of Macdonald’s. I would avoid the smart restaurants but I did sitting outside a café with a cappuccino and an ice cream just relaxing and watching the world go by. The other main shopping areas are Via Torino and Via Dante, which come off the main city square. The shops here are generally more ‘normal’ than the ones on the smart streets near the cathedral. The best priced clothes shop is ‘Standa’, which is the equivalent of our own M&S, but is probably more closely related in style to the now defunct C&A. It isn’t easy to find restaurants in central Milan. The few that are there are either very posh or very ordinary ‘self service’ types... Read review

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