Which city is best to visit Milan, Venice, Florence or Rome?

As an Italian I think the magic of Florence is incredible and unique. I would then suggest Venice for its canal and gondola and then Rome which is incredible but quite confusing. Instead of Milan, that is nothing in terms of historical buildings, I would suggest Turin and its mountains

For someone like me who has never been to Italy but knows a bit about it I think all four are worth visiting. Actually, on my family's priority list is Venice because I've never seen streets like its (and I may not be able if it sinks, courtesy to global warming advocates,  until I manage to visit). Next comes Florence with so much art and architecture that I don't mind if by mistake I am taken first there instead of Venice. Then I'll be ready for Rome. As for Milan, I would prefer to go to Prague or Thailand, or the Seychelles, or Barselona before this. Then I will reflect and decide which of the above I would like to visit for a second time. Then, if they pay me, I could go to Milan.

I live in Rome, I've spent 2 years in Milan, I have many relatives in Florence and my grandmother was from Venice. I think I'm entitled to answer your question! ;-) Rome is definitely big. Nothing in comparison with LA or NYC but the so called historical center is big and you can find interesting things scattered in all the city. It' s quite difficult to have a good idea of Rome spending just 2-3 days. Usually the tuorist goes in the most famous places (Vatican, Colosseum, Piazza di Spagna) crowded by other tourists while there are charming hidden corners... Florence is small town. Everything is reachble walking. In one day you can see all the city center (not visiting carefully all the chirches or builidings, obviously). This characteristic makes Florence one of the favourite choice for tourists. It's "easy to visit". Obvioulsy it's beautiful... Venice. Venice is a strange city. People is afraid to get lost; it's quite difficult to loose the sense of orientation). This is the reason why there are suggested itineraries indicated by arrows (from the train station to Piazza san marco, from Piazza san Marco to the Academi gallery, and so on). If you want to have the best from Venice... visit it starting from the sunset at the Giudecca island (with a Spritz, going toward the Junghans theater, there is a wonderful view on the lagoon) and then spent the night walking in a perfect silence among the calli (calle is the name of streets in Venice). Milan is good for high-level shopping (design, dresses, bags, etc.). Despite some beauties (as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)), in comparison with other Italian cities Milan is not so interesting.

I was born and lived in Milan, now living the biggest part of the year in Rome, travelled  times to Florence and Venice.I say : Rome.I personally have no doubts, that Rome is one of the most incredible place on earth. But this is just a personal opinion. I'll try to give you some reasons why.1) whenever i ask to a foreing person who is willing to visit italy, wich city he would like to visit, i often get in answer : Venice-Florence-Rome. Whenever i ask a foreing tourist wich is the city he/she liked most after visiting italy 90% says : Rome.2) Have a look on the wikipedia page : https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumenti_di_Roma_antica , it's the list of monuments of Rome. It's just the list page and it's longer then most of the description page of the others.And i personally think that in this page is listed just a very small portion of what you can find in Rome.3) Weather : Rome has an amazing weather, all the year long. It's one of the most temperate zone of italy, thanks to his position near mediterranean sea. If you stay some days and you want to have a day-off on the beach, in 45 min you can be here https://www.google.it/search?q=spiaggia+castel+porziano&client=ubuntu&hs=4bZ&channel=fs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR0fPBmbzLAhXHXhQKHR9mD7IQ_AUICCgC&biw=1317&bih=640#channel=fs&tbm=isch&q=cancelli+castel+porziano , and have a glass of wine with seafood spaghetti directly on the sand.4) You visit a city, you visit a state : Vatican is an amazing matrioska state inside our country. And it's in Rome. During the Angelus on sunday morning you can listen to our Pope talking to the people in st Peter square.5) It's the capital. The heart of italian istitusions are there. They are something very interesting to visit too.6) Food. I personally think that the more you go southern the better you eat in italy. Rome is the first city of our "great south". You can eat fantastically in Rome ( and much much cheaper then Venice or FLorence).7) Shopping. Being the biggest city in Italy, being the capital, being the most visited city in the country and one of the most in europe, it has the complete offer of italian best brands.8) People and life style. People in rome are very open and tourist are warmely wellcome.9) Sport. It's a city in love with soccer but not only. Tennis, Rugby and Basketball are very very famous too.ps : Venice and Florence are fantastic too. Milan is more a shopping/industrial city.Pietro

My wife and I visited Venice, Florence and Rome on our Honeymoon a couple years ago.  We spent three days in Rome, three in Venice but only one day in Florence.  (We'll make a longer visit to Florence next time we're in Italy.)   Based on my experiences of those three I would say Venice was my favorite.    Rome was amazing because of the beautiful monuments and places to visit and see that you've heard about your entire life.  And the places that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years.  It felt far too busy and fast paced.  Cars everywhere.  People everywhere.  We weren't really able to relax.  Fortunately, our next stop was spending a week in the Chianti region of Tuscany so we knew we had some relaxation coming up.   Our time in Florence was brief.  Our first night we drove to Piazzale Michelangelo to overlook the city, which was beautiful during sunset.  The next day we drove into the city, but unfortunately it was raining most of the day.  We walked from the south end where we could park our care at Porta Romana and walked to the Duomo, stopping at a couple museums and stopped at Piazza della Signoria.   As with Rome, it was beautful, but I just didn't feel the same intimacy in Florence as I did in Venice.   Venice was my favorite.  We were there in the middle of April so it wasn't full-fledged tourist season.  I didn't get the same "Disneyland" feel that most people speak of.  We stayed about a 15 minutes walk from the Rialto Bridge and about 25-30 from Piazza San Marco.  On two of the nights we took a tip from the concierge at our hotel and headed off in a different direction for dinner.  It was definitely more "real" Italy and not everything tailored for tourists.  It was a much slower pace than Rome and Florence (though not quite as slow and relaxed as the Cinque Terre, which was our previous stop on the trip).    I think the bottom line with Venice is to not stay too close to Piazza San Marco, because everything I've heard says that area stays packed and a tourist haven almost all the time.

It really depends what are you looking for (fashion, design, history [renaissance, medieval, roman, etc...], food [they all have their regional food], architecture, weather, etc...) and if you're just going to visit one of the cities or if you're fitting them in a longer trip/itinerary. These 3 cities are all unique in their own way. However, now, with high speed trains you can be from the city center of Milan to the city center of Rome in about 3 hours (the same for Florence, not sure about Venice).

My answer to your question is to visit all of them! Each city has its own charm and unique in its own way. But if I had to narrow it down to just 1, I would choose Florence.Florence is a small city with everything within walking distance to each other. The people there are friendly and the food is just amazing (must try Florentine Steak).I was just there a few years ago and I visited https://www.triplynr.com/destination/32800/Rome--Roma_Capitale--Lazio--Italy?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhich-city-is-best-to-visit-Milan-Venice-Florence-or-Rome&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=QUORA, https://www.triplynr.com/destination/32800/Rome--Roma_Capitale--Lazio--Italy?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhich-city-is-best-to-visit-Milan-Venice-Florence-or-Rome&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=QUORA, https://www.triplynr.com/destination/38900/Pisa--Pisa_Province--Tuscany--Italy?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhich-city-is-best-to-visit-Milan-Venice-Florence-or-Rome&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=QUORA (day trip), https://www.triplynr.com/destination/37843/Venice--Venezia_Province--Veneto--Italy?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhich-city-is-best-to-visit-Milan-Venice-Florence-or-Rome&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=QUORA and http://generate%20url%20https://www.triplynr.com/destination/38327/Milan--Province_of_Milan--Lombardy--Italy?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhich-city-is-best-to-visit-Milan-Venice-Florence-or-Rome&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=QUORA, in that exact order. It was a 12 days trip and it was just amazing, every city I went to was so different. Here is my https://www.triplynr.com/trip/235290/perfect-italy?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhich-city-is-best-to-visit-Milan-Venice-Florence-or-Rome&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=QUORA for you to copy and edit from.Italy is so far the country I have ever visited and miss it so much.Hope this helps! Have a great time in Italy!

Been living in Milan since 1992 and consider it home. The Expo was a huge boast and a whole new revamp for the Darsena and Naviglio zones. But if I have to pick my favourite it has to be Venice. Magical, as most water coasted cities are. My third favourite is Rome based on the nature of the romans which is good humored and fun. Florence at the end of the list due to the tourist overcrowding which you do not encounter in Venice once you take the side streets.

It depends about your passions and ideas! If you like archeology I must suggest you Rome, with Colosseum, Roman Forum and the archeological museums. Of course, Rome has a long history which lasts more than two thousand of years…if you like art history, especially the Renaissance age, I suggest you to go to Florence, the city of the David by Michelangelo, of the fantastic churches and musuem, like the Uffizi.But of course, if you can I suggest you to spent two or three nights in each single city! :-)