MXP-KUL

Sun 21/9/25

Since breakfast is only ready at 8am, we ventured out to Lake Garda and Malcesine town first at 7am so we could take pictures before the crowds come in. There were people jogging by the lake too in the morning. We planned to buy some croissant and apple strudel at the bakery which opens at 7.30am, but when we arrived there, most of the bread and pastries were not ready yet.

by Lake Garda in the morning

Castello Scaligero in the background

Malcesine town centre with the mountains in the background

Lake Garda in the background

So we returned back to the hotel and had our breakfast before packing our bags, taking pictures at the balcony of our room and checking out at 10am. Yes, the check out time here is very early. 

breakfast at the hotel

Lake Garda from our room balcony

We walked again to Malcesine town to the bakery, but the pistachio croissant wasn't available, so we settled for plain croissant, jam croissant and apple strudel. We spent a bit more time sitting at the bench enjoying the views at the lake, before returning to the hotel and making our journey back to Milan at 12 noon.

Lake Garda at Malcesine

We drove along Lake Garda until exiting to the highway at Casello di Peschiera. We stopped by at the Islamic Culture Centre at Saronno for prayers, and then planning to have late lunch at a nearby halal restaurant. However, we couldn't find a parking spot, so we had to forego the plan and continued onwards to Milan Malpensa airport to return our rental car at P2 parking lot. We also stopped by a petrol station to fuel up on the way to the airport.

Islamic Culture Centre at Saronno outside

Islamic Culture Centre at Saronno inside

We arrived at the airport earlier than planned at 5pm. We had a cheese pizza at the food court while waiting for the Qatar airways check in counter to open at 7.30pm. Our flight was scheduled at 11pm

cheese pizza

Finally we checked in at the counter at 7.45pm, was given a fast track boarding pass for the security check, but the immigration queue was still long. Some people were cutting queues to catch their flight, we just let them pass as we still had time. 

We went to the Sala Montale lounge after immigration check, but there were so many people with limited food at the buffet counter. We had a sandwich, chickpeas, chips and water while waiting for for boarding at 10.15pm At about 9.30pm there were less people and calmer. Partner In Crime tried to book the shower but was told it was fully booked.

Sala Montale lounge

Our flight was on time. We sat shortly at the gate before being called for boarding. For the pre departure drink, I had iced tea with mint leaves. No arabic coffee and dates were served tonight. There was no pajamas also given for tonight. For starter we had salmon, and soup with tomato and parmesan cheese. For dinner I had grilled lamb chop with herb jus and ice cream for dessert. I also requested for the cheese platter this time around. Managed to get about 2 hours of sleep before it was time for landing.

5A tonight

iced tea with mint leaves

salmon appetiser

tomato soup with parmesan cheese

grilled lamb chop with herb jus

cheese platter

ice cream

let's get some sleep

We only had about 2 hours of transit time, so we quickly made our way to the Al Mourjan lounge. I had to wait for shower use, and was called after about 15 mins. Didn't have enough time to shampoo and dry the hair though, so only had shower. Partner In Crime only had 5 minutes left to shower and managed to do it quickly. I only had water and cut fruits at the lounge before proceeding to the gate for our flight back to KUL via MH this time.

shower with toilet

light dining area

Our flight was on time at 8.05am. I chose the hibiscus lychee drink before take off. For breakfast, I chose the masala omelette with lamb sausage. It was accompanied by yogurt and croissant. I didn't request for the dine anytime meal, managed to get about 1 hour sleep and then woke up to have satay before landing. I got 4 sticks of stay, while Partner In Crime requested for an additional 2 more sticks lol. I did feel a bit hungry by then, I should have requested another 2 sticks too. 

MH seat 6A

hibiscus drink with headphones and amenity kit by Aspinal London (bag) and Payot (lotion, lip balm) 

yogurt with granola and blueberry compote with cut fruits

masala omelette with lamb sausage

let's try to get some sleep

mixed satay 

We landed at KLIA on time at 9pm. We quickly made our way to Immigration autogate using the MyBorderPass app then arrived at the luggage carousel before the first bag, so I waited a bit there. We then made our way back using the KLIA taxi and reached home at almost 11pm. It was a short but sweet trip enjoying nature at the Dolomites and Lake Garda.

Malcesine

Sat 20/9/25

After breakfast of fried rice and preparing packed sandwich for lunch, we walked for about 30 minutes to a nearby viewpoint of Padola to take pictures and fly the drone. There was no one here at all. 

Padola viewpoint

Padola from drone view

We then checked out at 10am to make the long drive to Malcesine, taking about 4 hours, with a distance of 230km. I decided to take the long way out of the Dolomites, passing through Gardena Pass, which was absolutely beautiful. If we could repeat our trip, we would probably stay somewhere near here.

beautiful views along the way

Those with sports / supercars were flashing their cars proudly passing through Gardena Pass. We saw groups of Mustang cars, Porche, BMW convertibles etc passing through there. We tried to find a parking spot, but it was full. People were already parking by the roadside, so we were unable to find a proper place to stop. 

Gardena Pass

near Gardena Pass

We finally found a parking spot a bit further down, but still had a beautiful view. We stopped here to have our sandwich for lunch while enjoying the views before proceeding our journey to Malcesine at Lake Garda.

stopped by a car park near Gardena Pass

at a car park near Gardena Pass

We followed googlemaps suggestion to take the highway, but alas, we were stuck in a jam for about an hour. After a wrong turn (where the U turn is a 5km detour away), we finally made it to Hotel Laura Christina (EUR 114 or RM 576) plus EUR 3 city tax (cash) for 1 night with breakfast in Malcesine at 4pm

view from our hotel room balcony in Malcesine with Lake Garda in the background

After resting, we ventured out to Malcesine town by walking from our hotel which is just a 15 min walk down the lake. We also went to take pictures at the Castello Scaligero from the outside. We managed to buy some souvenirs and chocolates here before returning back to the hotel at 8pm

by the Lake Garda

Castello Scaligero

Malcesine town

Malcesine town centre

sunset at Lake Garda

Lake Garda at night

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Fri 19/9/25

I was still feeling tired from yesterday's long hike up to Tre Cime from Val Fiscalina, wasn't feeling 100% to do today's hike. But since we have already paid EUR40 for the parking, it would be a waste to forego it. So I planned only to do a short 30 minutes hike to Cadini di Misurina, and then another 1 hour to Tre Cime.

After breakfast of fried rice for energy and packed sandwich, we drove to the parking lot Rifugio Auronzo, about 1 hour of driving to reach there from our apartment. On the way, we passed by an unnamed pass of 16 'tornante's (hairpin bends) - yes they numbered the bends there. We also passed by the town of Auronzo, which I originally wanted to stay there, but couldn't find a right accommodation to suit our preferences. 

There were 2 checks for the parking reservation, we just had to show the pass which I received by email and we were let through. We arrived at the parking lot at 9am, 1.5 hours later than the start of my reservation at 7.30am But it was OK, as I was still feeling tired, and we know we would surely be returning back to the parking lot before 7.30 pm (the parking is valid for 12 hours from the start of our reservation time which I picked at 7.30 am)

We first made our way to Cadini di Misurina, walking about 40 minutes instead (I was really slow today), then spent about 30 mins taking pictures. It was already scorching hot by that time, so we then proceeded to the main attraction - Tre Cime, which we already climbed yesterday.

Cadini di Misurina

Cadini di Misurina

another peak opposite Cadini di Misurina

I walked slowly today, with a lot of stops for pictures, also stopping a while at Rifugio Lavaredo to take a breather before starting the climb to Tre Cime. For today's hike, from the parking lot Rifugio Auronzo to Rifugio Lavaredo is a flat path. The climb starts from Rifugio Lavaredo to the first view point of Tre Cime.

otw to Tre Cime

There were so many people on today's route from Rifugio Auronzo, compared to yesterday's route from Val Fiscalina. We stopped here at the Tre Cime view point to take pictures, have our sandwiches, hot tea and enjoying the views before returning back to the car park.

Tre Cime in the background, from a different angle

hello again Tre Cime

zoom in Tre Cime

unique shape of the rocks

Rifugio Lavaredo in the background

unique shape of the rocks

Drones are not allowed here, but we saw someone flying the drone at Cadini di Misurina.

On the way back, we wanted to stop by Lake Misurina at the bottom, but unfortunately there was no parking spot. So we drove onwards and stopped at the lake in Auronzo town instead. The parking here is free of charge. We only stopped by for a short while to take pictures, then drove back to our apartment.

Lake Auronzo

Lake Auronzo 

We arrived back at our apartment at 4pm and rested before preparing our last dinner of cod fish. Tomorrow we would be checking out of our apartment and staying at a hotel in Malcesine, so no more cooking.