Milan Linate. Small, quick, and close to the Duomo.

For a private arrival, Milano Linate Prime sits on the west side of the field with its own road approach, its own security and its own lounges. It handles a very large volume of business aviation traffic and is run accordingly: efficient, quick and well organised. We speak to the handling agent for your movement, agree which entrance and gate the car should use, and where the airport permits it for that flight, the car can be brought to the aircraft. That is the airport's decision each time and we confirm what has been approved rather than promising it.

One local point worth knowing: central Milan is governed by low emission and restricted traffic zones, and the rules differ between the inner Area C and the wider Area B, by day of the week and by vehicle. A compliant vehicle and the right permissions are not optional here, and they are part of what we check when we arrange the car rather than something to discover at a camera.

Milan Fashion Week happens twice a year, and for those days the city runs on a schedule that has nothing to do with the traffic model. Shows sit in palazzi and courtyards across Brera, Tortona and the centre, they run back to back with twenty minutes between them, and the streets outside them close. A car that is three minutes away is not three minutes away when the street is barricaded and the fifteen cars in front of you are doing the same thing.

What works is the car held as directed, an agreed set of pick-up points a street or two off each venue, and a chauffeur who has the day's schedule before the day. We brief it as one job rather than a string of bookings, which also keeps the luggage, the samples and the garment rails in one place. The same discipline applies in the other peak weeks: Salone del Mobile in April and the Italian Grand Prix in September. See hourly and as directed and for fashion.

Como and Cernobbio are about an hour from Linate on a clear run, which makes the lake genuinely doable as an arrival or a departure in the same half day. What surprises people is the mid lake: the roads north of Como and Lecco are narrow, winding and single file in places, and Bellagio, Varenna and Tremezzo take far longer than the distance suggests. Allow an hour and a half to Bellagio and more on a summer weekend.

Odyssey owns its cars and employs its chauffeurs in London and Manchester. In Italy, cars are arranged through operators we know and use regularly, to our brief and under our booking, so you deal with one team and one number in English throughout. Aircraft, helicopters and yachts are arranged: see private jet charter, helicopter charter and yacht charter. For the city itself see Milan, and for the flight from London see London to Milan.