San Donato sits at the edge of the Milan metropolitan area, which means the whole of Lombardy is within easy reach. Milan itself — with its museums, galleries, restaurants, and monuments — is fifteen minutes by metro and the obvious first destination. Beyond that, Pavia to the south offers a very different pace, with the Certosa di Pavia (one of Italy's greatest monastery complexes), a historic university, and well-preserved medieval towers. The abbey of Chiaravalle, a fine twelfth-century Cistercian complex, is only a few kilometres northwest and can be reached on foot or by bike along the southern Milan cycling paths.
