Adding on to Venice

I think Verona is pretty neat, but my last trip, we took a freccia from Salerno to Verona and spent the afternoon there before proceeding to Lake Garda. Verona was "big" but didn't feel overwhelming.

I became OBSESSED with Lake Garda. We stayed in the tiny town of Peschiera del Garda (in the old town "inside" the fort walls) because it was on the train line and took ferries. I think the exploring at night might be limited as it takes about 8-10 min to walk across town if you're SLOW, but the exploring during the day via ferry might be amazing for y'all! I loved everything about the lake :)

Bologna might fit your bill as well, especially for the food! And it's large enough to not run out of wandering!

Padova
Vicenza
Verona
Bologna
Treviso
Bassano del Grappa
Ferrara
Ravenna

Hi Allison, yes, definitely keep the three days for Venice! One or two days is just sad for returning to this amazing city!

Are you asking for a location for seven nights for the second place, or you have something else for part of your 10 days? The reason I’m asking is because I jumped onto Ferrara from your description- amazing food - oh yes! And it checks off your requests, plus has a castle in the center of the city & an amazing museum of artifacts when Spins was uncovered. It’s also a direct train over to Ravenna for the amazing mosaics as a nice day trip. But a week in Ferrara would be too much for me.

If you’re saying this city needs to be 7 days, then I would point you to Verona. The food isn’t at Ferrara level, but you have many day trip possibilities- Mantova, Padova, Vicenza.

No, it doesn’t have to be one city for 7 days. Happy to move around a little as long as it’s do’able by train. Would love suggestions for any cities you think worthy. Thanks!

LOL! I guess I read your post too quickly! I see now you said 1-2 cities.

Ferrara for sure!

Then Verona is easy to get there. But it is more touristy. Still very nice. I will be there in a few months for the 4th time.

Or, Mantova will give you a less busy, more authentic feeling city. You will appreciate the cobblestones! And yes the food is fantastic in Mantova. They have three consecutive piazzas, and if you like to ride bikes, it’s very popular there. They have the Gonzaga family huge palace/museum, etc. I stayed in a B&B there.

Also check out the cities along the train line from Bologna to Parma. That’s an excellent region for the Emilia-Romagna cuisine.

If you like to read about these evocative places, I loved The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell--and it put Ferrara on my "one-day" list!
And because I am that girl, an episode of House Hunters Int'l put Vicenza on my list!

What about going in the other direction up to Udine?

Padova is awesome. Brescia has a lot of interest as well.

If food is one of your goals, you can't go wrong with Emilia Romagna. Bologna is a direct train from Venice and it's a rail hub for the region so you can go on day trips to Parma, Modena, and/or Ravenna.

We've been to Bologna, Parma and Modena and aside from a revisit to Venice, we thought we'd try places we haven't yet visited.
All of these suggestions are wonderful and I'm researching them as we speak!

Verona fits all those things except maybe the touristy part but many of the tourists in Verona are German so it still feels very European. The an intact Roman Arena and Theater which are still used for music with music and opera being a big part of the city's summer schedule including concerts and opera. If you like modern art check out the small Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo which mixes ancient and modern art, a palazzo and rooftop tour all into one place overlooking piazza Erbe and is underadvertised. I think Piazza Erbe (looking past the market stands) is one of the prettiest piazzas in Italy. Verona has the 'elegant decay' feeling with faded murals on medieval buildings that the Veneto does so well.

And second vote for checking out Brescia which I liked much more than Padova. Brescia has some amazing Roman ruins continued into a really interesting, sprawling museum Santa Giulia, great piazza attached to great piazza attached to great piazza for walking and castle on top of the hill to top everything else off.

Both are on the fast train line from Venice and the train stations are reasonably close to the interesting parts of town.

Enjoy,
=Tod

I recently stopped over at Verona and found it pretty touristy/cheesy, but I was on my way to Bolzano which I really loved. Here is my trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/spriiiing-breeaaak-bolzano-dolomites-and-vienna

I also just posted about places near Venice to visit and have decided on Ravenna over Padua.

Many thanks! Are there any recommendations for a lovely hotel or B&B in Verona and Brescia? Or should I start another topic for this question?

If you've decided on certain towns you could start another thread asking for recommendations for those places specifically to get more specific responses on accommodations, sights and restaurants.

We had a brief stay at B&B Agli Scaligeri that was nice and the owner is very art oriented but speaks mostly Italian. It is in a great location deep in the old town so a taxi from the train station would be best.
But there are many options and I would recommend staying in the old town or in Veronetta just across the river from upper old town.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

And thank you, bradamant..I'm adding Bolzano to the search

Allison, if you’re open to the Dolomites, Ortesei is lovely. And we’ve also stayed at Moena (train to Trento & bus to Moena). But these are longer distances & less interesting food (in my opinion) than the previous responses.

In Verona, I like Hotel Bologna the best. It’s very nice, great breakfast & the location is just off of Piazza Bra where the Roman Arena is located.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but in my view, nothing suggested here truly compares to Venice. The city possesses such incredible depth that I'm confident you won't get bored, even if you've already seen its iconic sights.

It always puzzles me when some travelers say 1 day/night in Venice is enough. Perhaps it is if you're wearing those black eye patches for horses (blinders?) that make you unable to see the vast richness waiting to be experienced.

Venice's unique urban variety alone can keep you endlessly entertained just by walking. But when you start peeking inside its countless churches and palazzi, you'll discover an entirely different world.

I'm not suggesting you spend all ten days here, but maybe you give it some thought and consider staying for more than just three nights.

I like this 4-layer approach to discovering Venice, from things to do on your first visit all the way to ideas for returning visitors: Venice Unveiled.

I guess you're now at layer 2/4, so plenty more to experience.

For instance, random picks:
- teleport into 18th century Venice with a visit to Ca' Rezzonico or Palazzo Mocenigo (both civic museums).
- see St. Mark's like never before, with an exclusive evening tour - it begins with a breathtaking "let there be light" moment, as the entire basilica gradually emerges from pitch-black darkness, its golden mosaics beginning to shimmer and revealing the vast interior in a deliberate crescendo - I’m not religious in the slightest, but the experience gave me goosebumps!
- venture into the northern part of the historic Arsenale shipyard to discover a giant six-pair hand sculpture atop a dock.
- see Venice from above from the truly panoramic rooftop terrace at Palazzo Pisani, famously featured in the latest Poirot film.
- attend a magical candlelight concert at Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista.
- craft your own glass creation at a local glassblowing class in Murano.

Yes, I love Venice, guilty as charged.
But it's for very good reasons :)

You will not be bored re-visiting Venice, and honestly, I would spend 4 nights there. I can't imagine visiting for a day or one night only. People will see the worse of Venice if they go as a daytrip. So I recommend spending 4 nights in Venice.

And i do agree with posters who recommend Verona. We were there in May, and it is lovely. It is very pretty, elegant and easily walkable. One of our favorite sites is the wonderful Castelvecchio Museum. This is a very interesting art museum located in the castle/fortress. The curator did an excellent job choosing interesting pieces for each gallery; the galleries are not overloaded with art and are not overwhelming. Better yet, the route you follow through the museum takes you on the ramparts of the castle where you can view an archaeological dig currently going on.

We didn't have time to visit the Roman Arena but it looks amazing. There is a Duomo, a Roman theater, lovely piazzas, and more. And you don't have to visit Juliette's house (yes that is cheesy).

We also took a wine tour with Pagus Tours to the Valpolicella wine region. It was wonderful!

If you want to see the Alps, we really enjoyed staying in the town of Merano, a beautiful spa town with a river running through it. If you have rainy weather in October and can't hike, you can visit a spa, visit Trautsmandorff Castle, and there are nice stores if you like to shop. There are lots of German restaurants, too, if you are looking for something other than Italian food. And you can easily drive to Bolzano and Ortisei if you wish. We spent a day in Bolzano but I personally wouldn't want to stay there. It is a large city with lots of traffic. I much prefer Merano or Ortisei but everyone is different.

My head is spinning, LOL. These all sound like fantastic places! It's really true, we have to go again and again. What does everyone think about this: Venice for 4 or 5 days and then for something completely different, heading North to Bulla (Val Gardena?) to the Urerhof Charme Hotel for 4 days which seems like a beautiful place to relax and unwind and be a nature. Is this too far outside Venice to travel? As i mentioned in my previous post, we're willing to have a driver take us from Venice to the next spot. We could then either get back to Venice or even to Rome to fly home. If Rome, we could take a day off Venice and a day off Urerhof to have a day or two in Rome. We've been to Rome twice but would happily go again and again. Thoughts?

…forgot to mention that this location came up because of its nearness to Ortisei, which many on this thread have recommended so I thought it would be easy for day visits.

Allison, So many wonderful choices. If you do go to Bulla and the Dolomites you may consider two nights in Trento. I have been there twice and really enjoyed it. The historical center is pretty, compact, and relatively flat. In that same general area you have many options for daytrips: Bolzano, Merano, Vipiteno, etc. and the scenery is gorgeous.

If you do choose Brescia, which I also enjoyed, we stayed at Albergo Orologio right off the main Piazza Paolo VI. The castle, the historic center, the Roman ruins, the museum, the cathedrals were all within very easy walking distance. I was pleasantly surprised with Brescia and how much I enjoyed it as it is a lesser touristed destination. From Brescia you could visit Lake Iseo.

I also wanted to suggest Trieste. It seems to fit your description. It is a very walkable city and an easy train ride from Venice. Udine was mentioned above and you could couple the two. If you wanted a neat daytrip from Trieste, here are two great options. You can take a shared or private ride to the very pretty little seaside town of Piran, Slovenia. It is not far. We did that last fall. We used the Go Opti shuttle vans three times and service was good. If you want to stay in Italy, consider a daytrip to see Palmanova ( a star shaped fortress city) Aquileia with its Roman ruins and mosaics and seaside Grado. All three are right in a row and again, not far from Trieste.

Good luck making a choice

Padua. 2-3 nights
Vicenza. Day trip from either Padua or Verona whichever one you choose to stay three nights.
Verona. 2-3 nights

Many thanks, everyone. I really appreciate all your help. I’ll report back with my plan!

Folks who report back need more praise.