Advice for pre-Village Italy Tour Stay

I did Village Italy in 2014. I had us organized to go in to Venice 3 nights ahead and to Padova on the tour start day as you initially thought. When we got to Padova we found there was so much to do that we really wished we'd gone the day before. There is a little bit of free time on the tour but not enough to enjoy all the sights there.

I'd recommend going out to Padova on Sunday AM whether or not you can add a night to Venice. IF you can add a night there then that is to the good!

We also stayed an extra night in Orta San Giulio at the end and that was not a good use of time. I'd say stay the morning so you can walk the Sacra Monte, eat lunch perhaps on the piazza and then head in to Milan in the afternoon. The guide will organize onward transport for everyone that wants it and I recommend just biting the bullet and taking a taxi transfer into Milan instead of trying to mess with the train (no station in Orta and you have to buy tickets before you leave the Cinque Terre area as there is no way to purchase tickets there either). There may be others who are interested in traveling in the afternoon so you may be able to split the shuttle cost.

Have a wonderful time. This is a really fun tour!

Thanks so much Pam, very helpful! Your comments about not staying longer in Orta San Giulio fit with our plan to instead spend 2 days in Milan before flying home.

I agree with Pam about the end of the tour - head straight for Milan.
However, Padua (Padova) has much to see that is not covered on the tour. We came in on the Friday before the tour started (from Naples just off the Southern Italy tour). Spent all day Sat touring around Padova including a long evening in and around the market square. Rick's guidebook lists a lot of things to see and do as you have probably already noted. Padua is a pleasant, friendly town that is easy to get around in. Sunday we took the train to Verona. Fairly short and inexpensive trip and lots to see there, too. Monday morning we caught up on laundry and sleep before the tour started.

Robbie

Do you have time to visit Lake Como at the end of your tour? There area is so close and is so beautiful- a great area to just slow down and relax after the RS tour.
Have a great trip!

Here is a link to my report on the Village Italy tour:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/village-italy-tour-review-april-22-may-5

Thanks all for the great input and really making the case for an extra day in Padova.

Pat, yes we have thought about Lake Como at the end but hadn’t really looked into it yet, wasn’t sure if we’d have enough gas left in the tank to add more. Does seem a shame to not do it when we’d be so close. Of course it also gives more incentive for that second trip…

Bob, thanks for the link to your trip report, your experience is exactly what we’re hoping for on this trip.

Hi, dougandjulie:

We did this tour in 2017, and absolutely loved it. We flew into Venice on Friday, and headed immediately to Padova. We spent all the time until the Monday afternoon start of the tour in Padova itself, and never ran out of things to do. We had bought the Padova Passes, which include entrance to almost every museum in town, as well as free rides on public transportation. And it includes a reservation to see the Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto's amazing frescoes. Yes, the tour goes there, but I can't imagine one visit being enough.

Padova is a great walking town, with wonderful sights. We do not regret at all having spent 3 days there. In fact, we'd love to go back.

I do agree with Pam about not spending any extra time in Orto San Giulio; we went straight to Milan after the tour (your guide will help arrange transportation,) and stayed in Milan for another four full days. And again, we loved it and never ran out of things to do.

Here's a link to my Village Italy report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/tour-report-village-italy

I envy you preparing for this tour; it's definitely one of our favorites (of 14 RS tours.)

dougandjulie, I just reread my VI trip report, and down toward the end of the comments I listed, in response to a question, what we did in Padova for those three days. So soldier on through the thread, if you want more ideas.

I would definitely stay your pre-days in Venice since you hardly had time to enjoy it, plus you will be dealing with jet lag. If you decide to go elsewhere, I prefer Verona over Padova (we stayed four nights in Padova & several trips included Verona). If you’re interested, Verona has a fun city bike tour that combines history with an easy bike ride. I used Veronality.

I like to have variety in an itinerary, so since you will be at both the Italian Riviera and Lake Orta, I would save Lake Como for a different trip. Milan will give you your one big city in this trip. You could always hop a 1-hour train up to Varenna (Lake Como) or Stresa (Lake Maggiore) from Milano Centrale train station if the weather looks good & you want to spend a day there.

You've been to Venice before so I guess you know if you find it enchanting or not. Personally if I want to visit a town with canals and museums and things to do I'd go to Amsterdam, not Venice. To throw out an alternative starting point, why not Bologna? It's in the food capital of Italy, wonderful architecture, easy day trips to places like Parma and Modena, and is on the high-speed rail line to Padova.

Jane, thanks for linking your VIT trip report, great details and I did find your suggestions at the end for things to do in Padov. We didn’t even think about looking for museum/transportation passes for our pre- and post-tour cities but will now, could be more convenient and a cost savings. I'm hoping that we will be able to get a room in the tour hotel and won't have to switch hotels, or even rooms when the tour starts.

Jean, we haven’t spent any time yet planning our post-tour Milan itinerary. However, I like the idea of leaving it more open and then depending on the weather taking a day trip to one of the lakes if we are wanting more of the area.

John, thanks for throwing Bologna into the mix as if we didn’t have enough options to think about! Just kidding but that’s what’s fun about doing this planning, who knows what we will end up with in the end. The reason for Venice, beside proximity, even though we’ve been there before is that we really didn’t see it. Our flight was very late so we didn’t get to our hotel which was in Lido until after midnight. The next day we basically walked across as much of Venice as we could before we had to catch the train to Rome. So we’re actually considering this our first trip to Venice. Hoping that the crowds may be a bit less in early May vs June-August. While we’ve traveled quite a bit, almost all of it has been associated with work. Arrive the day before the meeting to get over jet lag and do some sight seeing, spend 4-5 days in the convention center and then if lucky spend the afternoon of the last day seeing a few more things before getting back to the airport. Now that we’re retired we want to slow down and enjoy where we are when we get there.