Bassano del Grappa

One of the most famous Italian songs

It's an excellent place for a day visit or as a base to stay. The town is lively with several small museums, an interesting Duomo, a scenic bridge, a pretty central piazza, and walkable old streets with numerous restaurant choices. We used it as a base to see the the city and the area with day excursions by car into the Prosecco hills, the nearby Villa Barbaro by Palladio, and Asolo village and surroundings.

There are lots of lovely places that Rick doesn’t mention; his books are not comprehensive guides but tend to cover the “main” sites and a few places he considers “back doors” (but they are no longer back doors once they appear in his books.).

We discovered Bassano del Grappa by accident, not because it was recommended by anyone or any guidebook. We were simply looking for a likely spot to spend a night on our way from Malcescine on Lago di Garda (which RS doesn’t cover either) and Venice airport where we were to return our car. We picked Bassano del Grappa as it was within an hour of the airport by car, and offered the famous Palladio bridge.

We were thoroughly charmed by the town. I had mistakenly booked our hotel for the wrong date, but fortunately they were not full and were able to offer us a nice room. And then they booked us a table at the sweetest little restaurant, where we were warmly welcomed and served a lovely 4-course dinner that cost us a whopping 39 euros, including the wine. We had not seen a menu (they didn’t have a written one) and did not ask the price ahead of time, figuring it couldn’t be too bad. That was 20 years ago, but that was an amazing price even then.

I have only been there the once, during an extended stay in the Veneto - Vicenza and Venice (for the howmanyeth time) - and really loved it there. The town is laid out differently to most and lots of fun.

Yes, I visited in 2019 as part of a day trip from Padova. We paired it with a stop in Cittadella. It was very easy to reach both by train. The two towns are very different from one another, so it made for an interesting and enjoyable day.