Hello All. (First time on a travel forum! )
We need some advise on itinerary. My husband and I are flying to Milan, and immediately driving east with a rental car. The thought is to tour the Emilia-Romagna area, maybe including Lake Garda to start, and then the Dolomites (east of Meran area, to stay.) We have 8 days, 9 nights to arrange an itinerary.
We tend toward the small villages (not so much the big city) authentic countryside lodging, we love food and wine, hiking, and in general, seeing the landscapes. Would love to experience the people, cheese, vinegar, and wine of the region. We are not afraid to drive around the region, so public transport is not an issue.
My quandary is how to break up the sections of the trip. Knowing we will have a bit of a drive after we land in Milan, I thought to head to Lake Garda area first (maybe closer to Verona), but should we go deeper into Emilia-Romagna, as a base, to begin the trip, then north to the Dolomites? We tend to stay in about three different places (a fourth for the last night, within an hour of the Linate airport) when we have this many nights, but as we are unfamiliar with the northern parts of Italy, should we try to limit to 2 places for our base and go out from there?
I know we will want at least three nights in the Dolomites, but I am just not sure about the Lake Garda/Emilia-Romagna areas, with the time we have. Should we forget the Lake Garda area for the beginning and drive a little farther to focus on Emilia-Romagna? The only reason we thought to stay on, or shall I say above, Lake Garda, for the first couple of nights, was for the scenery and because it's not such a far drive once we land in Milan.
Any recommendations would be helpful, and many thanks!
Brooke