From Venice….Northern Italy or Switzerland? 5 day itinerary advice?

The Swiss franc has, in the last couple of weeks, become even stronger against foreign currency making this expensive destination even pricier! The euro is a different story however, trading at about 1:04 to 1 against the dollar...a bargain for those of us stateside who want to visit Europe this summer!
For that reason I would encourage you to visit northern Italy. Not only will it be a great value for you, it's also far easier to get to from Venice.
If you are looking for mountains so that you can get out of the city then you should head up into the Dolomites - they are just as spectacular as the Swiss Alps but without the price tag. From Venice you can drive west to Verona (or take a train) and then head north up into the mountains. The area is stunning with extensive vistas and mountain peaks. Hiking is easy since you take gondolas and chairlifts up into the mountains, hike around, and then ride them back down at the end of the day. Our favorites are the Val Gardena, the Seiser Alm, the Langkoffel Gruppe, the Marmolata, and the Drei Zinnen areas. If you just google these and click on "images" you'll see why. I recommend having a car in the area. Public transport is OK but not terribly efficient.
One of the great things about this region is that it's on the border between Italy and Austria so the food is fantastic! You have the wonderful dishes of Italy mixed with the hearty food of the Germanic cultures to the north. If you get really high up into the Dolomites you will still see farmers leading a very traditional lifestyle. It's a lovely place!

Hi cjm,

I agree, head to the Italian Dolomites. You will not be disappointed. They are spectacular. You could then fly out of Milan. You could rent a car (Venice) and drive north to Cortina d'Ampezzo and then west into the Alta Badia or a bit further into the Val Gardena. To drive should be about 4 hours. For a small town (with a small pedestrian zone) "in" the Dolomites, you may like Ortisei. in the Val Gardena. The Dolomite region was part of Austria until the aftermath of WWl and still retains it's Austrian "atmosphere". German is spoken as much or more than Italian here. Hence the best of food from Austria and Italy. What a wonderful thing :)

The Val Gardena is a valley that takes less than 30 min. to drive from one end to the other. The 3 towns/villages are Ortisei (largest of the 3), St. Christina and Selva, with St. Christina being in the middle. Each is just about a 5 minute drive (or bus trip) from one to the next.

Picture it like this from east to west on a map:

This is where, in my opinion, the best of the Dolomites are (east to west):

From Cortina you'd drive west about 45 minutes and come to the Alta Badia (San Cassiano, La Villa, Coravara and Colfosco). Then starts the amazing and over the top scenic Gardena Pass. After driving this pass (approx 40 min. non stop) you'll enter the Val Gardena and the first village of Selva. A few minutes later comes St. Christina and then Ortisei. After Ortisei, in about 20 minutes or so, you'll come to the A22 highway which you can take to Bolzano and eventually to Milan. You could also drive from venice on highways from Venice... to Verona, Trento, Bolzano to the Val Gardena exit on the A22. To see this route, simply go to www.viamichelin.com.
Click on Driving directions.
FROM - Venice (Venezia, Italy)

TO - 39046 Sankt Ulrich
Click "Favor highways" and then click "Get directions".

www.val-gardena.com

www.valgardena.it

If the Alta Badia may be of interest, look at:
www.altabadia.it
www.altabadia.org

We stayed once in the Val Gardena (10/03 and twice in the Alta Badia (10/06, 9/09).
Here's where we stayed and can recommend:
www.garniariston.com
www.montanara.it

The place next door to the Montanara is beautiful also and owned by the owner of the Montanara's brother.
www.tamarindo-lavilla.it/start.php?page=home&img=03&lang=EN

In case of "bad" weather, the old towns of Brixen/Bressanone and Bozen/Bolzano are well worth visiting.

www.brixen.org
www.bolzano-bozen.it/en/bolzano.htm

The "Ice Man" exhibit at the Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano is worth going to see.
www.iceman.it

The Diocesan Museum in Brixen is also worth a look:
www.hofburg.it/en/home/

What about Stresa on Lake Maggiore? Several charming towns on the lake hiking, biking
and the ability to hop on the train and head into Switzerland.
http://www.visitstresa.com/Lake_Maggiore_Express.htm
You would be only an hour from Milan.

There is so much to enjoy in Northern Italy. Go north from Venice, then West to Asolo. It is a fabulous walled city with a one-way drive up, regulated by lights at the top and bottom. Even if you only stay an hour or so, walk around, get some gelato, and appreciate the history and beauty of this town. Continuing East, to Marostica where they periodically have the life size chess game in their walled city square. Continuing East, before you get to Thiene, there is Nove, a town FULL of ceramics.(Nove isn't on some maps for some reason.) There is a factory there where you can get more ceramics than you can take home for 1/2 price of less -- Vietri, some Lenox, etc. (The kids won't care for this, but the ladies will LOVE it!) .Then drop down to VIcenza-- a beautiful town that doesn't have hords of tourists. Then on to Verona -- another fabulous place--one of our favorite. Then you're almost to Milano and you can fly home from there This, to me, is the Italy that the tour buses miss - and it is fabulous.

Wow!! This is so helpful, thank you. We're convinced that the Dolomites are the way to go. Thanks for all this info. Another few questions, if I may: do you think there is time to do both the dolomite region and lake como and/or Lake Orta? And if so, would you recommend it? A possible itinerary could be this:

Monday: Leave Venice around 1pm (we can't leave any earlier) and drive north to Ortisei (3 hours). Stay in Ortisei for a few days
Tuesday: Ortisei and surrounding areas
Wednesday: Ortisei and surrounding areas. Leave the region in the evening, drive to Lake Como (4.5 hours)
Thursday: Lake Como and surrounding areas
Friday: Lake Como and surrounding areas
Saturday: drive from Lake Como area to Milan airport (1.5 hours) and depart on an 11am flight

My thoughts are that the kids can run around in the Dolomite region and do lots of hiking and hanging out outside and then at the Lake region, we can do the same, but also spend some time in and on the lake. The adults will be entertained by the beautiful scenery and food. Any advice on the wisdom of this itinerary? Thanks! C.J.

Hi again,

My only observation/criticism is that you'd spend only 1 full day based in the Dolomites. If you arrive by say 5 pm, then find and check into your hotel, a little down time and then go have dinner, and that's about it. Next day in the Dolomites. The next day, do you really want to start a 4 to 5 hour drive in the evening or even in the late afternoon? What if your 1 full day in the Dolomites doesn't cooperate weather wise? There are many cable car trips into the Dolomites. My thinking is it would be easier to settle in for a few days/nights and enjoy the outstanding scenery. Just walking through the beautiful Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi could use up the better part of a day. Just some thoughts, given from a couple that prefers to relax a bit instead of being on the move too much.

Paul

We spent 3 nights in La Villa in the Dolomites and could have stayed longer (out of a one month Italy/Sicily trip). It was spectacular and relaxing at the same time. Lots of exploring to be done. Hiking was everywhere. And very reasonable.

We also stayed in La Villa in the Alta Badia! Twice :)

Paul