Help me find something "different" to do

It's a shame you've decided against Venice. It's unlike any other city in Italy (but no biking allowed).

It would be relaxing to spend a few days in one of the small towns on Lake Como.
There is not that much walking involved and you can take the ferry by day to get around to the different towns.
Great scenery as you see the alps in the background at the Lake.
Varenna and Bellagio are the 2 towns that come to mind.
I imagine biking there would be quite good if not challenging due to the hills.
There are other lakes too, Lake Garda for example which I believe is larger but I have only been to Lake Como.

After a few days of doing that a night or two in Verona might work out well as by then you might not mind another small city to walk around and I found their center quite enjoyable and scenic. Has a Venetian look since you are not going to Venice it might give you a feel for it and my wife thought it was the best town for shopping.

Lake Como is a good idea but not too much to do that is different except going for boat rides. You could head town to Puglia - I have been there on two different trips and did a lot of bike riding.
There are bike rental shops and also some hotels provide bikes. The area is fairly flat at least compared to some other parts of Italy.

Sounds like you are in the northern part of Italy. Ferrara is very bike-friendly, you can rent them. Great city for relaxing, eating, a piece full atmosphere. Or go to Lago di Garda and do some hiking, parasailing, take the ferry to some charming towns (they are hard to avoid in Italy).

I can relate. We once spent 3+ weeks in northern Italy. After 2 weeks we craved something different so we looked at a train map and schedule and headed to Merano. It is easy to get to from Verona, a spa town, has a wonderful apple/grape industry that probably generates festivals in the fall, has some wonderful biking and hiking along the river and orchard trails, has mountains and wonderful Italian and Austrian cuisine! We loved our getaway within our Italian vacation!

Not sure where you are this moment, but I saw this article a few months ago and wish I had more stamina to do something like this - it'd prob be great on a bike!

http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/bologna-florence-foot-along-degli-dei

Suggest you check-out Viterbo - hot springs! In addition, something completely different if you like colorful modern art/sculpture:

http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/en/visit/interactive-map/

The Dolomite mountains will be different topography as well as more Austrian/Germanic in culture, due to their history. In Bolzano, a gateway to that area, the Iceman/South Tirol Archeology Musuem is quite different from other museums of Italy.

something "different"

Verona, Lake Garda and/or the Dolomites are all easily done in a week.

DJ

I thought the alps or lakes would be great, but now the weather has gotten colder and rainier. In the 40s in the alps, high of 60 in other areas, and rain also. Not sure how the lakes would be in the 50's and raining...

Yes, October is a roll of the dice.