Help w/ choosing next Italian town to visit

We are going to Venice and Lake Como May, 2025. Note that Easter is late next year, April 20, so we wanted to stay away from the holiday travelers.
We stay in the Cannaregio area of Venice, on the quiet back canals, where there are no crowds. The crowds are in the Rialto and St Marks Square areas. We have wandered for hours without being in crowds, and also gone out to Murano. And-Cannaregio is just a ten minute walk to a vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal.

Lake Como weather has always been comfortable to us in April and May, altho you can get some rain. Book hotels as soon as you can. We like Hotel du Lac, ask for a balcony lake view room, in Varenna.

Have a great trip!

Kimbersmom2,
We were there last April 19th to 22nd, last year. Also stayed in Canareggio. It's true that the Rialto and St. Mark's were very crowded, but just walk outside those areas and it's not overly busy at all. I'd say go for it. Day trips to Verona and Vicenza are possible day trips.
Haven't been to Lake Como yet, but did stay in Dezensano on Lake Garda one year, which was lovely and closer to Venice.

It’s Venice. It’s popular. It’s Venice, one of the most unique cities on the planet. As noted once you get away from St Mark’s Square the hordes disappear. If you enjoyed wandering in Florence you’ll love wandering in Venice.

Spent Christmas there in 2008. Blissfully quiet.

Hello kimbersmom2, and welcome to the forum!

Have you considered Verona? Verona is a very pretty, arty town with a cafe culture and that sense of 'elegant decay' that they do in the Veneto. It has a nearly traffic free old town core based on the original Roman town encircled by the river. It has an intact Roman arena and theater - still used for music and opera performances - several interesting churches and two great piazzas.

There are easy day trips to Brescia (amazing Roman ruins), Vicenza and Padua and even Venice. Lake Garda is within easy reach although I would look at going through the effort to take a bus to the upper lake like Malcesine since the parts of the lake that are an easy 15 minute train ride from Verona like Sirmione are as touristy as you think.

If you want something smaller Lucca offers great small town walking, churches but no real blockbuster sights but great walls and easy day trips to Florence, Pisa, and a bunch of smaller towns as well as the beach.

I say if you want to got to Venice then go there. I love Venice and I will always go there.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

Tod, I think you may have suggested exactly what I was looking for in Verona! Thanks so much.

Venice is crowded only in some areas, basically the main walk-in corridor from San Marco to the station, as you move away from that, it’s less crowded than Florence,

Venice has my vote. I’m headed back for my third visit in late August . Previous trips were in mid-May and late September. Just walking through the neighborhoods gets you away from the crowds since tourists flock to San Marco. You can take day trips to Padua and Verona. Or a vaporetto ride out to Burano and Murano.

Vaporetto ride also to the small island of Torcello, Venice’s birthplace, very near Burano.