Itinerary for 9 days in Northern Italy

Nancy, if you're willing to drive from Mantova to Milan then I'd suggest Florence instead. It's almost the same distance and a lot more tourist-worthy things to do there. Look into the Dolomites too.

Check out this article from Rick Steves.

Thanks! I will run Florence by my friends. We are also considering Brescia for the cave paintings.

You are nicely centered in Verona for what you want to do. Train travel to Milan, Padua and Venice is not bad. We too had to ride the gondola. Note that it's now about 100€ for up to six people. You can most often team up with others to share the cost. Note also that it may rain. We had a strong rain, albeit just a few hours, when we were in Venice last year. We have pictures of people in the gondolas with umbrellas. Oh well. You really have to get a ride in the gondolas. Also, while in Italy, you MUST have gelato every day.

We will have a car, so that makes us a little more flexible. No dependency on train schedules and 4 capable drivers. The only crazy part of our planning is that we are flying in and out of Frankfurt. I was originally going to have us fly from Frankfurt to Milan and rent the car there, but it will actually save us money to do it this way and my friends, who have never been to any of these places, will get to see a little of Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the drives to and from Italy. Going down we will go through Garmisch and Innsbruck and on the return, through Luzerne and along the Rhine back to Frankfurt. Luckily for me, everytime I fly to Europe I am very jazzed and wide awake the first day. Having extra drivers will also help.

Just remember that Switzerland isn't part of the EU. So if you're wanting the most smooth border crossings, try to go through Austria rather than Switzerland. That being said, Switzerland is beautiful.

Jarrod,

We will be doing Switzerland on the return and we don't fly out until the next day, so long border crossings won't be an issue then. It is also the most direct route for where we are coming from. Thanks for information, though! That will help us in planning since we want to hit Luzerne at lunchtime.

In Padova there is 1 must-see and another I recommend. The biggie is the Scrovegni chapel which has the frescoes by Giotto, a turning point in Western Art. The chapel only admits 20 at a time for timed visits; you can look up how to get tix. Leaf thru a book on art-history or watch some tapes in advance so you can best appreciate what you're seeing. The second is the Basilica of St. Anthony, a very impressive church.

As for getting to Venice, IMHO you're making a mistake relying on your car instead of a train. For one thing, your car won't go into Venice proper unless it floats. Venice is an island without roads. From Padova the train most trains only take about 30 minutes to the station right on the canal.

Mike,

We are not driving to Venice from Padova. Rather we are staying in a hotel in easy walking distance to the train. Sorry for the confusion. :-) The hotel also has protected off-street parking, another thing to always keep in mind in Italy.