Itinerary Suggestion Needed One Night Stay b/w CT and Venice (not Florence)

Verona is a great size for a one night stay, and will be efficient to travel to from CT on your way to Venice. The sights are pretty low-key, the crowds are not large, it feels more authentic than some other cities that are crowded with tourists; it would be a relaxing visit between the two busy tourist cities of Florence and Venice. There is a great (clothes) shopping area in the city center if you're into that. They have an ancient fortress/castle to explore, and a very pleasant formal garden near the city center. Also there is an aging-well Roman arena where opera is performed yearly as part of a festival. I'm not sure if the opera festival is still in progress that late in the summer but it would be worth checking to see if there are any events in the arena at that time because it would provide a nice focus to your evening there.

From CT to Venice you can either use the train line thru Pisa then Florence onto Venice, or you can go thru Genoa onto Milan onto Venice. If you opt for the route thru Milan you can stop for a nice in either Padua or Verona. Both are close to Venice and on the Milan-Venice train line.

I think I would opt for Verona but you could look at Pisa, Lucca, Verona and Padua (listed in order from furthest to closest to Venice)
All 4 should be fairly easy to train to and from.

We just spent 4 nights in CT and it was wonderful. However, our favourite day of all was spent in Portovenere, just outside the official five towns. We all agreed that's where we would stay if we return. So, if you think you might not be quite done with sun and sea, you could probably get a room there for one night, or maybe for all three if you want to change your existing reservation to avoid a one night stand. It's an easy 1/2 hour ferry ride to the CT and a bit closer to the main rail line to get on to Venice.

Portovenere is not served by rail, so if you're connecting from there to the La Spezia train station, it will be by bus.

I second Verona. Lovely place, and the old city is quite compact being surrounded on 3 sides by a bend in the river.

Other ideas include Bologna or Siena.

On our last trip to Italy, we connected from CT to Venice by train to board a cruise. We made a one night stop in Parma, half way between CT and Venice. Nice way to break up a long train ride. We stayed at this very nice hotel.
http://www.palazzodallarosaprati.it/

Thanks All!
I think we may do Bologna, Parma or Verona.

Cruise idea sounds interesting and different. I will look into that too.

We did a Greek Isle cruise out of Venice. Nice way to end a great trip.

Other nice cities between Bologna and Parma are Reggio Emilia and Modena. They have wonderful historic centers and great food. Reggio Emilia is smaller and less touristed.