Like another poster, looking for a great smaller town to base for a month

Hi Ellen,
Look at beautiful Merano, a smaller town, not too far from either Bolzano or Vipiteno, previously suggested. My son has visited Vipiteno a few times and really likes it. Merano has a train station, right near the center of town so it is very convenient. That would be my first choice for a quiet week's stay. If you do decide to stay in Bolzano do go over for a daytrip to Merano. Here are a few other suggestions to research and see if any appeal to you: I liked Trento very much. Even though it is a city, to me, the historical center had very much of a smaller town feel. Trento was very pretty and not so filled with tourists as other places. I generally like lesser touristed smaller towns. I thought Vittorio Veneto was pretty and interesting, particularly the old piazza in center of historical part of the town. I have not been to Bassano del Grappa but many here on the forum recommend it and pictures of it are beautiful. Nearby is the small walled town of Cittadella. Take a look at Riva del Garda at the very northern tip of Lake Garda. Although not in Veneto, nearby your target area is Mantova. I have not gotten there yet but it very much appeals to me and I hope to someday go there.

The usual suspects are Padova, Verona, Vicenza and Treviso. All great choices, Treviso would be my top choice but you can’t go wrong with any of them. For a curveball, though, have a look at Portogruaro. It’s on the main train line between Venice and Trieste, so you can get all over the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia easily. It has a beautiful old town with lots of canals (yes, yet another town referred to as Little Venice.) Good restaurants, few tourists, no cruise ship visitors. We spent ten days there a while back and had a great time hanging out some days and day tripping others.

We love Bassano del Grappa with it’s Alpine feel. It has a Palladian bridge across the Brenta River. We took trains there from Venice.
We also loved being in Ortisei in the Dolomites.
We spent one trip in the Veneto focusing on Palladian architecture.

Another possibility would be Ferrara. It's in Emilia-Romagna of course, but just across the Po river from the Veneto, and on the train line Bologna-Venezia. It also has easy access to Ravenna, and for nature lovers, there is the Parco del Delta del Po.
Ferrara itself has many interesting attractions, with the medieval Castello Estense right in the center of town.
You could end your stay there, since you are leaving from Bologna airport.
Bologna itself is also interesting, but cannot be called a "smaller town", although the historical center is rather compact.

I think the other suggestions are better, but I'll mention Reggio nell Emilia. (small city) I'd like to stay in a place with "more to do", but you won't hear any English spoken in Reggio. The weekly market (last time I was there, years ago) was superb, and there are good train connections to places like Bologna. We even went back to Florence for a special tour that was after our planned stay was over.

I personally avoid AirBnB because it is so harmful to local housing markets.