Need advice- itinerary in the Veneto (Verona, Vicenza, Padua, maybe Garda?)

hey hey Brenda
i think you are over planning too much to see all you want, i count 5 days total. you'll be spending your time on trains,
fly into venice and out of milan, no back tracking plus many departures out of venice is early early morning 6am. what is your transportation to airport at that hour? what time is arrival into venice, time of train to verona with jetlag
the places you hope to see is so so popular with thousands of travelers asking same thing that you will see crowds. one of the places is sirmione, so many private tours from the area, buses, taxis, cars, ferries will pack the area during day time. there really is not an off season anymore with travels all year long and italy being a top spot to go, fairs/festivals, harvest season wine/olive oil
why 2 day trips to lake garda, see sirmione then ferry to bardolino then back to verona same day.
your cities are close together by train without changing hotels with issues (check-in 3-4pm and check-out 10-11am) can be a hassle
hoping all works out and enjoy your short vacation
aloha

Verona is a great walking town - the center is nearly traffic free and buildings with faded murals and painted details lurk in unlikely corners. There are cafes with outdoor seating everywhere in Verona whenever you decide to want to sit and/or spritz. I have a very low interest in opera but I would look into seeing an opera in an actual Roman arena just for the experience.

The an intact Roman Arena and Theater which are still used for events with music and opera being a big part of the city's summer schedule including concerts and opera. The Theater includes the Archeological Museum which is small but also gives you access to the rambling remains of old religious sites there. If you like modern art check out the small Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo which mixes ancient and modern art, a palazzo and rooftop tour all into one place overlooking piazza Erbe and is underadvertised. I think Piazza Erbe (looking past the market stands) is one of the prettiest piazzas in Italy. Verona has the 'elegant decay' feeling with faded murals on medieval buildings that the Veneto does so well.

Al Grottino - Osteria e Sbecoleria is a great hole in the wall place off Piazza Erbe for a drink and cicchetti. Cafe Monte Baldo nearby also has great cicchetti and more serious food if you want that. Right near the cafe there is Arcivio a super small, super hip cocktail bar. There is no lack of good restaurants in Verona but read the menu carefully at the older places because the cuisine can be very "traditional". A lot of tourism in Verona is German so even when busy feels more "european" than places with a ton of American tourists.

If you're looking for another day trip besides a second day at Lake Garda I'd recommend either Brescia or Mantua/Mantova - both easily reachable from Verona by train. Brescia is a larger city with great Roman ruins, a series of great piazzas strung together by interesting neighborhoods and castle on top of the hill. Mantova is a much smaller renaissance city UNESCO site surrounded by water. Neither of these places are big tourist destinations.

Stay in the old city center of Verona or in the Veronetta neighborhood just over the river which is more neighborhood and less touristy but has great little restaurants and galleries and is any easy walk to city center. Grab a cab from the train station and anywhere in downtown is about 10e. The buses in Verona have tap in credit card readers and all converge on the station so take the bus to and from the station without luggage. There is a stealth taxi stand in Piazza Erbe. If you want to visit anything other than the very bottom if the lake take a bus from the train station up the eastern side of the lake.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

@pupuleprincess, thank you. I am worried about all the time on trains, too. Re: two day trips to Lake Garda, it's because the ferries will be on reduced schedule and we wanted to see more than one town. I didn't think Sirmione would be packed in October, thank you for correcting my misapprehension. The challenge we have with flying through Milan is that (from what I can see), we have to go through Milan Centrale to get to/from the airport which adds extra time since it's almost an hour between Milano Centrale and Milan Malpensa. (We won't have a car and will be using trains.)

It's a short trip because I have to be elsewhere for work, so we are caught between airline mileage award restrictions and my work schedule.

@hiredman - thank you so very much for all of your suggestions! We are super excited to see Verona and based off of your comments are comfortable that it's worth two days. Like you, I am not an opera buff but had hoped to see an event in the Roman arena - unfortunately we checked the schedule and do not see anything listed for the time we are there.