Northern Italy-October 2021

I don't do tour companies, cars or car services - the trains and buses in Northern Italy can work really well for you. Take out a map, would be my first suggestion, and your RS guide. 10 days isn't very much time so I suggest you limit the number of times you have to pack and unpack. You miss about 1/2 a day for every hotel change. That said you have plenty to choose from: Lake Garda, Bolzano, Castelrotto, Verona, Padova and Venice - and that's just a start! Go to trenitalia.it and look at train schedules, which will help you make more detailed travel plans to make best use of your time.

Help us out: when are you traveling? how many? physical restrictions? been to Italy before? I strongly suggest you avoid one-night stays in any location. IMHO, Venice needs/deserves a minimum of 3 nights.

Hotel in Castelrotto: Cavallino d'oro. Hotel in Venice: Hotel Ala.

You can string together a very nice itinerary by using the Italian train system as has been mentioned. No need for a car.
Take advantage of day tours at your respective stops to flesh out your own explorations - will be much cheaper than a full-blown tour.
Many here suggest flying into Venice and out of Milan rather than the other way around - helps with the overall logistics of your proposed trip.
You really only have time for about 3 destinations to avoid spending a lot of your valuable time in transit. Fortunately you have a myriad of choices. The RS guide is a good place to start for getting organized.

I don't think you'll need a car to do that trip. I do use cars when necessary (I've got some ancestral towns that it is just much easier to have a car to see and you see so much more when you have time to visit small towns). You can use the trains quite easily to get around. Venice and Milan are two of my least favorite places but they should be visited at least once. Padua and Vicenza are easy train rides. I really like Vicenza. Everyone will give you their opinion. I spent a month in Verona and used it for day trips to other places. Try and pick a few places to base out of so you aren't constantly packing and dragging suitcases. Have fun!

I didn’t think US citizens were allowed to enter Italy at this time. Do you have information on restrictions being lifted in October 2021? Or perhaps you are not from the US?

I suggest flying to Milan and then immediately taking the train to Venice for, yes, three nights. We did that once and it was fast and not a big deal, even after the long flight from Minnesota. Train to Padua for another three nights, then two nights each for Verona and Milan. You could choose another city than Verona, but Verona has a lot of nice medieval church art (what I like) and good food (we both like). It's easy to do day trips from Verona and Padua by train or bus, but I don't think you have enough time. A wine tour would be fun if you like wine and tours.

In 2019, we flew into Verona and out of Venice (changing planes in Amsterdam both ways) and that worked great, but you said you wanted to go to Milan, and round trip to/from Milan is cheaper and has more flights. We've never stayed in Milan more than a night or two, but total probably at least a week --- there is lots to see, but I agree with whoever said it's not their favorite city in Italy. Just really hard to warm up to, somehow, maybe because the things to see are not close to each other.

So many great suggestions!! I just ordered two RS books, so I can narrow down places I would love to visit. I can expand timeframe a little. Making homebases to travel from was a great idea. I forgot to mention the Lakes area. Is this doable from a homebase city? Any hotel recommendations would be appreciated. More later! Maria

The Cenacolo (Last Supper) just opened again for viewing last week, but as always, you’ll need to have booked a reservation to have your 15 minute slot to see it. We took a taxi from/to downtown Milan for the visit.

Transportation around lakes tends to be a bit slow--bus/car or boat rather than express train. You'll probably do best by focusing on one particular lake rather than trying to see multiple lakes from a single base.

If flying to Milan, or from, check for flights to Linate airport. I have found them not only to be less expensive but also easier, faster and cheaper to get to Milano Centrale. Also, not certain of your interests, but if you are a foodie, consider going Milan - Bologna - Venice. Bologna is a good place to day trip to Parma and Reggio Emilia.

In Milan, the Duomo is a must. Located just around the corner is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele - perhaps the most famous shopping in the world. Plenty of museums - do the research to find the ones that interest you the most.

For hotels, first decide where in the city you would like to be located, then go from there.

another vote for Vicenza