Northern Italy suggestions

Just wanted to say what a great birthday gift to yourself! Good for you! :)

Great idea, I may treat myself to something similar for my 60th!!!
Some of the Northern Italy spots that fit your interests certainly include Lake Garda (Roberto is one of our experts), Verona which is between Venice and Lake Garda, and great for leisurely walking throughout the city, but not by the water, other than a significant river running through it, and the Dolomites, with great scenery but not much water. Various people on this forum know the Dolomites well, which I do not, and they indicate you can have a good visit by public transportation, but generally even better with a car.
Oh, I forgot, my 60th was long ago. Too bad.

From Venice I would take the ferry over to Istria in Croatia and explore Rovinj, Porec and Pula as well as Motovun. Truly beautiful area.

If you enjoy lakes, here is my suggestion:

From Venice, take a train and get off at Desenzano del Garda or Peschiere del Garda. You can spend a few days touring lake Garda, one of the country's largest. Lake Iseo is at a stone's throw: local train to Brescia, then local train to Iseo. All trains in Brescia call at the same station. Trains to Iseo depart from two stub tracks on the west side of the passenger concourse; short ride (some 30 minutes), frequent departures.

You may continue your journey west toward lake Maggiore (staying in Stresa), taking a flight back to US at Malpensa.

Verona, Trento and Bolzano would make a nice trip. All are pretty, all have walks around them, and they are really nice in September. Don't miss the Iceman in Bolzano.

Hi, I'll definitely confirm the earlier recommendation for Stresa. Look up Isola Bella & Stresa on Google images. We just returned from a nice vacation in Switzerland & Italy - absolutely loved our time in Stresa!

Verona is also a good location with the arena, nice piazzas and a very tourist-friendly town. It's an easy train connection from Venice, and Stresa is a 30-minute train from Milan.

We stayed in Moena, Italy, in the Dolomites. It was a train from Venice and switched to a bus next to the train station at Trento. That area is lovely for walking. There's paved paths between the villages in that area.

Thanks to all. I have thought about Croatia; a friend visited there back in the 90's (before the war) and loved it. The Dolomites and Lake Garda also sound great.

Some places not too far from Venice that I have enjoyed are Padova, Verona (although I was not as taken with it as some others are), Ferrara (a real undiscovered gem), Ravenna, and Treviso. Further afield, Bolzano is very nice and the museum with the Iceman is fascinating (not just for him, but for the information about the various Ages - Stone, Copper, Bronze - that puts him in context). Modena and Cremona were also very nice. I have not been to Udine, but a friend really enjoyed it. And in another direction, while I didn't like Bologna (many do), I did like Parma and Modena.

I'd happily go back to any of these that fit my itinerary, and would even make a detour for Padova, Ferrara, Ravenna, Parma, and Bolzano.

I agree with Larry regarding visiting Lake Garda.

My mom & I just returned from northern Italy where we
visited Verona & took a day trip to Lake Garda. You can take the train to Peschiera then take the ferry from
there & visit some of the lakeside cities. We purchased the day ticket for the lower lake & visited Garda, Bardolino & Lazise.
We also stayed in Padova which is only about 25 minutes by train from Venice.

What a great birthday gift !!!

Vicenza, Verona, Padova, Lago de Garda, and Mantova are all quite accesible by train or bus. Since you're traveling alone, let me recommend the Youth Hostels of Italy, especially in the smaller towns. They often have private en suite rooms and are quite inexpensive. You can look them up on-line at Hostelling International.

Good luck and enjoy the trip.

For water, I second the stays in lakes Iseo and Maggiore. Stayed on both last week. From a train standpoint, probably Iseo and Stresa are the towns to be in. Quieter than Como. Getting there, I would consider Verona also.

Bologna is rarely on anyone's radar. It's a great place for day-tripping: Ravenna (superb mosaics), Ferrara, Padua, to name a few. And it certainly has cafes, food and wine. I found it charming. There are lots of foreign students, but not so many tourists.

I agree with Chani about Bologna, great atmosphere, food, wine, cafes, cultural events. Big university city so lots of things to do. And a great hub for visiting other cities/towns.

Soave is a great day trip. Bus stop at Porta Verona. Town is completely enclosed by it's original fortified walls. Several churches, a couple of winery's. Fantastic wine and great food. Worth the trip, several B&B's , very walkable .