We are traveling to Europe in May and considering adding Northern Italy to our itinerary following our cycling trip on the Danube. We will be coming from Vienna. Our interest would be in smaller cities/villages and we will be using public transportation. Is this a possibility in that area and are there interesting places to see? I feel like most of the destinations I read about are farther south. We could spend as much as a week, but probably looking at 4-5 days. What advice can you offer?
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7252 posts
Posted by
5109 posts
Of course, but that's a long trip from Vienna. Are you going to fly?
I guess I would work backward and see where I could fly home from first, then check out transit options from Vienna to see how many days you would end up with.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17567 posts
That earlier thread considers “northern Italy” to include Milan, Lake Como, Verona, Bologna, etc. but does not discuss places further north, closer to Austria, other than a brief mention of the Dolomites not being a good choice in May.
But there is much more to “northern Italy” than that.
The train from Vienna to Innsbruck takes 4h 16m. At Innsbruck you change to a southbound train over the Brenner Pass. Places you could easily reach by direct train on that route would be Bressanone, Trento, and Bolzano, among others. At Rovereto you could transfer to towns on Lago di Garda by shuttle ( Malcescine would be my choice). At Brennero you could change to a train heading to Merano. Or continue south to Verona, with train access to the south Lake Garda town of Peschiera, and easy access tomPadua and Vicenza.
Or take the direct train from Vienna toward Venice, and disembark at Udine. Trieste is a short train ride from there. Or stay on the train to. Eunice Mestre and catch a train to Bassano del Grappa, our favorite small town in the Veneto.
All of these would be nice in May. I
Posted by
Minnesota, Wisconsin & Italy
104 posts
Hi Donna - Suggest taking a look at Merano in South Tyrol. It is an Alpine-Mediterranean paradise. There is excellent public transportation in the region and in May the mountainsides and valleys will be lush. Dorf Tirol is a lovely village on the outskirts of Merano, near Tyrol Caste, and is surrounded by great walking trails that wind through mountain-clinging vineyards and orchards. You can easily spend a week exploring this corner of Northern Italy.