Northern Italy Suggestions, Please

Have you been to Padua? Giotto's Scrovegni chapel, the basilica, botanic gardens, two big food markets, Palazzo della Ragione murals, porticoed sidewalks, university.

Yes, we have. Mantova as well.

Not knowing how you like to travel or what you like to do, I will just throw out some general ideas:

Ravenna is a direct train from Ferrara. Be sure to take an early train to arrive just as they open. You can buy the set of 7 (I think) locations in the city center with amazing mosaics.

Mantova is a good one to see while you’re staying in Verona.

An easy location from Florence is going to Arezzo. Walk up into the historical section. They also have an antiques market the first Sunday of each month.

I would really be tempted to take your Bologna time since it’s a double repeat and stay in a new location. Any interest in the Dolomites region after Verona? Train up to Bolzano & bus over to Ortesei. Or, we stayed in little Moena during one of our trips that covered the Veneto region plus Bologna. We took the train to Trento & bus to Moena.

I really liked Brescia and Trento. Both are easy train rides from Verona. Have you been to either Brescia or Trento? Brescia has several picturesque piazzas in the old town, Roman ruins, an antiquities museum, a castle and a historic old cathedral. The historical center is very compact and easily walkable. Trento is surrounded by mountains, has an Austrian-Italian atmosphere, architecture and food, a castle and a compact historical old town.

A few years ago I visited Ferrara for three days. A friend of mine who lives in northern Italy suggested that I visit the small town of Monselice but I did not get there. It is north of Ferrara. Bassano del Grappa is also on my wish list in that general area. It looks very attractive.

Moena certainly looks charming. We were in Murano last year and did a day trip to Bolzano. We also did a day trip to Ravenna on another trip. Arezzo is on our radar. Is it worth a couple of nights or better as a day trip?

Hi, I was in Arezzo for two nights in 2022 to attend their jousting festival. I enjoyed being there. If you stayed in Arezzo, some day trips to see Cortona and others in the vicinity would be a nice area to enjoy.

Just found this. It has ideas for this area:
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/9-towns-near-arezzo/

And here’s one with some visuals & info specifically on Arezzo. I stayed in a small B&B near Piazza Grande, and she recommended wonderful restaurants that were filled with locals.

I tentatively planned to go back to Arezzo this September but ended up with a different itinerary that isn’t as convenient to drop into that area this time.

https://www.visittuscany.com/en/towns-and-villages/arezzo/

I would also suggest Brescia as a day trip from Verona - especially if you like Roman ruins since they have some amazing ones. Upper Lake Garda is reachable by bus from Verona. The lowest part of the lake is accesible by train but because of that is very touristy.

In Verona - If you like modern art check out the 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.

Arezzo is an interesting mix of modern town on the flat by the train station and then getting progressively older headed uphill. It had an amazing piazza along with a lot of smaller ones that are more the people's piazzas. I spent 3 days there and enjoyed it. If you have been to Siena I think it's worth a day trip from Florence. It's always been Siena's poor relation since Roman times and that dynamic continues.

Hope that helps, have a great trip,
=Tod

Thank you Jean and Tod. That's all great information.

Vicenza is a short train ride from Verona. It has wonderful Palladian architecture all over and an amazing theater called Teatro Olimpico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

hey hey betsy810
just adding my 2 cents into other towns to check out.
will you have a car for any of your travels? if so, make sure you get an IDP (AAA.com/IDP). we drove from venice to bardolino on lake garda for their annual wine festival, late september-early october. (tourism.verona.it/bardolino wine festival 2025)
we stayed at hotel nettuno on sunday, last day of fun festival with fireworks in the evening. parade, grape stomping, yummy food (bring euros), wines of bardolino, at entrance bought wine holder necklace E20/souvenir wine glass, music & dancing, roaming the small villages with shops, cafes, restaurants.
took a short ride up along the lake with small villages, the ferries or sailboat rides around the lake, back to pescheira del garda for lunch in main city center then drove back to venice. was a great weekend with lots of fun, so worth checking it out.
few years back had good friends living in vicenza for couple years while she was a civilian worker at the air force base serving her time before retirement. her husband would travel all around on the train to different small towns while she worked. he would send us pictures and notes of great places, food & restaurants, markets to enjoy his day trips. they absolutely loved this small non touristy town.
rossiwrites.com/destinations
click italy scroll down to cities to see what they offer
day trips from vicenza: over 90 of best destinations
my own opinion, since you've spent time in florence and bologna, research some other places/villages/towns around the area. i always like to check out new towns, especially getting away from crowds, places not many know of or want to see the countryside.
few years ago we took a train from venice to susegana, met our fabulous private tour guide for prosecco hills and the road thru vineyards/wineries for tasting with gorgeous views plus lunch at family own restaurant (yummy) plus this is the area known for tiramisu, good luck, have fun and enjoy
aloha

Treviso is a nice and quite town located not too far from Venice.
Asolo and Bassano del grappa are two hill towns that can be also considered as day trip.
Friuli Venezia Giulia region is often overlooked by usual tourist routes despite the excellent food & wine culture and the presence of interesting historical sites such as the cities of Udine, Cividale del Friuli, Gorizia, Trieste.

Thanks to everyone for the great responses. We appreciate it!

And no, we will not have a car. We've have in the past but are more comfortable sticking with public transport.