Verona and northern Italy suggestions

Verona is at the south end of one of my favorite train lines in Italy, going all the way up to Brennero/Brenner at the Austrian border (a little over three hours direct by train; closer to two hours by car). Along the route are a string of favorites:

• The Castello di Avio
• Trento Cathedral and the Buonconsiglio Castle, especially the Green Tower
• The funicular at Monte Mezzocorona
• Castel Roncolo outside Bolzano
• The Chiostro (Cloister) di Bressanone and
• The Rosskopf skilift at Sterzing

This is also a great region for food and wine, and the funiculars and lifts might provide some relief from the summer heat as you walk or hike. The scenery gets more spectacular the further north you go.

Treviso (1.5 hours by train) is lovely and interesting, with canals and bridges, plenty of great places to eat, frescoed Venetian-style buildings, old city walls, interesting small churches and museums, a fish market on an island, some cool wire mesh art installations on some of the walls of the buildings, and many pedestrian-only streets and porticoed sidewalks. Here's some of the wire mesh art of Mario Martinelli in Treviso: https://www.mariomartinelli.it/en/ombre-rete/

With a car, you can get to all sorts of places we enjoyed a lot, such as Valdobbiadene to eat at Salis Ristorante Enoteca and drink the very local Cartizze with a view of the hillside vineyard it comes from.

Or drive to Comacchio (north of Ravenna) or Cesanatico (south of Ravenna but half an hour past your two hour limit). Perhaps with your good deal on the Verona apartment, you might want to drive to and spend one or two nights in Ravenna so that you are not rushed in seeing the mosaics, and then also do quick visits to Comacchio (bridges over canals, and eels) and Cesantico (canals and a floating outdoor boat museum).

We've only been to all of these places in fall or early winter, so someone else can maybe tell you if they are beastly locations in August.

I'm so glad you'll have 5 nights in Venice --- the more, the better! I hope you can find an apartment you like with AC in a quieter neighborhood far from the heavily touristed spots.

Sirmione on Lake Garda.

On that aforementioned rail line running north of Verona, the cities of Bolzano and Bressanone, and the small town of Chiusa are beautiful and worth seeing for that reason alone. The first two have a lot of sights to see. The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano has an outstanding exhibition about Otzi, the Iceman.

That entire valley can be beastly hot in the summer, despite its proximity to the Dolomites. I don't know that it's any hotter than Verona, though.

This is a thread I created a few months ago, asking about potential cooler destinations in northern Italy. It may have some useful information for you about the area north of Verona. It takes about an hour to get from Bolzano to Ortisei by bus, though.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/heat-avoidance-strategy-for-northern-italy-in-late-august-september

Day trips from Verona by train...Padua, Cittadella, Ferrara (and Este Castle), Trento (and Castello del Buonconsiglio)

You’re also just 30 minutes by train (choose the faster one) to Vicenza which has the Palladian architecture, or even better, just 45 minutes to Mantova which I really liked! The Palazzo Ducale is massive and so many gorgeous items to see! Look up Mantova on Trip Advisor for things to do for the whole list - Palazzo Te, the teatro, etc. there’s a lot there and wonderful food!

Another vote for a trip to Vicenza. Great architecture and easy to access by local train.

I vote for Vicenza and recommend Asolo. Fascinating history.