Where to go

In my opinion, all are too far away with only two days total to spend. I would just do some day trips out of Venice or spend the time visiting the outer islands. Donna

Trieste is actually still in Italy and its only about a hundred miles away. I've never found that if offered much. Munich and Pompeii are three or four times as far - - a bit rough for a two-day trip.

Let me be sure I completely understand your question :- You are in Venice (a fabulous place, BTW); you are completely sick of the Veneto and you want to go somewhere a complete day's journey away (and back) and have one hour at your destination to visit that place that took you all day to get there? Have I got it right? Or have I missed any important details?

your choices are too far from venice. consider Verona, Padua or Ravenna (mosiacs). Or rent a car or maybe take a coach tour from Venice to Dolomites.

Unless you've run out of things in that area of Italy, I'd never consider any of your options. They are too far and Trieste doesn't have much to write home about. Consider the following closer 10 options in the area, all within 2 hours from Venice (distance from Venice): 1. MURANO, BURANO, TORCELLO (1/2 hr) 2. PADOVA (1/2 hour) 3. COLLI EUGANEI, ABANO TERME, MONTEGROTTO TERME (45 min) 4. PALLADIAN VILLAS NEAR VICENZA (45 min) 5. VERONA (1 hr) 6. LAKE GARDA (Sirmione, Limone, Riva) (1 1/2 hours+) 7. CORTINA D'AMPEZZO AND THE BELLUNESI DOLOMITES (2 hrs) Then outside of Veneto: 8. BOLOGNA (1 1/2 hrs or even less by train) 9. RAVENNA (2 hrs)
10. FLORENCE (2 hrs via train or 3 via car)

Ravenna or Padua would be wonderful choices. Easy to get to, plenty to see and you would not spend much time traveling to and from.

Let me explain better. Sorry for the confusion, but thank you for the replies. We rented an apartment in Venice for 1 month. We have been here 2 weeks and have 2 weeks to go. We have have been to Venice twice before and seen most of the "hot spots" in Italy (Firenze, Rome, Cinque Terre, Assisi, Ravenna, Roma. On this trip we have seen a lot of Venice, but thought of taking maybe 2-3 short trips. Have been to Veronna, so that's why we asked the question. Also, we made our apartment available to friends and family, "if they happened to be in the area" and much to our surprise, they did come. So we were also thinking of having a little down time. Ok, having said that, maybe there is a place you know of. Thank you
Steve

In that case, for one, I'd recommend Istria in northern Croatia-Rovinj is gorgeous, or Porec, or you could even a short trip to Pula to see the Amphitheatre, if you are bored of those other places You can take the ferry direct from Venice to Porec/Rovinj in about 2.5 hours. Either that or Slovenia, which I can't comment on yet, because I haven't been, but planning to go this summer.

I don't know if you've traveled to Alto Adige before, but it's well worth it and not that far from Venice. You can be there in just over two hours. The best Dolomites are there. Also Lake Garda, if you've never been there before. Istria is another option, and in that case you can also stop by Trieste, at least by the Castello di Miramare. In 3 hours from Venice you can be in Rovinj too. Munich is at least 5 hours from Venice by car and you would have to drive through Alto Adige anyway (through the Brenner Pass), so you might as well visit the Alto Adige area, along the way, which is closer. Pompeii is even farther, almost 7 hours. With only two days at your disposal, Munich or Pompeii shouldn't be considered at all.