Our plan was to visit smaller northern Italian cities - most new to us. We traveled Mid-September to Mid-October, 2025. Here's a quick overview. We loved this itinerary - we are slow, relaxed travelers.
We used Fred Plotkin’s book Italy for the Gourmet Traveler as a guide/roadmap to search out lesser-known destinations with a focus on food. While it’s not a recent edition, the suggestions of “Classic Towns” to visit seemed interesting to us and gave us a taste of three different Italian regions – Veneto, Lombardy, and Piedmont. Fred has also collaborated with Rick Steves for a more updated but less comprehensive book titled, Italy for Food Lovers. We weren’t looking for Michelin-star restaurants but tried to find trattorias, food festivals, markets, and pasticceria's with a local following.
The train or bus trips between each city were typically two hours or less with some trips complicated by rail strikes - that happened twice. In one case, we were lucky enough to get a ride and in the other we took a FlixBus (not usually affected by strikes) but there were delays and it took 8 hours to get from Padua to Mantua. It was an inconvenience but it all worked out.
We flew direct Atlanta to Venice. From the Marco Polo airport we took a GoOpti bus for a short ride to Treviso (4 nights) – a small city known for canals, frescoed facades and tiramisu – reportedly first created here.
Then a short train ride to Bassano del Grappa (4 nights)– with wooden bridges and mountain views.
Onward to Chioggia – (3 nights) described as Venice’s “laid-back cousin” with fishing boats, colorful houses and excellent seafood…calamari and glasses of crisp white wine.
North to Padua (4 nights) next. It’s described as a city of art, students, and a great aperitivo culture. The Scrovegni Chapel was a highlight.
Then a little jog south to Mantua, (4 nights) where we ate pumpkin-filled pasta and visited Palazzo Te, the Ducal Palace and the quirky Virgil museum.
Cremona, (4 nights) the city of violins was next. It’s famous for Stradivari and music but also, torrone (nougat) and cheeses from the Po Valley.
We spent 6 nights in Turin, a place that we’ve visited before and very much enjoyed.
Our last stop was a one-night stay in a hotel at Milan Fiumicino Airport for a direct flight back to Atlanta mid-October.