After Venice ... Ideas please

Upon leaving Venice in early November after exploring that amazing city with Marshall and Diana, where would you drive to and spend time in for another week or so? We truly enjoyed Bologna and Parma back in 2005 (and wouldn’t mind returning to both), but we have been nowhere else in that region. Where in reasonable driving distance would you enjoy spending a few days? I have heard great things about both Padua and Verona, so those are on the “possible” list along with a return to Bologna and/or Parma. But, … we only have 6 nights after Venice before we need to fly elsewhere (likely from Milan), and we always prefer to stay a bit in the town(s) we choose, at least a few nights, rather than park, eat, take pictures, and get back into the car. So, with a time limitation, may I ask, what are your suggestions?

Thanks!
Andrew

Try to get one night in Kobarid, Slovenia. It’s about a two hour drive. Watch the Chef’s table episode about Ana Roš and you’ll see why…

Our family loved Verona. We stayed in a little Airbnb in the vineyards north of the city. We were able to visit Suave and we drove up into the Alps one day and visited Elisabeta Foradori which was one of my top 10 wine visits every. Suave is an enchanting small walled village with several tasting rooms inside. I would recommend a visit there as well as it’s only a 20 min drive from Verona.

Andrew,

I would head north to Fruili and stay at La Subida. https://www.lasubida.it/lasubida_eng/

Jeremy Seysses gave us the tip on this one and it is terrific. Run by a lovely family the accommodation is first class and they have two outstanding restaurants. The main restaurant has a strong focus on game and a wonderful wine list, deep with local offerings and very well priced. The Somm is a good bloke. You are right on the border of Slovenia and can do a day trip to Hisa Franko.

Cheers
Jeremy

Tour the Venetian by car- close to Venice, on the way to Verona or the lakes, great food, wine and especially Palladian villas if you are into architecture. (The Palladian designed theater in Vicenza is cool).

I based myself in Asolo.

Padova certainly an option, as is Verona. If heading out of Milano, both are good options. Verona a little easier if you’re not Italian speakers, though personally I found the central area overly touristy (albeit somewhat more upmarket than many tourist hotspots).

Verona certainly a decent option if a side trip to wineries appeals. It’s a very easy day trip to take in some very good wineries, and IMO both Vapol and Soave are both producing some very good wines, and arguably (and perversely) somewhat under the radar for such well-known regions. Some good re-invention / re-applying themselves.

Another thought is Ferrara. A charming and very historic city, easy to walk (and cycle) around. The car will be useful for the odd day trip (e.g. Ravenna or Padova), but it’s a city we could happily spend that much time in. On the wine front, Al Brindisi is about as historic as it gets, being the local drinking hole of Copernicus. It’s still very good. Some good restaurants, not at all pricey, plus a small but very good selection of gastronomie / other food shops. A fine passeggiata can be had in late afternoon, as the main thoroughfares are pedestrianised. Also a very good central weekly market (which I preferred to the larger out of town one). Intact city walls and a striking castle (with moat with I believe Koi carp in it). If you’re really lucky the fog can come in, which really transforms it into a very special atmosphere.

After our Venice visit we caught a private taxi boat to the airport to rent a car, and then drove 90 minutes to San Daniele de Friuli to enjoy some of the best prosciutto in the world. Friuli is under-touristed and full of interesting white wine. Trieste is a wonderful city in its own right, and an easy drive around the top of the Adriatic. The nearby Lipica Stud Farm (original home of the Lippizaner horses) makes a great day trip from Trieste. From there you might work your way down the Croatian coastline, which is full of beautiful countryside, beaches, and towns.

I don’t know about the accomodations, but the evening we spent in the La Subida restaurant was one of the highlights of our vacation.

Lake Garda is amazing and you’re right there by train and short bus. Stay in Garda or Bardolino and explore the lake by ferry. Incredible place. Much better than Lake Como, IMHO.

We stayed in Riva, nice, but difficult to get to as a base camp. He’s some video of our adventures in lake Garda and Verona at the start.

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Stayed in the liitle town of Pazzone about halfway between Lake Garda and Verona.
Day trips to Valpolicella, Soave and Gambelarra,
Towns to visit Padua, Vicenza, Verona and Sirmione

Thank you for all of the above suggestions! Please keep them coming! [cheers.gif]

Considering it’s November, I think you’re right to focus on a city. Shorter days can be balanced by the bright lights of a city, such that you don’t feel short-changed by the views being taken away.

Of your original thoughts, Bologna could easily keep you occupied for 6 days, though there are easy day trips. If you choose this, then think about doing without a car altogether. The Freccia trains are great - fast comfortable, reliable and great value can be had booking early. It even gives you the chance to try the newer rival ‘Italotreno’ which operates a direct service between Venice and Bologna. You could then get the trenitalia Freccia train direct from Bologna to Milano, changing there to get the airport train.

Although very fast, so you don’t get a huge amount of time, it’s fun to collect a tasty picnic from local gastronomie / alimentari etc. and perhaps a decent lambrusco to go with the food (the mushroom cork meaning you don’t need a corkscrew).

If you grab an apartment in Bologna, then you can graze the wonderful food shops, which will have some great late season produce, including I’m sure some truffles.

Regards
Ian

We did Verona and Bolzano. From Bolzano we went up into the Dolomites and did some hutte to hutte hiking. Loved it! If I could move anywhere–it would be Bolzano.

We liked Padova after Venice. It is a large enough city with a lot of charm and interests to keep one busy. But more importantly, it is very well connected by train to all the other cities you may want to visit in Veneto and neighboring Emilia-Romagna - Verona, Vicenza, Ferrara, Bologna (well, a bit more of a trek), Lake Garda et al. Trains in Italy are divine! Verona works as well as a base. I think both cities make sense as a secondary destination after Venice (i.e. IF you want to stay in Veneto, but are not going towards the Dolomites after Venice); but they have very different personalities. I found Verona more polished, a bit more touristy and crowded; the university gives Padova vibrancy. We enjoyed both cities.

We loved Lake Garda. Verona is better for day trips to Lake Garda. There are beautiful towns surrounding Lake Garda; although November may too cold for an actual Lake Garda based stay. We had liked Bardolino. The wine (the same appellation name) was quite good too … softer, medium bodied, easy drinking. Sirmione looked very cool and in Nov it wont have crazy traffic that supposedly plagues it in summer (we never made it to Sirmione). Verona is also good for a trip to Soave that someone else referred to earlier in the thread. That fort in Soave looks spectacular. But we ran out of time …

Not really close to Venice - but just in case you have never been to them - both Florence and Sienna make for great destinations and bases for visiting other cities in Tuscany. My bucket list includes spending a week in Florence in winter when the city is empty.

Hi Andrew!! Verona is a beautiful town. However, would you consider driving north to Vienna and spending some time there and in Austrian wine country?

I looked at Google maps. You could drive to Torino or Piemonte wine country in under 4 hours from Venice. Given the actual speeds that Italians drive on the Autostrada, I bet you could even do better. November makes me think of truffles and Barolo/Barbaresco. Torino has a great automobile museum and the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts outside of Cairo. November is too late for the Lake country IMHO. You don’t have to drive it in one shot so you could stop along the way if you don’t mind packing and unpacking. We rented a diesel Audi A6 and did not burn too much fuel and felt comfortable cruising 130-170 kph on the Autostrada blending into traffic.

I would dump the car hop on the train from Venice and go to Florence! It is an easy train ride and you can easily spend that time in the city and the surrounding towns. You might even be able to fly out of that airport and skip Milan.

Realize this is different than what you asked

Just my .02

I’d rent a car and drive from Venice to Padua to Verona up through Valpolicella to Garda and on to Milan, staying at one or two places and day trip from those. We drove this route some years ago and enjoyed it very much. Good eating in Milan, if you have the time.

Oy, never enough time (except in Venice, I think that will be wonderful as we are devoting 6 nights there)! Decided we’ll then drive to Verona, where we’ve not been before, spend two nights there; and then drive to Parma, where we’ve been only for a lunch, and this time spend two nights there; and then to Milan for the night before airport… Hotels and restaurants are booked… Really looking forward to it and I really appreciate the input! As always, will file a dining report afterwards (sooner or later). [cheers.gif]

I did Croatia and Venice two years ago. After Venice i drone to Lake Garda and Basano del grappa where they discovered grappa then 5 days in Milano! A must see