Hello
I'm plannig a 12 day trip to Italy At the beginning of June. Our light is to and from Milano. After a day and a half in Milano we plan to take the train to Venice and stay there for 3 nights.
Then we are going to rent a car for a week and drive around. What we have in mind is a few days in the Dolomites and than head towards Milano.
I'll be glad to get advice/suggestions/tips for plannig the last week. Recommended route, places to stop and so on.
Thanks
Margalit

I would drive up to Cortina d'Ampezo (the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics and the filming of the original Pink Panther movie, then through the Dolomites to Bolzano, then south to Verona. You could then stay at Sirmione. I liked a little hotel the named Il Grifone that has a nice restaurant.

Some other places to consider are Padua, Vincenzo, Marostica and Bassano del Grappa and Asolo.

Yes to Cortina and then Bolzano. I like Trento, too.

What do you like to do? Art, wineries, food, leisurely drives, picnics in the mountains?

We stayed NW of Verona at La Foresteria. Great place. Close to great wineries and food region. Easy day trip into Verona. Can head over to Lake Garda easily for the day.

Ummm, you might need to hurry to make reservations at these places if you're going in June. Actually, early June in the Dolomites is EARLY season, but some places might be closed. (Which means fewers tourists!)

Cheers

We are planning an excursion here as well during the same time.....sounds like a great place!

My report is from 2000, but still might be useful. We spent a week in the Veneto and a week in Venice and the first day starts here:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gavinc/ita...1056590820/tpod.html

The index is at the bottom of the page if you want to see the other 13 days.

As well as Padua, Marostica, etc as mentioned above we would recommend Vicenza and also Villa Maser, designed by Palladio and frescoed by Veronese. Delightful.

If you're driving from Cortina to Bolzano (as suggested above) try to go via the Sella Pass: the mountains are very spectacular. If the traffic on the main roads is too busy it is well worth trying some of the more remote roads.

North of Bolzano are Bressanone and Vipiteno. We very much enjoyed Bressanone: the town has a lovely atmosphere, there is a fine cathedral with a cloister full of frescoes and an excellent museum in the old bishop's palace, which has not only fine medieval art but also an enjoyable collection of Italian impressionist paintings and an extraordinary collection of Christmas cribs. Close to Bressanone is the beautiful abbey of Novacella and not far north of there is the delightful town of Vipiteno. The Multscher museum there was one of the pleasantest surprises of our trip last year. Hans Multscher was a 15th century artist from Ulm in Germany. Although he is noted mainly for his sculptures, he produced paintings as well as sculptures for an altarpiece in the parish church at Vipiteno. Sadly, the altarpiece has been dismembered, but judging by the diagram displayed at the museum it must have been magnificent. Some of the sculptures are in the church, but the painted panels from the altarpiece are in the museum, and they are marvellous.

Do find time if you can for at least one walk in the mountains while you are in the Dolomites. We particularly enjoyed a walk at Zanser Alm, which is between Bressanone and Bolzano. It was a Sunday. There was a great party atmosphere and it seemed as if half the population of South Tyrol were walking up the mountain with us. There were a couple of restaurants near the top and also a small chapel where there was an open-air mass, which was watched with interest by the cows grazing nearby, clonking their cow-bells in time to the music. Afterwards everyone moved across to a nearby beer-tent to enjoy the accordions and fiddles playing. There may not be a party every day, but on any fine day you would be able to enjoy the wonderful mountain scenery, the simple but good mountain food and the exhilharating top-of-the-world feeling from the pass just a short way above the restaurants.

I should have mentioned we had some of the best cream cakes in Vipiteno!

quote:

We stayed NW of Verona at La Foresteria.

Do you have a link for this place? ---Marlene

http://www.karenbrown.com/property.asp?propid=4494

We loved the place. There was a great write-up about it in, I think, the May 2004 Saveur magazine. The also featured one of the great restaurants at which we ate -- Dalla Rosa Alda in St. Georgio, just up the road.

La Foresteria Serego Alighieri is the full name.

By the way, I saw a bad review of this place on TripAdvisor. I couldn't disagree more with the review, but to each their own! Breakfast was fantastic, the woman who cooked was an unbelievably gracious host and cook, and everyone was helpful -- up to the Dante descendent himself who drew a map of a backcountry route for us to cycle. Great place.
Cheers