I am in the early stages of planning a trip to Northern Italy in early October and I could use a little inspiration and help from the wonderful Slow Trav experts!

The plan so far is that we'll be coming from Lucerne, so I was thinking that a train to Milan (about 4 hours) would be the most efficient and cost effective. On our last trip we spent a night in Milan before catching a flight and I really enjoyed the brief time that we were there. So, starting with a couple nights in Milan would be nice.

From there, then what? My current wish list is, in no particular order:

Venice
Ravenna
Piemonte
Bologna
Parma
Verona
Vicenza
Mantova
Padova

We'll have about 3 weeks so I can't do everything I'd like, but I'd like to find a nice balance of relaxation and seeing old favorites and lots of new things.

Should I start with Venice or end with Venice? Venice is pretty much mandatory because I have a friend living there right now that I'd like to see. Should I daytrip or stay over in Ravenna? Lots of decisions to make, but so far I'm thinking about something along these lines:

Milan - 2 nights
Acqui Terme - 3 nights
Bologna - 1 week
Verona - 2 nights
Venice - 1 week

I think I could do this whole trip by train. But at this point I'm open to any and all suggestions for different places and different amounts of time spent at each one. Suggestions welcome...

-Krista

Krista

I am by no means an expert. My first trip happens this August. That being said, the way I have approached 3 1/2 weeks in Italy is to find a home base for a week at a time and to find day trips from there. The people here who are much more knowledgeable can help with suggestions but it might help if you decided on maybe no more than 3 home bases. IMHO of course.

I cannot imagine having all of that time in north Italy in Oct. and not including both the lakes and the Dolomites. I am not a foodie, but why a week in Bologna? I would end in Venice and a week is perfect.

Krista,

David and I are doing something similar this summer, but taking about 2 1/2 weeks to do it, so you have more time.

We are flying non-stop LAX to Zurich, because David has always wanted to take the train through the Alps. So we will spend our jetlag night there, then take the train to Venice (starting with Venice and then we won't need a car until we leave).

After Venice, we are spending 5 nights at Baur B&B in Piemonte, thinking wineries, daytrip to Parma, nothing planned for sure. Probably stopping in Verona on our way to Acqui Terme. Bologna will have to be another trip

And since we have not seen the lakes area, we are ending with 5 nights split between Lake Como (Varenna) and Lake Orta. Home out of Milan to Zurich then LA.

Have fun planning,

Marcia

Thanks, all, for the input. Bob, we have never been to the Dolomites, but I wasn't sure whether to include it on this trip. We have been to Lake Como (Varenna and Bellagio), so I thought I'd focus on some new spots this time. Lake Orta is tempting, though.... Marcia, where are you staying there?

I could reduce the time in Bologna, but it's always easier to find a rental for a one week period.

So, still lots of things to think about...

-Krista

I think the Bologna week is good - it is a good location from which to see a good cross section of both the Emilia and Romagna parts of Emilia Romagna. I mean, there are so many day trip possibilities for you from Bologna -- Ferrara, Ravena, Modena are so close, and it is realistic to think that three days alone in Bologna are very, very well spent.

I think the Milano idea is very good, and the Acqui idea is the most brilliant of the whole plan (regardless of where you stay, by the way, I do hope we will at least share a glass of wine ).

All in all, Krista, I have to say: I think the plan is good, really good.

Diana, of course you have been an influence in my wanting to see Piemonte and Acqui Terme and I definitely want to meet you! And seeing Palma's scrapbooks at the Paso GTG really got me enthusiastic about the area.

I like the idea of daytripping to Ravena from Bologna and I will have do some research on Ferrara and Modena because I don't know much about them.

This is really starting to get exciting!

-Krista

I was extremely disappointed in Vicenza when we went there at the recommendation of an Italian friend of ours who is a native of Vicenza. The city was dirty and there was no character to the town that we could find. The Palladian architecture was of interest, but too much transit time between points of interest and too little that made the city fun in between.

If you are willing to cover as much ground as it appears from your list of cities, take a look at Udine. It is a hidden gem that not many people get to. It was part of the Venetian Republic and has the look of Venice (without the canals).

Hi Krista,
With Verona so close to Venice (i.e., easy to day trip there), I'm not sure I'd stay over in Verona for 2 nights. If you want a lake stay, maybe somewhere on Lake Garda instead? I've read good things about Sirmione.

Otherwise, I encourage an overnight (or two) in Ravenna - Shannon and I loved it there! If a Ravenna daytrip works best for your schedule, then so be it, but we were there for two days and felt we still rushed a lot. I think we both wished for more time to take in the fabulous church mosaics and museum pieces - and good food! It's a town I'll definitely return to for a longer visit.

Sounds like you're planning a great trip!

Krista,

We are staying at the Hotel Orta our last few nights of this trip.

Now I will ask you to tell me a little about Varenna .

Marcia

-- I agree that I wouldn't spend two nights in Verona with a week in Venice (day-trip to Verona from Venice)

-- I like the idea of Bologna for a week. Day trips to Parma, Modena, Ferrara -- heck, even Florence is an easy day trip. "Easy" being a relative term on relaxing vacations!

-- What about skipping Verona, cutting Bologna or Venice a day short too, and taking the train to Bolzano, up there in yonder hills? It's a great town, get a car and drive throught the Dolomites for a day.

In fact, I'd say get a car for a lot of the trip, like, in Piedmont. Lots of spots in the countryside to visit, and driving is easy and fun there.

Enjoy.

Again, I am going to pipe in on daytrips. I would never do daytrips 2 hours one way as seems to be common,esp.to a big city.(Exceptions in the past were stops in transit to another place) I prefur moving my base once then keeping it local less than 30 minutes out ideally.

Marcia, that's one of the spots I was looking at. It looks nice.

In Varenna we stayed at Eremo Gaudio - it's kind of perched up above the town so you have to take two funiculars and then a little walk to get into town, but the views are stunning - we had a room with a balcony looking over the lake and it was fabulous.

I liked staying in Varenna because it was small and relaxing. We daytripped to Bellagio, which is larger and much swankier. Lake Como and the whole area is really beautiful. You'll love it.

-Krista

Robert, I don't like to travel a long time on a daytrip, either. I will look at the train schedule and see what seems do-able from both Venice and Bologna.

I'm still undecided about when and whether to get a car for this trip. We won't need the headache of a car in the cities, so it depends on whether we want to stay in the countryside of Piemonte and if Lake Orta makes it onto the itinerary.

I think since we'll have come from Switzerland that I'll skip the Dolomites this trip. I know, they're very different, but they're mountains and I think I'll get my quota in Switzerland.

Spending a full 7 days in both Venice and Bologna was mainly so I could take advantage of a vacation rental, so it might not be easy to cut a day or so off of either of those, but you never know. I should start researching those now. I've already got a list of places to check out for Venice, but I don't have much for Bologna, so if you know of something, please pass it on.

thanks for all the good replies,
-Krista

Colleen, it was hearing about Ravenna from you and Shannon that made me really want it on my list! I will see if I can make it an overnight stop.

-Krista

quote:

I was extremely disappointed in Vicenza when we went there at the recommendation of an Italian friend of ours

I had a completely different opinion of Vicenza. You can read about our experience in Vicenza here.

The first part of the rest of that trip report is about the other places we visited from Bologna, which is a wonderful central location for day trips in the region. We did not go to Vicenza from Bologna, though.

- Roz

quote:

Originally posted by KHB:
Colleen, it was hearing about Ravenna from you and Shannon that made me really want it on my list! I will see if I can make it an overnight stop.

Cool!
If I see you before you leave in October, I'll show you the mini-scrapbook I created from our two days there.

I remembered that one of the reasons our first day was so rushed was that the museum (and maybe some other sites?) were closed on our 2nd day. We wanted to 'see it all' so had to squeeze more into a single day than usual. I'm sure you'll plan better - or have more discipline - than we did.

Krista,

Thanks for the Varenna comments; that is exactly what we were thinking when we decided to stay there vs. Bellagio. I like coming back to quiet.

Marcia

Hello KHB,
While in the Army in the late 60’s I got stationed in Vicenza for 18 months. The lakes are crystal clear but cool till July; if you have a mind to see the lakes they are worth it!

Buy a DK eyewitness travel guide (www.dk.com) Venice & the Veneto to find out what there is to see; I wish they were available in the 60’s so I would have known what was around me!

We are planning a trip this fall & staying in the Padova area for a week as Venezia, Vicenza & Verona are a short train ride away. By staying in Padova we’ll save a little as Venezia is very expensive and the train stops where you can walk any where you want!

I like the idea of staying in Bologna for a week, that area is WONDERFUL.

I’ve never been to Acqui Terme , what is there to keep you three nights?

Have a great time planning your trip and keep us posted on where you’ll be.

Mac1947

Buona Fortuna E Buno Viaggio

To answer the Acqui question, Acqui Terme is in the southeastern part of Piedmont, an 2000 year old Roman thermal spa city of 22,000. It sits in the deep heart of the Monferrato region, and is surrounded by hundreds of Dolcetto and Barbera wineries. It is twenty minutes from the border with the Langhe (i.e. Barolo/Barbaresco/Nebbiolo) region, is about an hour from Alba, 45 minutes from Asti and an hour from Genoa by car, and hour and fifteen from Torino, and an hour and two hours from Milan. It is quite possible to spend a week or two just exploring the immediate region without going further than an hour from here. . Of course you can just sit on a hill an look at Alps too, if you like.

OR you could just sit and stare out into the vineyards from Diana's B&B! A priceless view!! If anything, 3 days is not enough time in Acqui. Piemonte is a wonderful region with so much to experience.

While in Bologna, my favorite 2 places to do daytrips would be Parma and Ferrara. I have yet to visit Modena but hear it is also wonderful.

I would also recommend a daytrip to Verona and Padova from Venice, that is if you can leave Venice once you get there.

Sounds like a great trip!