7 days to spend in Northern Italy

We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we are
planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of course
want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see Lake Como and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a feeling,
but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend? Specific places to stay would
also be beneficial..We're in our early 50's, and would like to keep the
nightly stay under 100 Euros or as close as possible. (How much US money
this will amount to in July is anybody's guess !!! :-(

Sheldon


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"Sheldon Bell" wrote in message
m...
We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we are
planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of course
want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see Lake Como
and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a feeling,
but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any
other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend?

See the opera at Verona ?

http://www.arena.it/

and a couple of days in Milan - for more of a living city than an open air
museum.

Sheldon Bell wrote in message
...
We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we are
planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of course
want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see Lake Como
and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a feeling,
but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any
other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend? Specific places to stay
would
also be beneficial..We're in our early 50's, and would like to keep the
nightly stay under 100 Euros or as close as possible. (How much US money
this will amount to in July is anybody's guess !!! :-(

If you're looking for a nice city, Verona is very nice and quite near to
Venice.
If you're looking for a smaller and medieval city, there's a lot of what
you're looking for just few kilometers south of Padua (which is nice too):
Arqua' Petrarca, Montagnana, Monselice are minor but very nice attractions.
If you're looking for a lake, I think Lake Garda has nothing to envy to Lake
Como and is much nearer to Venice.
If you're looking for natural scenic beauty, from Venice go towards Cortina
and then follow your istinct: nearly any place fits your request, up there
.....

Edoardo

"Miss L. Toe" wrote in
:


"Sheldon Bell" wrote in message
m...
We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we
are planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of
course want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see
Lake Como
and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a
feeling, but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to
move on. Any
other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend?

See the opera at Verona ?

http://www.arena.it/

and a couple of days in Milan - for more of a living city than an open
air museum.




I agree Verona is a terffic stop, the hills river, food, arena, are all
vastly underrated to the benefit of the traveler.

In article ,
(Miss L. Toe) wrote:


"Sheldon Bell" wrote in message
m...
I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any
other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend?

See the opera at Verona ?
and a couple of days in Milan - for more of a living city than an open
air
museum.

Verona's an excellent suggestion. Torino is a slightly less hectic (and
slightly further) alternative to Milan if you want to try somewhere
relatively untouristy, but still with lots worth seeing and eating.
Another fine alternative, especially if you are interested in good food,
is Bologna.

Bozen, Brixen, and Meran in the area of the Dolomites comes to mind. In
Bozen the Hotel Regina is right across from the train station. The
Iceman Museum is in Bozen. From Meran you can do day trips in the
Dolomites. Further south you have Verona and Padova. The Scrovegni
Chapel in Padova is worth a visit certainly. Verona has the opera in
the summer, along with many other attractions.
Certainly Verona is one of our favorite towns; it is also on the main
north/south and east/west rail lines which makes it easy to do day trips
to Padova and Vicenza. We like the Hotel Torcolo in Verona. Further
south yet you have Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna with its outstanding
mosaics. We liked the Hotel Di Prati in Ferrara (at the suggestion of
somebody on this list).

Cheap eats at the Brek's in Verona, Padova, and Venice.
--
wf.

Sheldon Bell wrote:

We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we are
planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of course
want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see Lake Como and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a feeling,
but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend? Specific places to stay would
also be beneficial..We're in our early 50's, and would like to keep the
nightly stay under 100 Euros or as close as possible. (How much US money
this will amount to in July is anybody's guess !!! :-(

Sheldon

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Hi there,



Verona and the lakes are very nice to see but are well known to the tourist
trade. Unless you enjoy the company of your own kind, you are as well giving
them a miss. If you have a car, you might try going up to the north of the
Veneto or across into Trentino, Alto Adige. A night in Treviso wouldn't go
amiss. It is a pleasant little city with a couple of decent restaurants. It
is also only about 25 minutes on the train to Venice.



If you drive north to Cortina D'ampezzo then take the road across the
Dolomites to Bolzano, there is some pretty impressive Alpine scenery, which
is well worth the longish drive. In Bolzano you can see the preserved body
of the 5000 odd year old Iceman who was found in the Alps about 10 years
ago. The exhibition is well laid out and quite interesting. This is another
nice little city with good restaurants.



A link to the Iceman -
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/Iss...-encounter.htm



It is more German than Italian because up until WW1, it was part of
Austria. Coming south again, you might try heading for Bassano del Grappa
via Trentino, yet another place worth a stop. Although Bassano itself isn't
much other than the famous wooden bridge, the thing to see here is Monte
Grappa. It has a 30 odd km drive up an excitingly twisting road to the top
where there is the Italian National War Memorial to the soldiers killed in
WW1. It was the sight of a major action between the Austrians and mostly the
Alpini. Although that is worth seeing, the real purpose of the visit is the
stupendous views of the snowy Dolomites. If you Google Bassano del Grappa
there are acres of photographs and articles about the place.



If you are into Art, you could include a visit to Castelfranco Veneto to see
Giorgione's famous Altarpiece. If you are not keen on art, go there anyway
because there is an enormous Hypermarket and Centro Commerciale just on the
outskirts were you can get all your holiday trophies. You are fairly
unlikely to come across many people speaking English/US although you can get
by well enough if you don't speak Italian.



Hope this helps to give you the flavour.



Ian Millward

Edinburgh

I'm a big fan of Lake Como, but I'm prejudiced - I live here. grin
See http://www.straughan.com/italy/lake_como.htm for some links and
suggestions on the area, http://www.straughan.com/italy/milano.htm for
suggestions on Milan, and
http://www.straughan.com/italy/restaurants.htm for restaurants in
Milan and around the lake.


best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

http://www.straughan.com



On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 15:18:49 GMT, "Sheldon Bell"
wrote:

We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we are
planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of course
want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see Lake Como and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a feeling,
but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend? Specific places to stay would
also be beneficial..We're in our early 50's, and would like to keep the
nightly stay under 100 Euros or as close as possible. (How much US money
this will amount to in July is anybody's guess !!! :-(

Sheldon

randee wrote in message ...
Further
south yet you have Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna with its outstanding
mosaics.

I absolutely agree.
I completely forgot Ravenna.
Ferrara and Bologna are very good suggestion (I have to admit I'm from
Bologna...), while Ravenna imho is a "can't miss".

Edoardo

I have a strong bias toward Lake Como and most especially toward Bellagio.
Yes it is a tourist magnet but not without reason. It's a pretty and
peaceful place with a lot of character. While there are a number of hotels
in Bellagio at all price levels my personal favorite is Il Perlo Panorama.
It's a short distance (about 4 km) above the town of Bellagio and offers
spectacular views of the lake. It's small and quaint but spotlessly clean
and absolutely serene. For the budget minded, it's less the 90 euros/ for a
double with bath. If larger towns suit you better, the town of Como is a
good choice. The rail link to Milan is very convenient. The Metropols
Suisse hotel is a nice 3-star hotel right on the water and an easy walk to
anything "within the walls". Hydrofoils make easy access to any/all of the
towns around the lake. Day passes are available and boats run frequently so
its relatively inexpensive way to see a lot of the lake in a short time.

Enjoy
-v-
--

(Remove the mystery meat to reply!)





"Sheldon Bell" wrote in message
m...
We will be in Rome for a 2 week class, then Capri for 2 days, then we are
planning to spend 7 days in Italy any way we see fit. We both of course
want to spend SOME time in Venice, but would also like to see Lake Como
and
perhaps enjoy natural scenic beauty, like near the alps. Just a feeling,
but I think after 2-3 days in Venice, it will be time to move on. Any
other
cities in the north of Italy you'd recommend? Specific places to stay
would
also be beneficial..We're in our early 50's, and would like to keep the
nightly stay under 100 Euros or as close as possible. (How much US money
this will amount to in July is anybody's guess !!! :-(

Sheldon


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