catj

Hi,

In mid-May (2016), We will be driving with a car from Venice and will spend 2 nights (Fri, Sat) somewhere between Venice to CT (our next destination), and return the car in La Spezia on Monday.

We initially thought to stay in Bologna, but we'd actually love to have country-side stay.

We've done it in Austrian Tyrol and loved it there, and are looking for a beautiful impressive country side on our way from Venice to CT to stay there for 2 nights for a unique experience.

We'd be happy to hear your suggestions.

Thank you.

sandralist

If you want scenery remotely resembling to Austria when it comes to "impressive", you should stay north instead of dipping south and go to the northern end of Lago di Garda (or maybe Lago Molveno if you want something really in the countryside -- try agriturismo Ai Castioni, which you can find on booking.com).

then maybe Castell'Arquata or Torrechiara (near Parma)? Pontremoli is actually in Tuscany, but the part of Tuscany that is stuck between Emilia-Romagna and Liguria. None of these places have high mountains. They are hills and castles.

From Venice it is about a 3 hour drive to Castell'Arquata or Torrechiara, and probably closer to 4 hours to Pontremoli. From these locations it is 90 minutes/2 hours to le Cinque Terre.

One more possibility is Castelvetro di Modena, not far from Bologna, and the nearby town of Vignola -- about 2 hours from Venice. But leaving there, depending on what route you take, you face some fairly tiring driving for 3 or 4 hours to get le Cinque Terre.

If you go to the northern end of Lago di Garda or Lago Molveno, it's about a 2 hour drive, but again, from there it is 4 hours to le Cinque Terre

You can look up pictures of all these places on Google, and find other information about them.

sandralist

Sorry for my typo: It is Castell'Arquato. It is in Emilia-Romagna (as is Torrechiara and Castelvetro di Modena)

bilboburgler

I've spent a bit of time cycling around some of this area and found this agriturismo down south of Ferrara. In itself it is not especially lovely, though it is in the middle of nowhere and the busy farmers who run it are very friendly. What I like is the position, only a km from one of the 1930s pumping stations that turned the Po bog into the vast farming expanse that it is now, you can visit and see how all the drainage ditches were dug using out of work italians due to the wall street crash.

There is a lovely little 1100 chapel in the nearby bird sanctuary and the nearby towns are all great examples of Northern Italian Industry that has not been allowed to destroy the style and culture of the area. Farm made wine and food really shows what you can do when you have zero (0) food-miles.

http://www.valcampotto.it/

If you want to read more
http://hubpages.com/holidays/Bicycle...ice-to-Ravenna

bvlenci

The Montefeltro area, inland of San Marino, is very scenic and there are interesting castles and churches there. San Leo, for example, is a very beautiful fortress town high on a cliff.

Most of this area used to be part of Le Marche, where I live, but they voted to secede and attach themselves to Emilia Romagna. I've read that many of them regret it now.

bvlenci

If you go to the Montefeltro area, you might want to visit Urbino while you're there. This is just over the border in Le Marche.