Starting in Venice, plan a 10-day vacation in Northern Italy. Ideally, we are thinking 2-3 days in Venice, a night in Verona, and ultimately going on to the Dolomites. We are already committed to staying in a home (through a home-exchange) in Falcade, Italy. So that will be our base for at least five nights. We are traveling at the beginning of August -- we will be three adults and two kids ages 10 and 12. I would like 1) recommendations for hotels in Venice --nice, quaint, quiet, but not-over-the-top pricey (no Cipriani's) hotel rec (some restaurant recommendations would be great as well!) 2) where should we rent our car --should we take a train to Verona or some other town and then rent a car, or rent the car starting in Venice (after touring Venice, of course). 2) Where to go after Venice? 3) good recommendations for side trips from Falcade.
A few things to bear in mind:
--we will be flying in and out of Venice
--we are interested in a mix of activities both cultural and outdoors
--we are traveling with two kids who are great travelers, but will not be thrilled looking at too many cathedrals and frescoes. Want to hit the "not to be missed" cultural highlights, but otherwise would like it to be a fairly active itinerary --thinking hiking and biking in the Dolomites, a day trip or overnight in Cortina D'Ampezzo.
--we love good food -- not over-the-top fancy, but we are a very food-focused group
Thank you so much in advance for any advice!!
Travel Through Northern Italy
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You could go see the ice man in Bolzano.
http://www.bolzano.net/english/iceman.html
Sounds like a great trip. I am jealous. But here are a few things to think about.
1. Are you flying from the US? Is it possible to return from somewhere else than Venice? It is fine to fly into there, but all the connections to US flights leave very early. Very, very early.
2. How do the adults/children divide up as a group? You may need three rooms in a hotel in Venice since rooms for more than two are rare. Who sleeps with whom? Stay longer and find an apartment.
3. I would pick up the car in Verona since the road from Venice to Verona has all the charm of the Jersey Turnpike. Hard to believe but true, and you certainly won't want a car in Verona itself. Once you head north, it will get nicer fast. Return it at the Venice (or wherever) airport.
4. After Venice? I would add at least another day there. You will find that 2-3 days is not enough. If you got an apartment in Venice, you could take day trips to Padua and Vicenza by train. I'm too sleepy to figure out how many other days you have, but Verona could take more than one day and/or you could take a day trip to Vicenza. Alternatively, you could spend a day each in Padua, Vicenza, and Verona but that multiplies your hotel problem.
Your trip sounds wonderful.
If you do get to Verona, which we really enjoyed, you might check ou Hotel Torcolo, located right by Piazza Bra and the Roman Arena.
http://www.hoteltorcolo.it/en/index.html