2 Weeks - Northern Italy! Itinerary Suggestions?
 

Hello all - our original trip in early October has just been moved back a month and extended by a couple of days. We will now arrive in Venice on 9/5 and leave from Venice on 9/19. we are looking at staying a few days in Venice (we've been there before), then driving or taking the train to several surrounding towns/areas in the Dolomites - Asolo, Trento, Bolzano, Verona. With the two extra days, would a trip to Milan be worth it? Also - could most of this be done without a car and just use the trains? The flights are booked - hotels have to be adjusted with the new timing and possible additional stops. Our interests on this trip are more art, music, food, history - after extensive time in Rome and Florence, we're a bit 'duomo'd out'. SHould we travel from town to town or use one as a base (excluding venice and milan which are obvious base locations) Any experiences, suggestions, etc will be very appreciated.

>With the two extra days, would a trip to Milan be worth it?<

IMO - No.

>could most of this be done without a car and just use the trains?<

I can't visualize seeing and enjoying the Dolomites other than with the use of a car.

Add Vicenza to your list. Also Lake Garda.

Hi CM - You can certainly visit the cities you've mentioned very easily by train (- except Asolo, which you can reach by bus).

But if you want to see the best of the Dolomites it would be better to have a car in that area.

If you want to base in the Dolomites for a few days I'd suggest Ortisei - a charming Tyrolean village in the beautiful Val Gardena.

www.valgardena.it

Dolomite views:
http://www.ortisei.com/english/gallerie1.html
http://www.dolomitigallery.com/estate/index.htm

Hope this helps ...

Steve

You can make a circle of the Dolomites using public transportation by training from Venice to Pieve di Cadore, then taking a bus the 20km or so to Cortina D'Ampezzo. From Cortina you take a bus the 30 km or so to Dobbiaco where you connect with the train lines again and take a train directly to Bolzano. Along that route Bressanone is a nice town.

You can find the bus schedules from Venezia-Mestre to Cortina here:

http://www.atvo.it/eng/indexen.php

and the schedules from Cortina to Dobbiaco here:

http://www.sii.bz.it/

As of now, it looks like we'll fly into Venice and spend 3 nights; pick up a car and drive to Verona for 2 nights; up to Bolzano for 2 nights, over to Riva Del Garda for 2 or 3 nights, to Milan for 3 nights (drop car in Milan) and take the train back to Venice for one night before flying home. The hotels are set in Venice and Bolzano; looking at Hotel Star in Milan, Mirage in Riva Del Garda and Hotel Aurora in Verona.