3 days outside Venice
 

Hello..My husband has to be in Venice in October for work and I have convinced him to take me along! We are going to have three days after to drive a bit. Realizing that we don't have much time, I am trying to figure out the best places to go. My goal is to just drive/hike to see the beauty of the Italian countryside and eat wonderful food. I would like to see/stay in small, quintessential Italian villages. Unfortunately we won't have time to get to South Tuscany which I think would be the ideal place. My initial thought is to head towards the Parma region. Would love recommendations on specific towns/villages and thoughts if this is the right direction.
Thank you in advance!

Do you have to return to Venice to fly home?

How late in October are the three days?

Jean-We haven't booked tickets yet, so it might be feasible to fly out of a different city though will be fare dependent. It is the beginning of October, probably October 4-7. Based on my initial research, I was looking at either heading North towards Montagnana, Asiago, Vittorio. Or East toward Bologna, Parma, Vignola..

I agree with alevi7475, and in particular would recommend heading north, given your description of what you want. Do some google searches for "Prosecco Road in Italy"

Driving through prosecco country and staying wineries isn't a bad idea. It's not Tuscany, but there are some nice places and towns in the Veneto region.

I highly recommend the Alice Relais B&B where they produce Bellenda prosecco. Great rooms, nice owners. Ask for a tour of the wine-making operation.

sorry I just noticed my post is missing words! Should have written "I agree with your ideas, alevi....

Here's a link for you

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/20...-prosecco-road

Wanted to add a thought which is that if you feel more attracted to Emilia-Romagna that areas north of Venice, consider Brisighella and that area for a home base and include a visit to Ravenna for the mosaics. Around that area you can find more in the way of pretty natural scenery.

Since your other consideration is food, the north/south divide here is polenta vs. pasta. People living north of Venice do eat pasta, but it is really the Emilia-Romagna area where pasta excels (and wine is negligible). There is good pasta all over the E-R, including in Brisighella and Ravenna, but if my targets for Emilia-Romagna were Parma and Bologna, I'd skip renting a car and take the train (even to Vignola). Or if I had a car, I'd stay in an agriturismo in the low hills of Modena and visit Vignola/Castelvetro, Parma and Modena, and skip Bologna.

The Veneto region right outside of Venice has many beautiful towns to visit- Vicenza, Bassolo de Grappa, Asolo, Padua. For this plan rent a car.
Also love Bologna and surrounding towns.
You have lots of possibilies, all good.