Base help - 3 nights in Northern Italy
 

Hi! This July we have free 2-3 nights on our way from Lech, Austria through Brenner pass to Varenna . We looking for a base to visit couple amazing walkable cities.We are not going to have car. Last year we have visited Florence, Venice and Verona. So we looking for lovely city, sort of mini Verona, but not Verona, relatively less touristy. It does not have to have major attractions, but should be attraction by itself. And it should be alive for nice evening stroll after dinner. From last year trip my favorite cities were Verona, Camogli (day time), Portofino (day time), Portovenere, Lerici to give you idea about our taste. We would like to stay all 2-3 nights in the same hotel and visit other city by train or bus. We already have a plan to visit Bergamo, Como, Bellagio from Varenna.
Mantua, Padua, Cremona, Vicenza? We are open for any suggestions- it should be picturesque in day time and not empty in the evening.

Chioggia - very pretty, a mini-Venice of sorts.

Ravenna - has that small-town touch around the Piazza dei Signori (with the market) and the Piazza del Duomo and elsewhere - locals are still doing the passegiata after the tour buses have left. And there are the fabulous mosaics of course, which bring the tour buses there in the first place.

Padua - in spots has still that pretty old-town look and feel. And the Giotto frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel of course.

Mantua, Padua, Cremona, Vicenza. There all worth a visit.
Vicenza if you are interested in Palladio.

THEY ARE all worth a visit. -:(

Mantova and Padova the two we'd return to.

I seriously had the best tuna sandwich of my life in Padova, if that helps.

I am in love with Torino.

Is Vicenza the city close to which are the castles of Romeo and Juliet ?
I had a a splendid afternoon there but must go back and visit Vicenza - just saw it from an overlooking hill.

The region is beautiful. We had a car.

Ferrara, nicer than Ravenna, although you can day trip to Ravenna. Agree about Turin, but it's even more out of the way.

As a good Belgian I visited Ferrara and also rosignano.
At the time I was a 'Solvaini' myself.

Lech - Varenna:
as you plan the huge detour via Innsbruck - Brenner, the places to visit are already set:
Sterzing, Ortisei, Brixen, Bolzano/Bozen, Meran, Trento, Rovereto, Riva del Garda....
Check to stay either at Bolzano/Bozen or at Trento.

Definitely Vicenza. Very walkable, historic, lively at night, and good train service to/from other locales.

Thank you all for your recommendations. I like all this cities. I see some problem with logistics though. It looks I can
1. Stay in Mantova for 2-3 nights and visit Cremona.
2. Stay in Padova for 2-3 nights and visit Chioggia and Vichenca.
3. Stay in Verona for 3 nights and do 2 side trips to Mantova and Padova. But in this case I will miss evenings in both of them.
I sort of like Mantova, but connections is pretty bad for any other good places, but Cremona.
Ferrara and Ravenna is a bit off my way to Milan.
By the way, I stay last 2 nights in Milan after Varenna and can do 1 short trip from there. May be Stressa or Torino?

<Mantua, Padua, Cremona, Vicenza>

Been to all of them and you can't really go wrong.

Last summer I spent a couple of nights in Cremona which I enjoyed, but would say probably least of the four. The main piazza is amazing but the rest of the city is just normal Italian great. There was some kind of craft fair/sidewalk sale with music and food event so it was very lively in evenings, but I'd guess without that it would be fairly quiet.

I did a day trip from Cremona to Mantua. A different trip I did a day trip from Verona to Mantua. Some trip soon I'll do an overnight there, I imagine it would be nice.

I spent a week in Padua and didn't get bored.

Another suggestion though given where you are coming from would be Bolzano with day trip to Trento. Several others you could do from there. That was delightful at night.

Photos of all these:
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/cremona
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/mantova
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/padua
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/vicenza_treviso_trieste
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/dolo...ino_alto_adige

Train connections from Mantova:
to Cremona - Piadena and Parma about every hr
to Modena about every hr (1 hr journey)
to Verona about every hr (45 min journey)

If you would take a more direct titnerary, you could visit towns like Feldkirch, Chur, Bellinzona, Lugano, Scuol-Tarasp

Isabel, thank you for sharing great pictures. Is it possible to get to this places in Val Gardena without car? Mantua was my favorite choice at the beginning, but now I start thinking, may be it will be too hot in July and I should stick to higher elevation?
Neckervd, thank you for your recommendations, I will think about it.