Day trip from Venice for a train lover & photographer
 

We are going to be in Venice for 7 days in April, and I am starting to think about a day trip.

My boyfriend loves trains, and I would like to plan a day that makes the most of the actual train trip. Also, both of us are amateur photographers -- we would love somewhere picturesque and off the beaten path.

Last interest: I do a lot of writing about local food and farmer's markets. Would LOVE if there was somewhere with a market built into our day trip.

I have been reading previous posts and see options for the usual suspects: Verona, Padua, etc.

I am considering Bologna, though that would just be to return to Trattoria da Gianni where we went a couple of years ago ...

Also considering Parma because I really loved the artwork there when I went like 10 years ago.

Thoughts, considering our specific interests?

Thank you so much!

Have you looked into Vicenza? It has stunning architecture and marvelous views of the countryside from Villa Valmarana (double-check my spelling) and the Basilica. There's also a gorgeous green park. We spent a Thursday there and the streets were packed with markets--food as well as knick-knacks.

Here are our pictures from that trip--you'll have to scroll through Verona, Mantova, and Lake Garda to get to Vicenza.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/s...;sm=1&sl=1

It is possible, if you plan carefully to
start in Venice and then do Verona, then on to Cremona, your next stop is Parma, then Mantua, then Padua, and then go back to Venice.

((I))

We will be taking a trip to Venice in 18 days and I just showed my 8 year old son your pics of Venice. He had a lot of questions and asked if we were going to take a gondola ride. I said why would we , we just saw your pics. We don't need to.;) What a great job. I always find it funny that people would post pics of their trip for all to see. Great pics. What camera did you use? How many pixels was the camera the pics were very sharp. Also what month did you go? Thanks for sharing

frankdaddy,

Are you asking these questions of me or ira? His posted pics are floating around as well.

The cities already suggested sound good (I've only been to some of them), but another possibility is Ravenna. I went last year, as a day trip from Ferrara, and I was totally in awe of the mosiacs there. They are one of the top 10 sights I have seen in my life.

Jocelyn

I am asking you the question about the pics. Also how much memory did you use for the trip on your camera. I have purchased additional memory for my camera and want to make sure I can take enough pics without worrying about running out of memory. Thanks for your info. Less than 2 weeks to go before my trip.

Hi frankdaddy,

We were there in May 2004, which was such a great time to be in Italy. As far as the camera goes, it's a Sony Cybershot, 3.3 megapixels. We bought it about 3-4 years ago and DH is already lamenting the fact that it's "outdated." I think it works fine, but what do I know? ;)

We had with us I think 5-6 memory sticks, with each holding 80 or so pictures. I'd load up with pictures during the day, then most nights before bed I'd sift through them and delete the junk so I'd always have lots of space available. We are lucky to have family with a camera that uses the same memory sticks, so we borrowed theirs, and returned them after we'd downloaded the pictures to a CD.

About the gondola ride: Venice in general did not enchant me, but the gondola ride was absolute magic. We almost got right back on another one once it was over! Yes, it's expensive, but it's unlike any other experience and worth every penny. Have a great trip!