Jerrymrehs

We are leaving Venice on Thursday, April 10 and have reservations in Florence beginning Tuesday, April 14. I'm interested in ideas for towns to visit that will be a bit more relaxed and have some natural beauty around.

These 4 days are in the middle of a three week trip to Italy. I am considering renting a car as we leave Venice and dropping it off as we arrive in Florence. The idea is to have this time less structured and more for exploring the area.

We'd like to include Ravenna. Any ideas for slower paced towns?

Would we be able to find lodging without advance reservations?

Thanks in advance,
Jerry

bobthenavigator

I would include the Dolomites and Verona in those 4 days---maybe Lake Garda as well.

sandralist

It would be a total waste of your time and money to go to the Dolomiti in April. Almost hotel and restaurant will be closed and you could have more than just lousy, view-obscuring weather but actually road-closing snow and ice.

Although Ferrara is located in a flat plain, and thus its surrounding natural beauty is more in the nature of the mysterious, misty wetlands of the Po river (which are actually rather lovely), it makes a convenient base for visiting Ravenna (which itself is a nicely slow, handsome town by the way). Ferrara has pretty gardens in the springtime and quite a few corners and interiors to explore, and a unique cuisine. You can park the car for a day and visit Bologna, which is a treat, or take in Comacchio or Lugo, and there are interesting restaurants around there (if you like fishy, squirmy stuff! I do.)

If you prefer elevated views of a Tuscan-like patchwork of vineyards, then you might check out the castle town of Brisighella, which is tinier than Ferrara but makes a reasonable base for visiting Ravenna, and villages like Dozza, or Santarcangelo di Romagna or Rimini are quite doable. If you like the idea of getting of the beaten track, you can potter around endlessly and make your own discoveries. It is an area of great history, from multiple eras, and fabulous food, and hardly anybody visits. But that doesn't mean it isn't great. Just that it is under the radar.

Jean

If you have any interest in majolica, you would enjoy a day (maybe two) in Faenza. There are many workshops in the town and a museum housing a huge collection of ceramics from around the world. Time constraints limited our time in the museum, but I loved the sections containing pieces from Faenza in the 14th C., Italy during the Renaissance and some of the contemporary sculptures.

We also made a short visit to Dozza (SE of Faenza) to look at the painted houses and town fortress (and enoteca in the cellar).

HappyTrvlr

Vicenza is a lovely town as is Bassano del Grappa, both very different experiences. Also look at Padua.

sandralist

Regarding advance reservations on April 14, I doubt you would need any. But if you have some target towns, you might want to double check in advance as to whether they might be having something special going on -- like a trade fair or festival -- on those days. Basically just do a google search for "trade fair festival Faenza April 2015" (or whatever town interests you). Also try a backup search in Italian like "fiera feste sagra Aprile Ferrara 2015". Do it just before you leave as well, because sometimes events are really promoted on the web until the last minute.

If you are traveling with a wifi connection, you can book hotels 24 hours in advance or less using booking.com, and it can be a good way to sort through the possibilities, since the website is very good about informing you as to location, parking, wi-fi, etc. plus pictures and user reviews.

Holly_uncasdewar

Not to be picky, but Thursday is April 9 (Friday's the 10th). Just in case you do make reservations somewhere.

twoflower

Another thumbs-up for visiting Ravenna, either by staying there or using somewhere nearby as a base and doing a day trip there. It's on the way (more or less), whereas Vicenza or Bassano are less so. For slow pace, if driving to Ravenna on the coast road (which you might do if staying there rather than day-tripping to it), call into Chioggia. It's the working-person's Venice, non-touristy, laid back, quite delightful.

Jerrymrehs

Thank you all. These are all great suggestions and I'm poring over my road map. Holly, thanks for date correction. We are leaving Venice on Friday, April 10.