We arrive in Milan Jan 2 just after 2 pm. We had originally intended to overnight in Milan before going on to Lake Como for 3 nights be decided to put off Lake Como for another time when we could enjoy it more. This leaves 3-4 nights until we arrive in Venice. We have yet to see Verona, Padua and Vicenza and thought we would spend that time seeing these cities.

Which of those 3 cities do you think would be best as a base? We are thinking Verona would work best but are not sure.

If practical, we would skip Milan and go directly to one of those cities, probably by train. If we did that we would have 4 nights in the base city during which time we would take day trips to the other two. Does that sound practical to you? Any other ideas?

Which of those cities would be easiest to reach from the Milan airport?

Thanks as always,
B'stoke

I'd choose Verona. It has many things of interest, great food and wine, and is a transit hub with many train lines crossing there--easy to visit Padua and Vicenza, as well as the harder to reach Mantua (Mantova).

By the way, from Malpensa, take the express bus to Milano Centrale, then a train to Verona. Vicenza and Padua are both further east along the same train line.

Also forgot to say, I have used Verona twice as a base for precisely the daytrips you mention.

I'd probably pick Verona. I stayed in Padua for 7 nights in July and did day trips to Verona and Vicenza and I really like Padua. I had wanted to stay in Verona but it was opera season and everything was booked (in my price range). I really did love Padua but wished I had more time in Verona (I was there about 12 hours). But if I stayed in Verona I probably would have felt the same way about Padua. Of the three I felt Vicenza had the least to offer, and it is much smaller. I also did Bologna as a day trip. They are all wonderful. My photos of all these cities are at: www.pbase.com/annforcier/veneto_and_bologna

Thanks all. We decided to skip Milan and go straight to Verona where we will base at the Albergo Torcolo for 4 nights of Verona and day trips before going on to 3 nights in Venice (Palazzo Guardi).

The Albergo Torcolo seems very nice on its website with what appears to be a good location and has good TA reviews. The price is right too. Any feedback?

Is there a reason you are not basing out of Venice and then doing day trips from there? I think there is so much to offer in Venice and it would be nice to have the option of skipping a day trip to enjoy more of Venice. I find that day trips by train from Venice to Padua, Verona and Vicenza are very easy. Just a thought.

We thought of that but decided to base in Verona and then spend time in Venice because we have both been to Venice before, myself 4X and DW once. We thought basing out of Verona would bring some new experiences, one of which is the change of a city's character from day to night.