North Italy
 

In September 2012 I will be visiting Italy with my wife for the first time. We will be going from the 7th to the 23rd. The first 7 nights I want to spend then in Northern Italy around some lakes and mountains in a good city, that i can make easy day trips by train or bus from the base. We will then after go to Firenze and Rome. Now at first I was thinking about Lake Garda but I'm worried that it will be packed with tourist. Any other ideas please of where I can spend..I saw Lake Maggiore, Valle D'Aosta and Bolzano, but I'm not finding good information/itinerary about them. Note that I will be flying into Milan on the 7th arriving there at around 10.30am.

Your help is much appreciated.

There should be plenty of info on all three areas that you referenced above. As your plans are still so fluid, you might want to check out your local library, or Amazon or a local retail bookshop for the Fodors (or even other!) book guides to these areas to help you narrow it down and then come back on here for more specific info.

Personally, we loved the area in Umbria accessible with Perugia as a base, but that may be more central than 'north' for your purposes.

For a totally different (from Firenze/Rome)Italian experience, check out references to Trieste.

If I had to base myself in Brenzone is it doable to do day trips by train/public transport to other areas and some mountains with cable cars?

I wanted to mean Bolzano not Brenzone.

Had some look on trains and buses and came up with a provisional plan...so lets say I will do 7 nights in Bolzano, that will make 6 full days..I will spend them like this:

2 days around Bolzano
1 day Trip to Merano (Train)
1 day Trip to Trento (Train)
1 day Trip to Bressanone (Train)
1 day Trip to Siusi (Bus)

What do you think? Any suggestions feel free to make.

rbezzina - my last italian lesson was all about Bolzano which turns out to be a very interesting place so yes, it seems like a great idea to me.

don't sell Bolzano itself short though - they have a very active tourist office that will supply you with details of a number of self-guided walks which could keep you quite busy.

Hi rb,

>I was thinking about Lake Garda but I'm worried that it will be packed with tourist. <

There is a reason why some places are "packed with tourists". Usually because there is a lot worth seeing and doing.

Florence and Rome aren't going to be empty.

Have you considered Naples and the Amalfi Coast?

Is there a reason for skipping Venice?

You are a first time visitor, yet you are picking a sort of out-of-the way place to visit for a week.

((I))

PS,

Have you considered Lake Garda?

Ira - the one time we get a "newbie' who is being adventurous, you try to put him off!

Bolzano is a great idea and shouldn't be over-run with tourists that time of year, though i suspect that it will have its fair share of Germans and austrians as it is bi-lungual.

yes Garda is lovely, but no better than Bolzano IMHO.

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Personally I think the second half of September is a bit risky for Bolzano and its environs. You could get cloudy and rainy weather that would cut into the enjoyment of being in the mountains. If you are heded to Bolzano mainly so you can get on trains to go to other cities, consider staying in Verona and only going to the mountains or lakes if the weather is very nice. You can go to Trento in an hour by train from Verona, but you can also go to Mantova or Bologna if it is pouring rain.

I don't think in the second half of September that Lago di Garda is too crowded, but the best spots take a long time to reach by train from Milan. You would need to take a train to Peschiera del Garda (2 hours, with a change in Milan, then a taxi to the boat dock, and then a boat to Limone sul Garda or a town nearby). It might be best if you spent the first night in Milan, and headed out the next day.

It is much easier to reach Lago di Como or Lago Maggiore by train from Milan.

Seven days is a long time to spend on the lakes unless you really enjoy outdoor activities. The towns are mostly set up for modern holidaying by the lake shore, although you can find some antique towns and corners.

I agree that you shouldn't worry too much about crowds of tourists in September.

We very much enjoyed Bolzano when visiting in March several years back. There is a very nice town center with a pretty Dom, arcaded shops, great mountain scenery all around, and a good location for day trips by train or car. Do not miss: The Museum of Archaeology, home of Uetzi, the bronze-age man found in the alpa. Day tripas to Castelrotto to see the frescos. And to Trento which has an interesting old town center and some top-notch restaurants.

What about splitting your week: half the time in Bolzano and half the time on the waters edge somewhere? (And `waters edge' could certainly include Venice, btw.)

(For me, the possiblility of rainy weather wouldn't much affect choice of destination -- we visited Castlerotto castle in the rain and enjoyed it very much anyway. Venice too.)

As for choice of airport, Italian friends have pointed out that getting from Milan to Trento/Bolzano/etc by train is easier from Venice than from Milan.

To clarify: Venice to mountains is easier than Milan to mountains.

The weather in Bolzano in Sep will be very good. We have spent time in that area twice in Sep. and loved it. The historic weather data says an average of 8 days of precip in Sep---not bad.

I really must disagree that weather shouldn't be a consideration when planning a trip to the Dolomiti. Sure there is always a castle or local museum you can visit, but the low cloud cover or rain can totally elminate the views in the Dolomiti, which is why most people want to go to that area.

The latter half of September can have dry weather, and it would be unusual for the area to receive 6 days of rain. I would prefer to stay someplace like Verona where it is easy to visit Trento or Bolzano when I am certain it is nice day there, and have more options for other destinations more interesting to me if weather in Northern Italy is rainy. But someone else might prefer the opposite (stay in Bolzano, go to Verona if it rains). But I would factor the weather into my considerations when deciding where to stay for 7 days in Northern Italy at any time of year.

My two guidebooks to the Dolomiti say that September is the best time to visit -- crisp clear days are likely, and winter not yet arrived. They also suggest, in their hiking guide sections, that what rain there is,is short-lived: i.e., if you have a hike planned in the morning, and it rains, simply wait until the afternoon and go.

I admit the charms of Verona are lost on me -- I have never understood why people find it attractive, compared to nearby alternatives -- but it seems downright odd to suggest it as a base for visiting the lakes and mountain towns.

Hi all,

Thanks for all the suggestions. reading the above posts made me think twice and I think I will choose Lake Garda (may be Sirmione) over the South Tyrol. What I'm finding it a bit hard is going around without a car.

What I'm finding it a bit hard is going around without a car.>>

that won't be a problem on Lake Garda - there is a terrific boat service between the different towns on the lake, plus buses.

What I'm finding it a bit hard is going around without a car. - This sentence I was referring it to The Dolomites / South Tyrol. As such I was thinking about 2 possibilities..either Lake Garda or South Tyrol, but from what I ready I think it would be better to go to Lake Garda.

What about Trento? Sorry people because I'm mixing you up, but I'm still undecided about the first part..what I'm looking for is something nice as a base in nice scenery and some mountains that is great to make day trips to other places with public transport.

That is your problem---public transportation.
With that limitation, I suggest Bolzano is still your best bet.

So you think that I can do it in Bolzano?

I think Bolzano or Trento would be better for public transportation that Lago di Garda. The boats on Lago di Garda can be slow going. For cultural reasons, I would probably prefer Trento to Bolzano, and in late September, I would probably base in Trento because if the weather is lousy, a day trip south might give me a sunny day, while a day trip north on the same day probably wouldn't but no guarantees.

I am sorry that when I first read your post I didn't grasp that you were going in the first half of September. I thought it was the second half. Regarding historic weather averages, it really is close to meaningless. Even more so is one traveler's testimonial that they loved the weather when they went in September. I headed there on September 6 2010 and ended up taking a huge detour to avoid a fewl days of rain. I circled back a few days later and enjoyed i2 days of very nice weather, and then left the area as clouds lowered and rain was on its way again.

But like I said before, you are unlikely to get 7 days of unfavorable weather in your time frame, and you may get picture perfect weather for 7 days straight.

Have a great trip!

I did some small readings on Trento, looks to be interesting and it is placed in nice scenary. Any one been there? Is public transport to other parts for day trips good? I read somewhere that there is a cable car that takes you to a mountain for some walks..am I correct?

I've been to Trento -- it is a lovely small town with great views, a nice old town center and Dom, great for walking around in. There are some terrific restaurants.

It is easy to get to Trento by train from Venice/parts south. (I spent my days attending a conference, though, and wasn't able to get out and about much -- can't help with transporation questions. )

Trento is considerably smaller than Bolzano, though -- probably more to do in the larger town.

Hmmm..ok I will do some more research on Bolzano.

Hi again,

as i mentioned above, my interest in Bolzano was piqued by the work we did on it on our last italian lesson, so I thought it might be interesting to find the tourist office website, which i did via google:

http://www.bolzano-bozen.it/index.php?lang=en

if you look on the RH side of the page, you'll see a box called mobility [ "buses etc"] - click on that, go to the link to bolzano - the region, and you will find this:

http://www.sii.bz.it/en/siipdftimetables

it looks as if there are loads of places you can go from Bolzano. and the timetable is in english, though a knowledge of german would also be useful - it really is bi-lingual.

you could e-mail the tourist office if you have specific queries.

Good luck!

I think I will be makeing my first base Bolzano, will do some day trips from there..my primary idea about this base is so that we stay for some days in the heart of scenary and mountains and we can then do some day trips from there, the first part of my holiday I just want to look more into scenary and nature rather then culture as then I will have a good dose of culture once i'm in Florence (Tuscany) and Rome.