Hello. I am going to do a tour of North Italy by car this Easter. I like history(eg castles, monuments, old towns) and folklore(eg festivals..). Could you recommend some places/towns to visit or Easter events that I shound attend?
thanks
Alexandros

North Italy is a big place. Where do you start your trip? If in Milano (it has a castel) you could go east to Verona, with its castle (now a marvelous art museum) and first rate Roman arena. Also consider Mantova. Trentino has a history all it's own if you are traveling that far north. So does Salo on Lago di Garda. And, of course, there is Venice -- but ditch that car.

Or are you heading west toward the vicinity of France?

We will start(and finish) from Milan and the initial plan is to head west towards Aosta. However I am open to other suggestions

Lago Maggiore with Isola Bella will be the first choice. See also Lago di Como with formidable palaces.

Here's a link to a comprehensive site listing festivals in Italy with a search by region & months.

http://www.hostetler.net/italy/italy.cfm

Near Milan is the town of Bergamo, which has 2 sections, upper & lower. The upper is the old preserved hill town, old walled city, fought over between the powers of Venice & Milan. You can see some symbols of Venice in the architecture even though it's so close to Milan. Napolean had many of the symbols destroyed when he captured the city. It's a great little town, also has papal history, a tower to climb, museums and great food.

However this sounds just about like any other town in Italy.

Here's a web site that will show you many castles. This link is to Piedmonte castels, you can search for other areas also.

http://www.castlesontheweb.com/photo...amp;sessionid=

In Varenna on Lago Como is the littlest castle I have been in, in a beautiful spot overlooking the lake & Varenna.