Patrick

I've always wanted to go to Asolo, partly because I see so much theatre at the Asolo in Sarasota, named for the little opera house they originally brought from the city in Italy. Apparently there are no trains to Asolo. Short of renting a car for the day, is there a logical way to do a day trip to Asolo from Venice?

joegri

Patrick: The quickest way would be a train from Venice to Treviso and then a bus to Bassano which stops at Asolo.
Asolo is delightful in the evening and you will need time to wander the many villas and hike to the fort above the village for the views. Maybe an overnight?

Patrick

Hmm. That's what I had thought a couple years ago when we had booked an overnight there at a lovely villa hotel-- forget the name. But we had to change the itinerary. No extra night this year as we've booked apartments. Maybe we'll do the day trip and thing about going back if we like it when we can stay longer.

mclaurie

I'm frankly surprised to hear there's no train service to Asolo. Since reading Edward Sklepowich's book Liquid Desires, in which the main character seems to go back & forth between the 2 by train, I've been dying to go to Asola. Ah well, fiction is fiction.

zeppo2

I can't vouch for this method, but an article at the UK Telegraph suggests flying into Treviso and taking a taxi the 20 miles to Asolo. The article says, "Ryanair (0870 156 9569) flies direct to Treviso from Stansted; return flights from pounds 110.50 in March. Car rental is an unnecessary expense: Asolo is 15 miles from the airport and best explored on foot. No cars are allowed in the old centre. The taxi fare is a manageable pounds 20." Could you take the train from Venice to Treviso?

sempre_diritto

Patrick,
If you check Mestre station, you will see there is a 8:07 train connecting in Brescia to Asola arrive:10:54.
Train from Asola to Mestre via Brescia at 18:49 arrive Mestre 21:22.
Both have short layovers.

Patrick

We have a major communications problem here. The town I'm talking about is Asolo not Asola -- there is a difference!!! I want to visit the town of Asolo which is northwest of Venice. I have no desire to go to Asola, which is south of Brescia. Or should I??

Steve_James

Patrick - The nearest railway station is Montebelluna - from where there is a bus service to Asolo (- get off at Ca' Vescovo on the main road below Asolo, - from where there is a connecting local bus up into the town).

Otherwise the Treviso route Joegri mentioned is a good one.
Treviso-Asolo takes about 1 hour by bus.
Montebelluno-Asolo takes about 25 mins.

A third possibility is via Bassano, which again is about 30 mins by bus from Asolo.

Take your pick. Whichever route you take it's about 1.5 hours journey time plus any waiting time for the bus.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Patrick

Hmm. We are renting a car the day we leave Venice to go to Montepulciano for the week. I'm beginning to think we should get it a day earlier to do Asolo, and then just park it that night at Piazza Roma -- and make for an early start the next morning. Matching up two trains and two busses to come and go when we don't really know how much time or what else we want to do is starting to sound more involved than it's worth.

Joegri, I didn't know about the hike to the fort. Thanks for that bit. I think we should make a major day of it.

Steve_James

Matching up should be easiest if you combine it with Treviso - which IMO is one of the highlights of the Veneto. A real gem.

The bus station is 5 mins from the train station and close to the town centre. Couldn't be easier ...

Steve

Maggy

I too was captivated with the idea of Asolo because two different friends of mine had spent some time there a few years ago and highly recommended it. So about two years ago my husband and I said goodby to Venice and boarded the train for Treviso then a bus and then another small bus up the hill to Asolo. It was a convoluted way of getting to Asolo but we didn't mind because we like the experience of public transportation and the people you encounter on the way. We wasted much time trying to find the correct bus stop, then waiting close to an hour for the next bus and then being dropped off in pouring rain. This all added to our sense of adventure but not all people would be game for this. I can't imagine doing all this for a day trip. It would be much easier driving a car from Venice, expecially if your time is limited. We stayed at Villa Cipriani and thought we had died and gone to heaven. The town is tiny, no action, no crowds (at least in April when we were there) and utterly charming. We just walked and walked, hiked to the fort above the village, went to the gourmet grocery store, sat in the gorgeous gardens of our hotel and ate the best gnocchi ever. It was a nice escape from the crowds in Venice and the hotel was one of the highlights of our trip...charming, very pretty and private.

greggwt

We are traveling to Italy mid dec. and are trying to decide between venice and Asolo or both.
We are using the Starwood deal.

As of today, we have a few nights in Venice the idea being to recover etc. and then onto Asolo, we would like to keep costs and anxiety down, so were planning on not renting a car.

We are wondering whether we would have enough to interest us in Asolo for 8 days. We are staying at the Villa Cipriani in Asolo.

Any thoughts?? And is there and appreciable difference in cost of eating etc. between Venice and Asolo??

thanks for your thoughts.

Steve_James

I've visited Asolo several times for a morning or afternoon although I've never stayed there.

Without a car it's really not an ideal base as there's no railway station - and even connecting for buses at the bottom of the hill is inconvenient and can mean a lot of waiting around.

Whilst it's a charming village and would be very relaxing for a day or two, I think 8 days would be rather too long IMO.

Steve

ms_go

greggwt:

It's been about a dozen years I think, but we spent a couple of nights in Asolo in early November on a trip through Northern Italy. It is a very nice little town, but I recall it being extremely quiet (at one restaurant, we were the only people at dinner that night). I'm not sure if the weather we had was unusual, but it was quite cool, and there was a haze/fog that more or less obscured the views of the mountains. We walked around Asolo a bit, but the weather wasn't really conducive to spending a lot of time outdoors. We also had a car, so it was easy for us to get around to other places. With the transportation processes that others describe, it won't be the easiest place to base for eight days. I would opt for most of the time in Venice and maybe a couple of days in Asolo as a contrast.

Asolo is definitely a place to which I'd like to return someday, but in a warmer month and only with a car.

Enjoy your trip.

LoveItaly

I don't want to sound negative but I got "stuck" spending a week in Asolo a few years ago and thought I would die of boredom. After 2 or 3 days I kept think of all the other places where I could be. IMHO two day and one night is enough. One of the few places in Italy that really did not do anything for me.

And yes Patrick, Asolo is northwest of Venice. Asolo is the town where the theater in Sarasota FL in now located.

Villa Cipriani is considered a beautiful hotel with a wonderful garden. However, not being sure when you plan to visit I do want to add that when it rains it seems to rain more than anywhere in Italy. I felt drenched most of the time. It was unbelievable.

I read Maggie's post and concur.

If you have a car IMHO that would be the best way to travel to Asolo.

It is a very popular town, and really loved by some. I just think without a car and than spending 8 days would be way too long.