We are picking a base town for a half week segment of our upcoming (June 2005) trip. We want to tour/ daytrip Verona, Vicenza, dolomites, posibly also Montagnana, Arqua Petrarcha, and Este. If we are looking for a base town with good walking experince, old architecture, etc.

Any recomendations?

(Bayeaux was great).
Thanks

Basanno del Grappa !
Great town, good location, interesting history. Good luck !

Check out Asolo. Lovely small town (not that far from Basano del Grappo), beautiful surrounding hills, wonderful restaurants in the area. We spent a night there and could have stayed much longer. Close enough to the Dolomites for a day trip. Venice was our next stop--an easy drive.

I spent a bout a week in Vicenza and took day trips to Venice, Verona, Padua and Morostica. Vicenza was home to the late great architect, Andrea Palladio.
The website below shows some of the buildings.

Cheers!

Tamara

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/vicenza.htm

Eurotraveler: How did Vicenza work as a base? I am considering it for a several night stay from which to visit Venice (I know the overwhelming vote is to stay in Venice, but costs are adding up too quickly.) and then rent a car for some days to access the smaller towns. How large is Vicenza?

If you want a city to stroll around with fine architecture, you should take Vicenza or Padova.
If the main thing you'll do is visiting surrounding towns by car, why not take Cittadella, a very calm, pocket size town, 2 main streets crossing in front of the church, surrounded by its medieval walls.

I'll look at the town you suggested.

If we choose to stay outside of Venice, I'm looking for a town (we prefer smaller towns to cities) that has decent train access into Venice (and ultimately on to Rome for later in the trip) but also has a car rental agency. I was hoping to find one place as a base and therefore, not have to switch hotels.

I'd suggest Treviso

One of the most charming towns in Veneto ...

Steve

xxxx, Vicenza is fairly small and very quaint. I loved it as a base. We could walk to the train statin to catch a train to Venice. We rented a car and that is how we explored some of the other cities in the area. I liked the fact that there were very few tourists. There is a nice market on Saturdays, I think, selling books, clothing, food and just about anything you might need.

Eurotraveller--where did you stay?

Oh boy. I ws afraid you would ask me that. It was about 4 years ago and I don't remember. We stayed right within the walled part of the city. It was a prime loaction near shops and restaurants and it was very nice and not terribly expensive. It very well could have been Hotel Vicenza. I will see if I have any notes about that trip.

Does the Hotel Campo Marzio ring a bell with you?

Are the pictures you posted a link to taken by you?

How far is the Romeo and Juliet Mausoleum from the railroad station?
We are going to spend 4 days in Venice, and plan to take a day trip to Padua and Verona.

No, I didn't take those. They are on a site I found before I went to Italy the first time.

Thanks everybody.

I spent a few weeks in Vicenza while on temporary duty with the military, and easily took several side trips to Venice, Verona, Padua, etc. Less than 45 minutes by train to any of those cities. The market place in Verona was particularly nice. Don't miss touring the ancient opera house in Vicenza as it was amazing - small, but the use of perspective on the stage from that time period was very interesting.

I can't help with hotels since we were put up in a hotel (Castelli?) on the main drag from Verona to Padua and it's not what I would have chosen.

We also managed to drive to a little nearby town that made handpainted dinnerware and had a seconds shop. I bought about a hundred pieces for $1 each. They had "TJ Maxx" stickers on them for more than $10 each. I wish I could tell you the town but I've forgotten.