Where to go after the Dolomites
 

A friend and I are going to hike the Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites in Northern Italy. We will have three extra days before we fly out of Venice. What would be the best use of our extra time?

What time of year? We know you like to hike, but what else do you enjoy? Do you have time in Venice?

The Veneto is filled with interesting towns and architecture. Or, Lake Garda.

After the week in the Dolomites (excellent choice) you might want to hop down to Bologna for the remainder of the time. Great food (another recent post on this site regarding it) and a short 3 hour train ride from Tirano to Bologna (with a change in Verona.) The travel time to Venice is 1 1/2 hours on a direct train.

Beautiful little city with much history. I visited twice within one year, both in winter and fall. Or as HappyTrvlr suggested, go on to Venice. Either choice is an excellent one.

Sorry, Tirano should be Trento. Got my T Italian cities interchanged.

The days we are looking for help with are the second week in September.

I think that a good time for Lago di Garda. Can be pretty hot in the Veneto cities but if you don't mind heat, the choice are especially rich.

I always hit Submit too quickly. Someday we will get an Edit feature here.

In any case, you might think about what you would like: art, architecture, history, food, wine, or water sports and a beautiful lake with nice scenery.

On the one hand, any of the famous towns of the Veneto; on the other, Lake Garda. We had a great time in Riva del Garda, but picked it for our own reasons, which included being on the way from Verona to the Dolomites, parking at a decent hotel with good prices and a pool, and relaxing between city sightseeing and hiking in the Dolomites.

We spent most of our time there swimming, taking boat rides around the lake, and eating.