PADUA, VERONA AND THE VENETO

The Veneto was once the heart of Venice's empire, yet little in the watery capital can prepare you for the crisp alpine villages of the Dolomites or the civic pavilions of Vicenza and Padua. Easy day-trips by train or car (see our handy map of train journeys in the Veneto), these towns and cities are an added pleasure to a visit to Venice. Read on for links to the best tourist information sources.

Padua tourist information

Just over half an hour from Venice. Padua's treasure is the Scrovegni Chapel, Giotto's masterwork; the Giotto chapel official home page tells you how you can book tickets in advance (essential to avoid disappointment). The official Padua tourist office site, run by the APT (Azienda di Promozione Turistica di Padova) is also available.

Vicenza information

Just 20 minutes further than Padua by train, this town is a living museum of Palladio. Vicenza's official APT tourist guidance site is only available in Italian laced with ropey English translations. Along with the main Palladian monuments in Vicenza, above all the Teatro Olimpico (see the Teatro Olimpico official site in Italian or an unofficial site with better photos), most visitors want to see the Palladian villas of the Brenta - ably described by Boglewood.com, which describes Palladio as "the most influential architect in the history of architecture". The most convenient way for you to see the villas is to hire a car at Piazzale Roma for the day - or to take a trip with ...

... Venice Day-Tours

Monica (Italian) and Jonathan (British) offer intimate, well-informed day tours of the Veneto region, picking up the eight participants (maximum) directly from Venice. Tours include: Palladio Villas and Palladio's Vicenza; the Dolomites and Cortina; Verona and the Soave, Valpolicella and Prosecco wine regions; and the Eugenean hills. (They also offer walking tours in Venice itself.)

Verona official sites

The Romans were long gone by the time Venice was founded. For a dose of Roman remains, Verona is your place, above all the Roman arena with its open-air summer opera festival. Take a look at Verona's excellent official tourist information site, which shows the many attractions of this exceptionally beautiful city.

 

One of the most distinctive treasures of the Veneto is the necklace of villas around Vicenza, the masterworks of Palladio. Palladio and Palladianism charts Palladio and his influence on architecture worldwide.

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Belluno & Cortina - Dolomites information

Hardly twin towns, as they are a good distance apart, but both interesting destinations on a drive up into the Dolomites - where Italy begins to looks like Switzerland or Austria - and both share a single official Belluno and Cortina APT tourist office site (fronted by a very representative image of those alarmingly jagged mountains).

Milan shopping

Milan is well beyond the Veneto, and may not win the beauty contest, but for fashion, shopping and opera it has few rivals in northern Italy. After a long absence, there is now an official APT tourist information site for Milan. The opera house Teatro alla Scala has a full, informative website.

Guides to Trieste

This is a crossroads city, with allegiances to Austria and the Balkans. The Trieste official Azienda di Promozione Turistica site (in English) is now a good, informative site.