3 day post cruise outside of Venice suggesteions

[boykin]

Looking for recommendations for a 3 day stay post cruise out of Venice first week of May. Initially thinking prosecco region but was also looking at Lake Garda or Verona.  Traveling with husband and mid 20 year old kids. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[bennybear]

The lake area is beautiful!  We also enjoyed Trieste.   Lots to do in Padua, Verona and Vicenza as well.  

[margbem]

Lake Garda is stunning. Stay in Garda itself for easy transport links and lovely walks along the lakeside path.

[ozscotart]

You could get the train to Desenzano del Garda, and stay there, very easy to get around Lake Garda on the boats from there, also on the main line to Milan, which is another possibility. Tickets can be booked easily on trenitalia for long distance trains, not needed for locals. For example, the fast train Venice- Milan takes around 2 hours 20 minutes, to Desenzano 1 hour 20 minutes. 

Verona is closer and also easily reached on the same line. 

[commodoredave]

I recommend Milan.

It's a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Venice, and well worth the trip. I just wrote about our recent visit to Milan on my blog, which you can find here:

https://gentlemansportion.com/2019/09/09/italys-best-kept-secret/

Hope this helps.

[Host Bonjour]

I spent six weeks in Verona a few years ago, it's heavenly. You don't need an excursion or tour to explore Verona, it's quite manageable on your own but if you have some particular interest in mind, there are things to look deeper into such as Arena de Verona, an ancient arena in the main square, Piazza di Bra, that is still used in season for a busy and wonderful schedule of open air concerts and shows, including opera. The people in Verona are wonderful and you would feel so very welcome. Have dinner at Osteria Casa Vino, a cozy place with delicious food on a tiny cobblestone alley -Vicolo Morette 8- everything home made of course, dine indoors our outside under umbrellas. It was my favorite from the entire time I was there, I would go back, along with a place that made crepe like things and a pizza place...I have to look up the name, it was packed with locals. 

 

As mentioned above, Lago di Garda, extremely popular and lovely. There is a thread in here, from last year I believe, extensive and well written by a German traveler who included great details and photos from her visit to Garda, so definitely do a search for that on our board here.

 

Trieste I'm also longing to visit, and the dolomites region. I heard Padua and Vicenza were also awesome too while I was in Verona. You've got lots of incredible options! 

 

Here are a few photos, the last one I ought to have edited better but I could not see the thumbnail well enough in my photo gallery to realize it needed to be edited. Second one is just a small vicolo off Via Mazzetti, there's a caffe bar on the left that was a local hangout which was cool, even in the day time, sort of an intellectual but not snooty place, just good stuff to eat and chill out, chat etc. After that is just some pics from Piazza d'Erbe which is on the other end of Via Mazzetti leading to Piazza di Bra.

 

Piazza d'Erbe is close to where the 'Giulietta's balcony' is that was often so packed it was difficult for people to get in/out of. It's a very small space beneath the 'balcony' and I have no idea how long it takes to wait to up into the balcony. You can tell it's newer and not matching in age to all the buildings around it and then see all the many, many souvenirs on sale touting Giulietta and Romeo. Shouldn't it be more for Shakespeare? Anyway...

 

There you go. Definitely do go look for the Lago di Garda thread 🙂 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Host Bonjour

[boykin]

thank you for the photos and reviews.  It such a hard decision dealing with 20 something year olds and having been on a cruise with lots of museum and church visits I just can't decide what to do. Everyone's thoughts and reviews are appreciated.

 

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Last June I spent 3 nights in Verona after my NCL Star cruise, round trip from Venice..

I loved the place! The HOHO bus was great, 2 different routes, one I did 4 times. There are walls & that arena where Opera is performed, delicious food, & of course the Romeo & Juliet story.

Watch the movie "Letters to Juliet" it was great & added another dimension to the R&J story.

I took a tour to Lake Garda which was nice but very touristy.

I'm sure anywhere you pick will be lovely.

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

[Host Bonjour]

Verona is vibrant with all age range and definitely appealing to the hip and young....the cafe/bar/restaurant scene was happening, and so was the shopping. I mean, it's not as buzzy as Milan might be - but the bus system works well, though I'm not sure how late so getting around independently isn't hard or maybe renting scooters? It definitely is not a city where old Italian folks just go to retire, it was a nice mix of things. It's not too big,  but doing a combo of Verona with Garda ought to make three days pretty interesting and fun. Maybe even cool, who knows. 😉 

 

Near my hotel, where I stayed before I found a little flat in Borgo Venezia, there was a tiny tiny (piccolino!!) place that sold nutella crepes (and other things too) but it was decked out in the gear of the local football team, Verona Hellas. The owner and the worker were kind and easy to talk to, they were open late and even after I got my little studio I'd stop by and hang out sometimes when I was in Centro Storico because the match was on or it was nice out and music was on or something...passagiata would turn into a fun hang out I never expected. There's great gelato nearby too. 

 

Let us know how it works out. 

[lauraapp]

Has anyone done Lake Como?  Is Lake Garda comparable.

[Host Bonjour]

On 9/29/2019 at 2:27 PM, lauraapp said:

Has anyone done Lake Como?  Is Lake Garda comparable.

 

Lake Como is in a class by itself. I'm not sure it's comparable to any other place, at least not any of the Italian lakes although Maggiore is said to be wonderful, but not as easy to get to say, as Lugano, or even Como. 

 

The thing is, with any of these lakes or any place really, to avoid having the touristy experience, which is bound to happen in any alluring, beautiful, and popular area, one must seek a way, if possible, to differentiate one's own visit. For example, in Como, try to avoid staying in Bellagio and head for another part of the lake. It will require extra effort to get where you need to be but the experience will not be like what others have and certainly be devoid of crowds. That said, it can be harder to get to other lesser known spots, but it's almost always worth doing so.

 

Garda is lovely, it's big, and there are options there too, just as there are with Como. It depends upon what type of experience you want, how much time you have, and the usual things like budget, mode of travel, and other preferences. Garda is definitely easiest to get to from where you'll be, but if it seems unlikely you'd be back to northern Italy for awhile or ever, then making extra effort to get to Como for the experience would be worth it. If Como has been a dream destination, then do it. Otherwise, with the right timing, planning, I think you'd really enjoy Garda. 

 

We already know you'll love Verona 😉 

[lauraapp]

3 hours ago, Host Bonjour said:

 

Lake Como is in a class by itself. I'm not sure it's comparable to any other place, at least not any of the Italian lakes although Maggiore is said to be wonderful, but not as easy to get to say, as Lugano, or even Como. 

 

The thing is, with any of these lakes or any place really, to avoid having the touristy experience, which is bound to happen in any alluring, beautiful, and popular area, one must seek a way, if possible, to differentiate one's own visit. For example, in Como, try to avoid staying in Bellagio and head for another part of the lake. It will require extra effort to get where you need to be but the experience will not be like what others have and certainly be devoid of crowds. That said, it can be harder to get to other lesser known spots, but it's almost always worth doing so.

 

Garda is lovely, it's big, and there are options there too, just as there are with Como. It depends upon what type of experience you want, how much time you have, and the usual things like budget, mode of travel, and other preferences. Garda is definitely easiest to get to from where you'll be, but if it seems unlikely you'd be back to northern Italy for awhile or ever, then making extra effort to get to Como for the experience would be worth it. If Como has been a dream destination, then do it. Otherwise, with the right timing, planning, I think you'd really enjoy Garda. 

 

We already know you'll love Verona 😉 

 

Thnak you for your valuable information.  Lake como it is then!  I have allowed to 

stay for 3 nights, originally only 2.   But like you said....I will most likely not be in

that region again!

[boykin]

I'm now wondering if we should take the train to Florence region and stay near Sienna then fly out of rome. So many choices, so little time

[aberthelot]

Hello,

I was wondering the same thing. My father was in WWII and fought for Italy. We were hoping to visit a War Cemetery after the cruise next April, since my father did not have a chance to visit Italy again. Does anyone have any information regarding this? Maybe I should start my own thread.

Thanks.

Angela