Quiet Corners of the Veneto

Beyond the day-trip headliners of Verona and Padua, the Veneto is full of quieter towns and landscapes that most Venice visitors never reach. Here are twelve worth the extra train or drive.

  1. Asolo. A hilltop town of arcaded streets and long views into the foothills, long a retreat for writers and artists, calm even in summer.

  2. Bassano del Grappa. Set on the Brenta beneath the Alps, with Palladio’s covered wooden bridge, the Ponte degli Alpini, and the grappa the town is named for.

  3. Marostica. A small walled town with a giant chessboard square, where a costumed human chess game is staged in even-numbered Septembers.

  4. Arqua Petrarca. One of Italy’s prettiest villages, in the Euganean Hills, where the poet Petrarch spent his final years; his house still stands.

  5. The Euganean Hills. Volcanic cones of vineyards and thermal springs near Padua, with spa towns like Abano and Montegrotto and walking on Monte Venda.

  6. The Brenta Riviera. The canal between Venice and Padua is lined with Venetian summer villas, including the vast Villa Pisani at Stra with its garden maze and Palladio’s La Malcontenta.

  7. Montagnana. A near-perfect ring of medieval walls and towers around a quiet town, one of the best-preserved in Italy.

  8. Cittadella. A smaller walled town whose elliptical ramparts you can walk right around, high above the rooftops.

  9. Soave. A hilltop castle above a sea of vines, and the crisp white wine that takes the town’s name.

  10. The Prosecco hills. The UNESCO-listed terraces of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, at their best driven slowly with a stop for the prized Cartizze.

  11. Este and the southern hills. A castle town known for ceramics, on the quiet edge of the Euganean range.

  12. Chioggia. At the lagoon’s southern tip, a working fishing town of canals and a morning market, like a saltier, smaller Venice.

Most of these need a car or a combination of train and local bus, and the payoff is real: outside the four or five famous names, the Veneto stays genuinely uncrowded. Go on a weekday where you can, and check opening days for the villas and castles, which are often seasonal. Spring and autumn are the sweet spot: mild and quiet, with the vineyards green in one and the radicchio and new wine in the other. Pack comfortable shoes, since most of these towns and hills reward slow exploration on foot, and a car unlocks the string of walled towns and wine villages that no train reaches. None of them are far, but together they make a side of the Veneto that most Venice visitors never see.

Read more: the Veneto day trips guide covers the easier headline trips, and the Venice as a Veneto base guide has the transport detail.