Ned in northern Italy -- day trip suggestions, please! And FAPs/shows/parties/whatever July 17th through 28th

Go to Verona and see what's up at the ampitheater. I didn't get a chance to see anything but I remember they put on both opera and rock shows. When I was there it was Aida- Verdi's not Elton's, followed by Joe Cocker.

I'd like to piggyback and ask if anyone knows anything good about Milan? I'll be in southern Switzerland from June 24th - July 3rd and I'd like to get down into Italy for an afternoon if possible.

you can probably get some nice shoes.

Mmm, shoes.

Train to Venice, or have you already been (I can't imagine being in Northeast Italy and not going to Venice, unless you've already done it to death)? Or maybe Padua's not that close.

I lived just outside Milan for a year. It's worth a day trip, but not much more. Check out the Duomo (Cathedral), it's massive and covered in loads of really ornate...er..stuff.

Venice is absolutely essential. Everything there is amazing. There'll be loads of tourists, but don't worry about that, it's the most beautiful city in the world.

Vicenza and Verona are alright and nearby. The Dolomites (mountains in north-east Italy) are supposed to be fantastic, but I've never been there.

Lake Como is north of Milan and right next to Switzerland. It's great round there (mountains & lakes), but probably not that different to Switzerland itself. Lake Garda is maybe half-way between Milan and Venice and is also supposed to be really good, but I haven't been there either.

If you're near Lago Maggiore take a boat to Isola Bella, where St Carlo Boromeo (sp?) had his mansion. The garden has this big sculptural thing that has to be seen to be believed. You can look around the whole island in a few hours, it's tiny (the mansion takes up half of it, and there's a few pedestrian streets of shops.

I'm staying (as far as I know) on Lago Maggiore, in Ascona!

i was in padua for a week. it was ok.

Yeah, head towards Lago Maggiore. It will be, like Venice, full of tourists right now. But it's a nice little place in the mountains, and not far from Milan.

Also, Cinque Terre isn't too far from Milan, and is very lovely. It's five little towns nestled between the mountains and the sea and you can walk on paths in between them and eat good food, etc. It's very picturesque.

In Piemonte, many of the cities in the southern part are having jazz festivals or food festivals this weekend and next. If you rent a car you can drive around Asti and Alba and Bra, which is where the action will be.

Turin is the capitol of Piemonte, slightly west of Milan. Like Milan, it's really only good for a day of being touristy, but if you want to come I can quickly show you what is what and show you where the best icecream in all of Italy can be had.

This is all sounding v. cool. Thanks to all!

ah, venice. i miss venice. i wish i had some advice on padova, but i can't remember doing much there.

when you get to venice you have to stay here:

http://digilander.libero.it/adretichette/photogallery/images/ZCAP209.JPG

ts padua vs padova

Please to note my budget observation above, Ms. Metal. ;-)

i was just kidding. i have no idea if that place still exists.

it does, they have an animatronic ned outside greeting visitors!

i know of an awesome restaurant on one of the less-habited islands near venice which you have to make reservations at but i am struggling to find the contact info. you have to take an hourlong vaporetto ride to get together--in addition to walking through about a half-mile of eggplant fields.

The Cinque Terre might be a bit of a trek from Milan. You'd have to get to Geno(v)a first and then change trains.

Amateurist, Mark and I just got back from a weekend in Venice and ate somewhere similar (an agriturismo) but the walk was through artichoke fields. It was on the Lido and I'd highly recommend it.

See the Biennale, Ned, I didn't get the chance to go and since I've been back the first question people ask me about the trip is if I went to it. I didn't regret not going at the time though, I was so in love with everything else I saw there.

There's apparently a very good restaurant on Torcello, which fits most of the description (though not, I think the eggplant fields bit). Or was it on Sant'Erasmo, which is basically a big flat island used almost entirely for vegetable cultivation? I have no idea why you'd go to Sant'Erasmo in the first place, though.

There's another on Pellestrina, which probably doesn't qualify either, but again it fits most of the bill.

Ned, if you don't go to Venice I will hold you captive in a cellar for 18 months until your sideburns brush the floor. Don't even think about not going. Promise?

the one i went to was on san'erasmo, i think; which yes, is pretty much absent anything else "of interest" in the guidebook sense. it's pretty far from the busier parts of venice, it is almost exclusively agriculture, and people drive around in these things that look like crosses between actual cars and golfcarts. i guess they are only used for intra-island travel--around the farms, essentially, or from the farm house to the chapel/vaporetto stop and back.

Hahah, fret not, my dear Markelby! You should know that Marco had already made it clear I would visit, and indeed my flight in and out of the area is from Venice itself, so no worries.

Venice is lovely though highly crowded when you're going. Any of the laghi, Como, Garda, Maggiore, will be spectacular too.

I just went up to Ivrea/Biella and then turned to Lago Maggiore and then on towards Como today with some friends before coming back to Torino. It is beautiful up there now - the perfect temperature - and for some reason there were hardly any tourists. Usually it is overflowing with Swiss and German retirees.

Re: Cinque Terre being too far from Milano. It's three hours - the same distance as Milano to Venezia. You can connect through Genova, or you can go direct to La Spezia. Either way, it's quite lovely. It also makes a good overnight trip, because you can rent a bedroom in one of the local houses for ~ 20€ a night.