When you are in the shadow of something world-class, chances are your own star will shine a little less bright. That’s the only explanation why people flock to Venice but largely ignore the wider Veneto region. Padua’s art history and Vicenza’s Renaissance architecture should rocket those cities to must-see status; but in the Veneto they compete with La Serenissima. Why would you see a(nother) great Renaissance town when you could be on the Grand Canal?
But times are changing. With this year’s Winter Olympics partly based in Cortina, the chichi Dolomites resort hovering 100 miles due north of Venice, 2026 is the Veneto’s time to shine. The pink-tinged mountains may be the draw, but the land between the peaks and the sea will captivate you en route. With elegant porticoes, swaggering palazzos and grand piazzas, every town has the uncanny feeling of being Venice on dry land — a hangover from La Serenissima’s Stato da Tera, when Venice ruled the Po Valley as far as Bergamo.
Stardust is sprinkled everywhere in the Veneto. There are big hitters such as Verona, and smaller jewels including Conegliano. Landscapes range from the swaggering Lake Garda to lagoon-floating Chioggia; from the rollercoaster Prosecco hills to the molar-sharp Dolomites. I’ve spent five years exploring the region as a Venice local; here are some of the loveliest places to go.
Art and food markets in Padua
The Cappella degli Scrovegni is frescoed with religious imagery
ALAMY
Half an hour from Venice by high-speed train, Padua is a delight. Medieval porticoes, Renaissance walls, one of Italy’s largest food markets sprawling across two squares, the elegant water-bordered Prato della Valle piazza, and the Basilica di Sant’Antonio di Padova, where St Anthony was buried in the 13th century. The highlight though is the Cappella degli Scrovegni, frescoed from floor to gold-starred ceiling by Giotto in the early 1300s with scenes from the lives of Jesus and Mary. In a 16th-century palazzo, the sweet Hotel Majestic Toscanelli is in the thick of it, a two-minute walk from the market.
Details B&B doubles from £129 (toscanelli.com). Fly to Venice
Palladio and palaces in Vicenza
Andrea Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico is the oldest masonry-built theatre in the world
SHUTTERSTOCK
Stately Vicenza is one of Italy’s great Renaissance cities, made to measure by architects including Andrea Palladio. In his home town, he left behind the Teatro Olimpico — the world’s oldest masonry-built theatre, still open for visits (£10; teatroolimpico.vicenza.it). The main drag, Corso Palladio, is wall-to-wall Renaissance palaces, each fancier than the last, while out of town in the surrounding Euganean hills, Palladio left his masterpieces: a series of villas, now mostly open for visits (Villa La Rotonda is the best loved — £10; villalarotonda.it) and forming a Unesco circuit. Michelangelo is a grande dame country hotel five miles south of town, perched in the Euganean hills.
Details B&B doubles from £114 (starhotels.com). Fly to Verona
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Glorious gardens in Verona 
The Renaissance gardens of Giardino Giusti
ALAMY
In fair Verona, the Roman amphitheatre bills itself as the best preserved in the world (£10; museiverona.com). Just as enticing are the tangled medieval alleyways that lead to Piazza delle Erbe, the market square whose Renaissance palazzos with their frescoed façades sit on top of the ancient Roman forum. Skip what’s been designated “Juliet’s House”; Verona’s real romance lies across the Adige River in the immaculately landscaped Renaissance gardens of Giardino Giusti, open to the public since 1591 (£11; giardinogiusti.com). An easy stroll across the Adige is Vista Verona, the city’s first high-luxury hotel.
Details B&B doubles from £515 (vistapalazzo.com). Fly to Verona
Wine-tasting in Valpolicella
Villa Cordevigo lies between Valpolicella and Garda
COLIN DUTTON
Veneto is usually associated with white wines, but its star turn is a red. North of Verona lie the steep hills of Valpolicella. The red of the same name is deliciously tart, but the real draw is the amarone, one of Italy’s finest wines — its complexity is due to the grapes being left to shrivel slightly on the vine before being harvested. Then there’s recioto, a sweet wine that dates back to the Roman period — Pliny the Elder was a fan. Taste it all at the wonderfully laid-back Corte Merci, run by two brothers (tastings £22; cortemerci.com), or at Valentina Cubi, which also has rooms to stagger back to (tastings £22, B&B doubles from £122; valentinacubi.it). To stay in style, Villa Cordevigo is a Renaissance patrician’s mansion between Valpolicella and Garda surrounded by vines.
Details B&B doubles from £293 (villacordevigo.com). Fly to Verona
Art history, the Dolomites and firewater in Bassano del Grappa
Straddling the Brenta River — the two sides of town are connected by a covered wooden bridge designed by Andrea Palladio — with the Dolomites rearing up behind, Bassano is one of Veneto’s loveliest locations. It’s the home of grappa, Italy’s favourite firewater — taste it at Distilleria Nardini (from £13; nardini.it). Veneto’s best painters (Tiepolo, Bassano, Hayez) await at the Museo Civico (£7; museibassano.it), but art lovers should head 11 miles east to Possagno, Canova’s birthplace. His old home houses casts of his most famous works (£11; museocanova.it), while he is buried in the Tempio Canoviano, a neoclassical church that he designed himself. Five miles south of Bassano, B&B Giardino Jappelli offers three light-flooded rooms in the 17th-century Villa Ca’ Minotto. It’s surrounded by ten hectares of land, including a rambling Romantic-style garden laid out in 1820 by Giuseppe Jappelli, the acclaimed landscape architect.
Details B&B doubles from £79 (bebgiardinojappelli.it). Fly to Treviso
Lagoon-side Chioggia
Hovering at the southern end of the lagoon, Chioggia isn’t really an alternative to Venice — there are too many cars and not enough art for that. But it’s a gorgeous, canal-sliced fishing town — what Venice might have been without the politics, the patricians and the grand palazzos. Corso del Popolo, the main street, has Renaissance buildings, but Fondamenta San Domenico, full of fishing boats, is more atmospheric. The church of San Domenico is home to votive paintings by fishermen giving thanks for salvation from shipwrecks, as well as a scarlet-cloaked St Paul by Carpaccio. Antico Orologio is a sweet B&B in an 18th-century palazzo, belonging to the Bacci family for generations.
Details B&B doubles from £79 (anticoorologio.com). Fly to Venice
• 10 of the most beautiful places in Italy
Luxury or family fun on Lake Garda
The outdoor infinity pool at the Cape of Senses
ALEX MOLING
Italy’s largest lake is a multitasker. It can do elegant — its top-level hotels give Como’s a run for their money. It can do family-friendly — the theme park Gardaland is on its eastern shore. It straddles Veneto on the east side and Lombardy on the west. The former is a place of picture-perfect lakeside villages such as medieval Lazise and Torri del Benaco. Until recently, the top hotels were on the Lombardy side, but the adults-only spa resort Cape of Senses brought top-level luxury to the Veneto shore when it opened in 2023.
Details B&B doubles from £422 (capeofsenses.com). Fly to Verona
Skiing and hiking in Cortina d’Ampezzo
Cortina d’Ampezzo is part of the Dolomiti Superski area
ALAMY
The “Queen of the Dolomites” takes centre stage at this year’s Winter Olympics, but Cortina is regal at any time of year, its chic streets crowned by spectacularly toothy crags (hence the nickname). In winter it’s a smart ski resort — part of the Dolomiti Superski area — while in summer it’s the gateway for hikes, road trips and immersion in the Ladin culture. Food is high on the agenda, with six Michelin-starred restaurants around town. At SanBrite, the chef Riccardo Gaspari cooks with meat, cheese and vegetables from his family’s farm (mains from £39; sanbrite.it). Camina Suite & Spa has chalet-style rooms and a sprawling top-floor panoramic spa.
Details B&B doubles from £308 (caminacortina.it). Fly to Treviso
Titian’s birthplace, Pieve di Cadore
Piazza Municipio in Pieve di Cadore, a cultural hub that sits beneath the Dolomites
ALAMY
The gateway to the Dolomites, the forest-filled Cadore Valley supplied the wooden poles for the foundations of Venice. Today, it’s a sleepy place en route to Cortina, but the tiny town of Pieve di Cadore still hums with the Renaissance. Titian was born here — his birthplace is now a museum (£3; magnificacomunitadicadore.it), while the church of Santa Maria Nascente has his Madonna and Child, as well as works by his artist relatives. Pass the remains of a Roman villa on Piazza Municipio to Locanda ai Dogi for some fine mountain fare — perhaps the tagliatelle with venison ragu (mains from £10; locandaaidogi.it). At the foot of the Dolomites, Villa 61 is a rustic-chic country house that’s worth the 40-minute drive from Pieve di Cadore.
Details B&B doubles from £153 (villa61.it). Fly to Treviso
• 19 of the best places to visit in Italy
Grand style and art in Conegliano
Conegliano was the home of the 15th-century painter Cima da Conegliano
ALAMY
Beneath a 15th-century castle unfurls the jewel of the Treviso province and one of Veneto’s most elegant towns. Conegliano’s main square, Piazza Cima, marries grand neoclassicism and typical Veneto porticoes; the cathedral sports 16th-century frescoes on its façade; Contrada Grande, as the main drag is known, is a catwalk of Renaissance palaces. This was the home of Cima da Conegliano, the great 15th-century painter; his Madonna Enthroned takes pride of place in the cathedral. Follow the frescoed façades to Hotel Canon d’Oro, which has smartly simple rooms in a 16th-century palazzo. Details B&B doubles from £105 (hotelcanondoro.it). Fly to Treviso
Castles and sparkling wine in the Prosecco hills
Valdobbiadene in the Prosecco hills, where the popular sparkling wine is produced
GETTY IMAGES
Prosecco: the world’s favourite sparkling wine, and Veneto’s most effervescent export. It’s produced in the Prosecco hills, the rollercoaster countryside between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, whose rugged hogback ridges plaited with vines have earned it Unesco world heritage status. Taste it at Villa Sandi, a Palladian-inspired villa with an 18th-century cellar (from £13; villasandi.it), or the family-run Bortolomiol (from £12; bortolomiol.com). Teetering on a hillside, the sprawling CastelBrando is one of the largest castles in Europe — and now a hotel.
Details B&B doubles from £179 (castelbrando.it). Fly to Treviso