Day Trips

Venice is an unusually good base

The train station is in the city, the trains are frequent and cheap, and three real cities are within ninety minutes. If you have five days or more, one of these is worth a day.

Padua — 25 minutes

The Scrovegni Chapel, frescoed by Giotto in 1305, is the single best reason to leave Venice for a day. ⚠️ Entry is by timed slot booked in advance, in groups, for a fixed number of minutes after a spell in a dehumidifying chamber — you cannot turn up. Also the oldest botanical garden in the world, and the Prato della Valle.

Verona — about 70 minutes

A Roman arena still used for opera, a well-preserved medieval centre, and considerably fewer people per square metre than Venice. The balcony is not Juliet's and was added in the 1930s.

The Brenta villas

Palladio and his successors built country houses along the Brenta canal between Venice and Padua for the Venetian nobility. Reachable by bus, or by a slow boat that takes most of a day and passes through the locks.

Chioggia

A working fishing town at the south end of the lagoon with canals and bridges of its own, often called a little Venice, and almost entirely free of visitors. Reachable by bus and ferry, and a good antidote if the crowds have worn you down.

What each costs in time

Padua: half a day, or a full one with the chapel booked. Verona: a whole day and an early start. The Brenta: a full day if you take the boat. Chioggia: a half-day.