VALDOBBIADENE,  EUGANEI,  BERICI HILLS, SOAVE, VALPOLICELLA, VERONA, GARDA LAKE

Highlights: beautiful landscapes, amazing wines and cuisine, history and art.

Why Veneto? The question itself contains the first answer: Veneto is little known by the visitors, apart from Venice that is too known. Hence, you discover many new places and wines, and why the Venetians preserve a kind hospitality and that legendary kindness, announced by their gentle accent already. Second reason? With 29 DOC wines, and being the first producer of DOP wines, Veneto is a leader of quality. Prosecco, Valpolicella and Amarone of course, in addition a curious wine fan discovers many more great wines. Third: gourmets will relish the local cuisines: Alpine specialties alternate with the Mediterranean, fresh seafood, cured meats and Alpine cheese.  Fifth, it’s a treasure trove history and art and romantic landscapes. Its heritage spans from Roman, to medieval and Renaissance. Its beautiful hills, which are also the best wine zones, are dotted by castles, abbeys, and neoclassic Villas, the region’s signature. Sixth is the lyfestyle: Venetian know how to enjoy life, an heritage of the open culture of Venice, cosmopolitan maritime power for centuries. 

For our tour we hand-picked tastings, lodgings, wineries, trattorìas and roads in the nicer landscapes*,  so that you can feast your eyes and not only your palate! Hills with artistic vineyards, fairytales villages, historical gardens, the Garda lake, towns and cities of art. We try to avoid overtourism, and wish to feel the  genius loci: nature, character, genuine, corteous people who cherish traditions. 

Extensions and options.

We  do not go to Venice, most people know it already, we will on request. 

Lenght: 11 days in slowtravel style, 7 or 8 days on request. 

Walking tour. If you like to visit a country on foot ask for our walking tour.

Highlights

• Valdobbiadene’s Unesco landscape, Prosecco wine

• Historic Bassano, discover the good, top quality grappa 

• Euganei Park hot waters spas, Berici hills, Glera and Tai wines

• Venice, centuries of art and history o the water

• Garda romantic views, Bardolino and Lugana wines  

• Verona, city of Giulietta, Arquà and other medieval cities

• Valpolicella, Soave, Valpolicella and Amarone wines

• Seafood, veggies, meats, artisanal prosciutto and cheese

• Meeting: Conegliano, departure from Verona. Lenght 11 days, or 8 days on request. 

Eastern Veneto: Valdobbiadene, Colli Euganei, Colli Berici

Day 1-2 Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, Prosecco zone

Try the best Prosecco righ at its source, while enjoying views that make this an Unesco heritage landscape: vines trained like gardens, abbeys, castles, old towns as Vidor, the Dolomites in the distance, and… no factories, traffic, highways. Savour sopressa, bondiola cured meats, Alpine farm cheese, risotto with red radicchio, goat and game…  Enhance flavours with perfect crisp local reds. Try local craft beer: lager, amber and pils from an ancient brewery’s stube, with a classic Austrian style lunch. Did you know that the Tiramisù was invented here? Try the best one with a glass of Friuli passito. Wines: Prosecco, Raboso, Refosco, Ramandolo.

Day 3 Villa Masér, Bassano del Grappa 

In Villa Barbaro, first Renaissance Venetian villa, taste the Asolo wines, and admire Veronese’s Renaissance frescoes. Try the finest Nardini Grappas by the Bassano bridge, or visit the distillery. Wines: Recantina, varietal reds.

Day 4-5 Euganei hills park, hot pools, Berici hills

The Euganei park is an oasis,  screenshot of rural Veneto, a treasure of wines for connoisseurs. In a family winery try still and sparkling whites, that the volcanic soils make crisp and mineral. Enjoy the reds, noticeably the elegant Tai, made wit Grenache grape. See Arquà and Monselice, medieval walled towns, eat in a family run ham factory. Time allowing visit Padua, and St. Anthony’s temple, or take a break at the healing Abano hot waters, well known since Roman times. At the Luxardo distillery taste their specialty since 1821, Maraschino, among other delicious fruit liqueurs. Wines:  Garganega, Incrocio Manzoni, Fior d’Arancio spumante, late harvest, Cab, Merlot, Carmenère, Tai.

Day 6 Vicenza and Soave

See the icon Neoclassic villa, Vicenza, heart of the Veneto’s Renaissance, and Soave town. In Villa Capra contemplate the simpler, perfect Neoclassic architecture, a prototype for the world. In welcoming Vicenza, see the architect Palladio masterpieces: the Basilica, the Olympic theatre. Drive by the “Juliet and Romeo castles”, then stop in Soave’s medieval center and try this tasty, fresh, lightly aromatic, drinkable wine, that lead to success the Italian whites in the USA. It is better now, and comes in different varieties of astounding quality.  Wines: Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinots bianco, grigio, nero, Tai, Soave.

Western Veneto: Valpolicella and Verona, Garda Lake

Up to now we explored little known valleys, from now on we focus on famous places, and wines: Verona, Valpolicella, and Garda lake. One day for the Garda shores, one to visit Verona, and two days in Valpolicella, the biggest wine zone, land of Valpolicella and Amarone, the intense, long aged wine that is the pride of this area, one of the top in Italy.

Day 7 Valpolicella: Fumane valley, San Giorgio, Villa dellaTorre

We will taste only in Valpolicella classico DOC zone, the oroginal one, and today we explore the Fumane valley. In Villa S. Michele, after crossing its ancient cellars, we taste Valpolicella and Amarone, sitting in a patio overlooking the vineyards. We drive to S. Giorgio, to enjoy a wide-angle view from Verona to the Garda lake, and to see the medieval parish church and its frescoes. Lunch in a country trattoria by the vineyards. At last, formal tasting at Villa della Torre, a stylish Renaissance villa, now one of the Allegrini family estates.

Day 8 Verona city, medieval center, Giulietta’s home, Roman arena.

Verona, beautiful and elegant, is the ambassador of Italian wines with Vinitaly, and of the Opera tradition, with the Arena Festival. It is a treasure trove of Roman, Medieval and Renaissance history, starting from the very streets that we walk. Our tour, starting by the Roman stone bridge, follows the river bank where the “cicchetterìe” call for a casual tasting, goes by the Duomo and reaches Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori. Here you find the main Lombard, and Renaissance palazzi, and government buildings that recall when Verona ruled much of Veneto. Walk by the “Giulietta’s home” and stop at the Roman Arena, majestic amphiteathre and temple of the Opera. Grant yourself, in summetime, with a classic opera of Verdi, under the stars sitting on the Roman steps.

Day 9 Garda Lake, Bardolino, Sirmione

The Garda is our favourite Italian lake. Many things make it spectacularly beautiful: the old Venitian style hamlets, the romantic views of steep cliffs on the water, the mild climate that gives olive oil and fine wines. Wines that welcomed in Italy the early German travellers as Goethe. Driving on the panoramic lakeside road, we find postcard hamlets, like the wine town Bardolino. Here we taste fruity Bardolino, and the local, floral white wines.  Next stop is Sirmione, with a view commanding the southern lake. Such scenic location, boasts natural hot springs, no wander that righ here we see the Roman Villa di Catullo, and the picturesque Scaligero castle, outpost of Verona in Medieval times.  Wines: Bardolino, Lugana, Custoza, Marzemino

Day 10 Valpolicella: Negrar valley, top wineries, birthplace of Amarone

The grand finale is Negrar, pilgrimage point for a wine lover, as much as Barolo or Montalcino. Webegin in Marano, rural village that rveals the old landscape of hand made stone terraces, fruit orchards and not only vineyards. We get a tasting of Valpolicella, Amarone and Recioto in the winery of a passionnate family. Nearby we notice Roman mosaics, unhearthed at 5 feet under a vineyard. Near Negrar we visit the Giardini di Pojega, masterpiece of Italian gardens. The ultimate tasting will be in Villa Mosconi- Bertani, a majestic Palladian villa, with a classic scenario of statues, frescoes, and romantic park. Its specialty, though, is that the Amarone was invented right here in one of its barrels. Learn the story while visiting the atmospheric cellars, the grapes withering room, and taste their austere wines as one for the road before leaving Valpolicella. Get ready for our special farewell dinner before leaving Veneto.  Wines: Valpolicella, Amarone, Recioto.

Day 11 Departure

Farewell to Veneto and transferto  the Verona train station or Catullo airport.