auerjac

We have a car and two weeks to wander around in northern Italy and are interested in walled towns and villages in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and the Veneto. Any suggestions and/or travel routes? We will be starting in Milan for the Formula 1 race September 12, and will end up in Ravenna before heading back to Milan for the trip home. We are intrested in B&B's and country or small town hotels. Would love to hear from others who have done this kind of trip.

zeppole

There are literally hundreds of walled towns and perfectly preserved historic villages in the three regions of Italy you name, along the route that will get you from A to B. To get an idea, do a couple of simple google searches using those words "walled towns Veneto" and you'll begin to see what I mean.

There are a handful of famous small towns everybody goes to, and so you will get all those responses. Would you like to get off the beaten track?

This is a very good website for "the most beautiful villages in Italy." Of course it doesn't have them all, but it has many most tourists don't know about. It has a a very good interactive map. Not all the pages are in English, but many are, and all the pages have lovely pictures so you can see if it is a place you would love to go:

http://www.borghitalia.it/index_en.php

Once you know what villages you want to see most, you can find bed and breakfasts and agriturismo (farmhouse) lodgings for those towns by looking at Tripadvisor. You can search by the names of towns on Tripadvisor, and then look at the offerings listed under "inns" and "specialty lodgings".

zeppole

PS: Obviously you will need hotel reservations for Milan, at the beginning and end of your trip, but otherwise you can go without reservations and you will find lovely lodgings without worry through that area, near the small towns.

With 2 weeks, with a car, to cover that relatively short distance, I highly recommend that you do just wander. I would carry with me The Blue Guide to Northern italy,

http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/p/1891/mcms.html

The Michelin Red Guide to Italy

http://www.amazon.com/Michelin-Guide.../dp/2067145118

and the Michelin Green Guide to Italy

http://www.amazon.com/Michelin-Green.../dp/2060000041

and just go!

You might find this interesting:

http://www.blogdolcevita.com/post/61...mbardy-tourism

auerjac

Thanks guys, I will definitely check the websites you have sent me.

franco

Montagnana is unmissable if you're interested in walled towns in the Veneto. But zeppole is of course correct that there are innumerable other towns, as well. There's also a wonderful simple restaurant there, Il Palio; just don't do what almost everybody does there: eat pizza. The rest of the menu is outstanding.