Special Feature - Northern Italy

Shakespearian Verona

Maybe your coach party want to follow in the footsteps of the ladies and gentlemen of Verona or even fancy each other as latter-day Capulets and Montagues. Visit here and you can be assured of a happier ending than Romeo and Juliet on a star-crossed stay in Shakespearian Verona. With a canon of public works as elegant as the collected volumes of the Bard, you may find yourself waxing lyrical too, as you message back home: “Too early seen unknown, and known too late! lol”. You can also go for a selfie in front of the Piazza dei Signori and tag it “#Wish thouwer’st here”.

Now to Vicenza. If you’ve any familiarity in the works of those fine eighteenthcentury Scottish architects William Adam and his even more illustrious son Robert, it’s time to put the record straight. Neither had an original thought in their head. Andrea Palladio did it all in the sixteenth century, and here’s where he did it.Vicenza. Easily managed and criminally overlooked unless you’re on our mini grand tour, you’ll not regret stopping at the foot of the Monte Berico, where the town straddles the Bacchiglione River. Make the arty pilgrimage to the Teatro, to see the origin of modern performance space, and the fabulous backdrop - a painted city scene that puts perspective intoperspective.

La Serenissima

Patrons of that champion of customer service, Ryan Air, who have flown to Venice, will already be familiar with Treviso. The lovely little town with a castle and a rugby team, and all its buildings above sea level, is where the Irish mystery tour operator dumps you if your ticket leads you to believe you are about to be introduced to La Serenissima.

There are, maybe surprisingly, several parking choices around Venice, but you may want to leave the coach in Treviso, and take the train across the causeway to arrive at the vaulted hall of Statione Santa Lucia. You can drive over to the lagoon as well,but you’ll find the coach parking a little further out, and not the cheapest in Europe. Wellies not required, mostly. Venice isn’t actually as flood-prone as Tewkesbury. You should be able to walk the dry flagstones of San Marco square without incident.Do get out on the water though, and enjoy a vaporetto water bus ride over to the neighbouring islands of La Guidecca to meet less tourists and more Venetians, and the Lido for Venice’s lovely beachfront.

La Finale

Having crossed from The Mediterranean to Adriatic, and experienced a steal of a time, enjoying the varied cultures of the regions, take a moment to consider, before heading back.A selfpreserving tour of northern Italy for your own society? It’ll blow more than just your doors off. Check out the official tourism website at Italia.it.