 The
first-time visitor to Venice arrives with a heavy
freight of expectations, most of which turn out to be
well founded. All the photographs you've seen of the
Palazzo Ducale, of the Basilica di San Marco, of the
palaces along the Canal Grande - they've simply been
recording the extraordinary truth. All the bad things
you've heard about the city turn out to be right as
well. Economically and socially ossified, it is losing
people by the year and plays virtually no part in the
life of modern Italy. It is deluged with tourists - the
annual influx exceeding Venice's population
two-hundredfold. Occasionally things get so bad that
entry into the city is barred to those who haven't
already booked a room. And it is expensive - the price
of a good meal almost anywhere else in Italy will get
you a lousy one in Venice, and its hoteliers make the
most of a situation where demand will always far
outstrip supply.
As soon as you begin to explore Venice, though, every
day will bring its surprises, for this is an urban
landscape so rich that you can't walk for a minute
without coming across something that's worth a stop. And
although it's true that Venice can be unbearably
crowded, things aren't so bad beyond the magnetic field
of San Marco and the kitsch-sellers of the vicinity, and
in the off-season (October to Christmas and January to
Easter) it's even possible to have parts of the centre
virtually to yourself. As for keeping your costs down,
Venice has plenty of markets in addition to the
celebrated Rialto, there are some good-value eating
places, and you can, with planning, find a bed without
spending a fortune.
Tourism is far from being the only strand to the economy
of the Veneto , however. The rich, flat land around the
Po supports some of Italy's most productive farms and
vineyards, and industrial development around the main
towns rivals even the better-known areas around Milan,
making the region one of the richest in Europe. At
Marghera, just over the lagoon from Venice, the Veneto
has the largest industrial complex in the country,
albeit one that is now in decline. But tourism is
important, and the region has more tourist accommodation
than any other in Italy. After Venice, it's Padua and
Verona that are the main attractions, with their
masterpieces by Giotto, Donatello and Mantegna and a
profusion of great buildings from Roman times to the
Renaissance. None of the other towns of the Veneto can
match the cultural wealth of these two former rivals to
Venice, but there are nonetheless plenty of places
between the plains of Polésine in the south and the
mountains in the north that justify a detour - the
Palladian city of Vicenza , for instance, the fortified
settlements of Montagnana , Cittadella and Castelfranco
, or the idyllic upland town of Ásolo .
For outdoor types, much of the Veneto is dull,
consisting of flatlands interrupted by gentle outcrops
around Padua and Vicenza. The interesting terrain lies
in its northern part, especially in the area above
Belluno and Vittorio Veneto , where the wooded slopes of
the foothills - excellent for walking - soon give way to
the savage precipices of the eastern Dolomites. Because
most of the high peaks of the Dolomites lie within
Trentino-Alto Adige, and the mountains of the eastern
Dolomites are most easily explored as part of a tour of
the range as a whole, the area of the Veneto to the
north of Belluno is covered in the "Trentino-Alto Adige"
section. Similarly, the eastern shore of Lago di Garda
is covered as part of the lakes region in the "Lombardy
and the Lakes" section.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT
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