Outside this region's main cities of Venice, Verona, and Vicenza, you can find interesting locations for day trips or half-day trips that you might want to combine with a visit to the cities themselves. Two of the most interesting options are the Wine Road in the Euganean Hills and the town of Treviso, home of clothing designer Luciano Benetton.

Euganean Hills Wine Road

The Strada del Vino Colli Eugenei, as it's known in Italian, is a route you can follow by rental car with a map from the tourist office in Padua. Unfortunately, the route's website (www.stradadelvinocollieuganei.it) is only in Italian, so unless you speak the language, you'll have a tough time researching the wineries and their vintages in advance of your trip. The website operated by Italy and Wine suggests semi-private and private tours of the area with English-speaking guides; learn more at www.italyandwine.net.

There also are cute little villages and scenic walking routes in this area, making it an interesting option for local bed-and-breakfast-style overnight trips. This is well outside the normal tourism zones, though, so if you don't have a good grasp of the Italian language, you might have a tough time getting the things you want and need.

Treviso

This city of less than 100,000 people is ideal for a day trip. Accommodations are limited inside the city limits, and a train ride from Venice is the easiest way to get here.

While there are plenty of historic sites to see, the city is the proud home of the Benetton Group, a global clothing brand founded in 1965 and made popular in the United States during the 1980s. There is a large store in the center of town where you can find designs that haven't yet gone global.