An Action-Packed Road Trip Through Northern Italy

For such a small slice of the map, Northern Italy packs in a show-stopping mix of scenery. In just a few days, you can wind from the vineyard-dotted hills of Lake Garda to the jagged Dolomites and then coast into Venice, the city that floats frozen in time. Along the way, you’ll soak up centuries of history, hike staggeringly beautiful trails, and feast on some of Italy’s best food and wine — while only stopping for gas once.

Could you spend weeks exploring the region? Sure, but hotels and rental cars aren’t cheap, and vacation days aren’t unlimited. As a traveler, I don’t believe in downtime. I like to fit in as much as humanly possible in a short amount of time. This road trip does just that.

Who am I: I’m Ellen Carpenter, a New York-based editor and writer. Most recently I was the editor in chief of Hemispheres, the inflight magazine for United Airlines, which gave me the opportunity to travel all over the world — including to Italy multiple times. I’ve also worked as an editor at Nylon, Spin, and Rolling Stone and written about travel and culture for Afar, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Marie Claire, and more.

Even in 2025, opera is hard to beat. Cruising around Lake Garda, windows down, blasting "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from Verdi’s La Traviata is kinda awesome. If that’s too much for you, then queue up the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack. Save “J’Adore Venise” for journey’s end.

For Lake Garda and Venice you want to look put together. Opt for pants, not jeans, and crisp button-ups or a flowy dress. For the Dolomites, plan on activewear and good sneakers or hiking boots. Definitely bring a swimsuit and a rain jacket or poncho just in case. (It was a glorious blue-sky day when I left to hike in the Alpe di Siusi, but a massive thunderstorm rolled in a couple hours later and I was immensely grateful for the disposable poncho I had packed.)

If you’re lucky, your red-eye from the States landed on time, which means you’ll be standing in line at the car rental company by 9:30 a.m. Don’t let them upsell you a BMW, but do get an automatic because the roads in the Dolomites are no joke.

A 90-minute drive that circles through a ridiculous number of roundabouts will deposit you in fair Verona. Park near the Centro Storico (the historic center) of the city, which was founded in the 1st century BCE and remains remarkably intact as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Mosey on over to the Verona Arena, an amphitheater built in 30 BCE that houses one of the world’s best summer opera festivals, and stare in awe at this balustrade-thrusting ancient architectural marvel that’s just plopped in the center of a city. Next, browse the souvenir stalls at Piazza delle Erbe, Verona’s oldest square, and then wander down cobblestone streets, past shoe shops, gelaterias, and stone balconies that you can’t help but scan for a glimpse of the doomed young lover Juliet.

Lunch is at Ristorane Greppia, an unassuming family-owned spot tucked off a narrow alley. Sit outside under an umbrella and dig into prosciutto with melon and then tagliatelle with truffles or risotto all'amarone, a Verona specialty made with the prized wine of the Valpolicella region.

With your belly full, bid farewell to Verona and set Google Maps to Sirmiona, only about a 45-minute drive away, because — trust me — as soon as you see Lake Garda glittering in the distance, you will want to stop. The town is located at the end of a skinny, fingerlike peninsula jutting into the lake and it’s home to the stunning 13th-century Scaligero Castle, which looks like it could have been an inspiration for a Lego castle set. Head to Cremeria Bulian for a scoop of pistachio gelato and then walk along the car-free streets, snapping as many photos as possible.

The drive from here to your hotel, Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda in Gargnano, is one you’ll wish you could record and replay in its entirety, with its breathtaking views of the water, mountains, and picturesque towns. Your jaw will drop even further when you arrive at Lefay. Survey the infinity pool and chaise longues dotting the tiered grounds below the terrace of your sun-drenched suite and then promptly put on your swimsuit and go investigate the spa’s seven saunas, ice pool, and hammam. After one of the most relaxing massages of your life, you’ll want to cap off your afternoon with a float in La Luna nel Lago, an indoor thalassotherapy pool that returns you to the womb.

In the evening, enjoy a dinner of grilled branzino with eggplant and zucchini in salmoriglio sauce at the hotel’s restaurant, Gramen. Watch as the sky turns from dusty blue to the same soft pink of the Valetenési rosé in your wine glass.

After an early morning swim and filling buffet breakfast at Lefay’s La Limonaia restaurant (pastries, fresh fruit, prosciutto, cheeses), it’s time to hit the road — and what a road. After driving north along the SS45bis, turn left onto the Strada della Forra, a scenic route built between 1908 and 1913 and declared the eighth wonder of the world by Winston Churchill. (It reopened in August after being closed due to a landslide.) In Quantum of Solace, James Bond tears his Aston Martin along its hairpin turns and through its stone tunnels while dodging bullets. You can simply marvel at the views while sticking to the 30 kilometer per hour speed limit.

It’ll be a bit early for a wine tasting, but still make a stop at Maso Martis, a gorgeous, family-owned winery at the foot of Mount Calisio. Stroll among the vines and pick up a couple bottles of bubbly to bring back home.

Your ears will pop on the 90-minute ascent to the town of Ortisei in the Val Gardena valley of South Tyrol, Italy’s northernmost province. Drop your bags at your hotel for the night, the idyllic Gardena Grödnerhof Hotel & Spa, and — if you timed things right — head over to meet your guide from Dolomite Mountains, a fabulous Northern Italy-based tour operator, for a hike along the Alpe di Siusi. (Honestly, if you want to make things easy on yourself, let them plan your whole trip.)

Alpe di Siusi is Europe’s largest high alpine pasture, which basically means you’re in for an astonishingly beautiful day. The gondola ride there gives you a bird’s-eye view of storybook Ortisei and its lush meadows. There are 280 miles of hiking trails in the Alpe di Siusi, so the best thing to do is just go where your knowledgeable Dolomite Mountains guide takes you — likely past cattle with bells around their necks and free-grazing horses, bubbling brooks, and one-room churches straight from the pages of Hans Christian Andersen. Even on a clear day, the peaks of the 10,436-foot-high Sassolungo, one of the most famous mountains in South Tyrol, will be shrouded in mist, like a stand in for Middle Earth’s Mount Doom.

After a couple of hours of uphill hiking, you’ll be more than ready for a late lunch at Zallinger, one of the handful of charming hiking huts in the area. Try the speckknödel, a hearty South Tyrol bacon dumpling served in broth, and treat yourself to a beer. You earned it.

Your guide will ask if you want to cut your descent time in half by taking the Florian chairlift and then hiking back to the gondola for the ride to Ortisei. The right answer here is: yes. After that, you’ll want to collapse in your room at the Gardena Grödnerhof, but resist that urge. Instead, take a hot shower and head out to explore the town, which feels more German than Italian, on account of South Tyrol being part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. (Most residents speak German and Italian.)

Your first stop is La Cercia, an intimate wine bar where the walls are lined with bottles from the nearby Alto Adige region and from all over Italy. Try a glass of kerner (an aromatic white) from the nearby Pacherhof winery along with complimentary potato chips and olives.

From here, walk around the village, which is filled with high-end clothing boutiques and quirky souvenir shops. Ortisei has long been a center for woodcarving; for a unique gift, stop into Albert Comploj for hand-carved wooden statues, ornaments, trays, and more.

Unless you are part mountain goat, your legs are likely powering down. Time for dinner at the Restaurant Gardena, which offers both a “typical” menu of fare from the region (like bread dumplings or smoked pork shank), and a “Mediterranean” menu that feels more Italian, plus a buffet filled with local cheeses, salads, and fresh breads that renders the term “buffet” grossly inadequate.

Though you’ll want to eat everything on the breakfast buffet at Gardena Restaurant, keep things light; your downhill drive today is winding and potentially nausea-inducing. Plus, you’ll be sharing the curving road with countless cyclists and motorcyclists, so brace yourself for lots of stops and starts. (Here’s where you thank the automotive gods for your automatic transmission) All that said, it’s also beautiful and there are plenty of opportunities to pull off the road at scenic overlooks.

After about 90 minutes of curves and turns so sharp you’ll feel like you’re going backward, take a pause near the village of Arabba to see the ruins of Andraz Castle, which seems to rise straight out of a giant boulder. The castle was built around 1,000 CE, and served as a strategic military bastion during the Middle Ages. Its most famous resident was the philosopher and bishop Nicholas de Cusa. Now, there’s a small museum and you can even climb to the top and take in the epic view.

Now that most of the curves are out of the way, it’s time for lunch. After about an hour of driving, stop at Tana de l’Ors, a homey restaurant and inn in Forno di Zoldo, for gnocchi with mushrooms or a surprisingly good cheeseburger.

Soon enough, Venice will be in your sights. Before heading to the famous floating city, take a detour to Marghera, a mainland district within the municipality of Venice, for a cooking class via Airbnb Experiences at Al Vapore Jazz Club. Pretty much every day at 4 p.m., Filippo, the club’s charismatic head chef (who happens to be the owner’s son), teaches up to six people to make pasta carbonara — “with the least ingredients possible, but very good ingredients.” You’ll mix just flour, egg, and water and then knead the mixture until it’s smooth and dense before running it through the pasta machine three times and laying it to rest. To make the sauce, you’ll sauté some guanciale, add a splash of red wine (and pour yourself a glass while you’re at it), and then add Parmesan, pecorino, eggs, and double cream. Put it all together and — ecco fatto! — maybe the best pasta you’ve ever had.

The trip isn’t over yet, but it’s time to get rid of that rental car. (Is it still a road trip if you no longer have a car? Yes, yes it is.) Drop it at the airport and then hop aboard the blue line of the Alilaguna ferry and take it to Lido, a small barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon best known as the location of the Venice Film Festival. It’s only seven miles long but packed with lovely hotels and the best beach in Venice. Check into the swanky Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort and promptly head outside to dip your toes in the Adriatic before the sun sets.

That carbonara was really more like an appetizer, so you’ll definitely have room for seafood risotto at Adriatico Restaurant. Sit at a table on the terrace and enjoy an Aperol spritz while listening to the pianist and watching the waves gently lapping on the beach. Another spritz? Why not? You’re not driving.

By now you’ll realize that every hotel breakfast in Italy is basically heaven. Load up on cappuccinos, bomboloni, and sfogliatella, and then make your way to the water to hop aboard the hotel’s private boat. You’ll feel like royalty as you zip past the packed water taxis to Piazza San Marco.

To avoid the long lines, you’ll want to pre-book a guided tour of the Basilica San Marco, Venice’s crown jewel — a shimmering vision of onion domes and spires first raised in the 11th century to honor the city’s patron saint. Step inside and you’re enveloped in golden light, as thousands of Byzantine mosaics glitter overhead, telling the story of Venice’s power, faith, and artistry. Tip: Don’t use the flash on your camera; the glare from all that gold will blind you.

Head next door for a self-guided tour of the Palazzo Ducale, aka Doge’s Palace. First built in 810, this was the seat of the Venetian government for centuries — home to the doge, the elected authority, as well as the courts and the city’s prison. It became a museum in 1923 and walking through its vaunted halls, you’ll spy elaborate frescoes by Tintoretto and Veronese. The coolest moment may be when you get to walk through the Bridge of Sighs, an enclosed limestone bridge that connects the prison to the interrogation rooms at the palace, so named by Lord Byron, who assumed prisoners, including Giacomo Casanova, would sigh at their final view of Venice.
 

All that history will make you hungry. Since Venice is a maze of tiny alleys, depend on Google Maps to get you to Bar Alla Toletta, a sandwich shop specializing in tramezzini, traditional Venetian sandwiches made of crustless white bread stuffed with various fillings. Try one filled with tuna as well as a ciabatta with soppressa, Brie, tomatoes, and arugula.

Walk just a couple of minutes over to Campo San Barnaba, a small square that’s notable for its namesake church, which was featured as a library in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (Currently it’s housing a fantastic interactive Leonardo da Vinci museum.) For some unique gifts, pop into Madera, a design shop across the square selling one-of-a-kind rings made with Murano glass, woven handbags, and brightly colored ceramics. Then get a scoop of gianduja gelato at Grom next door and enjoy it while sitting on the edge of the canal, watching the gondolas pass by.

Simply wandering is one of the best things to do in Venice — and even better with a guide to share the city’s history and point out architectural quirks. Imago Artis Travel is one of the best tour companies in Italy and they offer a number of private experiences in Venice, including a Casanova-inspired walking tour. He may be best known now as a ladies man, but Casanova was really an adventurer — and trickster. As you stroll past places he frequented — including Caffè Florian, the country’s oldest coffeehouse — your guide will unspool Casanova’s wild past, most notably his elaborate escape from prison at the Doge’s Palace. The tour peels back the layers of Venice to the 18th century, when the city was a swirl of masked balls, clandestine romances, and glittering salons. What makes it especially captivating is how much of Venice still looks just as it did in Casanova’s day. History, along with Casanova himself, feels suddenly close at hand.

Have your guide walk you to your dinner spot so you don’t get lost. Taverna Al Remer is a quiet, candlelit restaurant with brick walls and beamed ceilings hidden down a tiny alley near the Rialto Bridge. Order a glass of prosecco and then dig into octopus salad and sea bass tortelloni. Linger over tiramisu and another glass of wine. You won’t want the day to end, but then you’ll remember: There’s a private boat waiting to whisk you back to your hotel.

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.