I may be going with a group from Sweden at the end of February. We'll fly to Bergamo. some want to go to Milan, but I've been there before and found it boring. Some pictures here on Lonely planet show I may have missed some things, but in my opinion there are many places more worth seeing, possibly Bergamo itself. There are all the smaller cities on the way to Venice, like Verona, where Shakespeare decided to have the setting for Romeo and Juliet . They have lots of art and fine architecture. We may only stay for a weekend. One of us wants to go shopping in fashion outlets in Milan,which may be a real possibility.
Then there is Lago di Garda on the way to Venice as well. It is beautiful! In fact, any of the lakes in northern Italy is great with mountains around them, but perhaps not so much in the winter. Actually, there is enough to see all around Milan within a distance of 250 kilometres, to fill a week, at least. The Dolomites in Trentino alto Adige are fantastic if you are a mountain lover. Genova is beautiful and if you just stretch it maybe 50 kilometres more, there is Florence with all its art and the beautiful hills of Toscana around. If you follow the coast south from Venice, there is Ravenna, another picturesque historical city, as far as I rermember.
