Driving from Vienna to Venice (places, culture, beautiful, famous)

[Eastcoasting]

I'll be driving from Vienna to Venice about 6 weeks from now...are there any must see stops along the way?

Does anyone have any suggested routes, scenic drives.

Conversely are there any areas to avoid due to traffic, etc...

Thank you

[viribusunitis]

Depending on which route you are taking, Klagenfurt and Villach may be worth a visit. Lake Wörthersee in Klagenfurt is quite worthwhile, but nothing really special.

The drive isn't particularly scenic. Lots of tunnels and lots of traffic especially when holiday traffic is kicking in in 6 weeks.

Places to avoid would be the area around Udine and Mestre. You really can't avoid those places, though

[Dry Heat]

The shortest route (through Klagenfurt and Udine) is about 580 km / 360 miles.

A few suggestions in Italy:

1. soon after you cross the Austrian/Italian border you could leave the motorway at Tarvisio and head to the Fusine lakes; they are two beautiful Alpine lakes near the Italian/Slovenian border, surrounded by a dense forest (basically beeches, spruces and firs) and overlooked by towering mountains (above all the Mangart);

2. once you leave the Alps behind, there are two villages, namely Venzone and Gemona (30 km north of Udine). They were destroyed by the 1976 earthquake, but they have risen from their ashes, so to speak. They are two pretty medieval villages. Venzone is also famous for its lavender and for its mummies (the bodies date back to the middle ages and were mummified by a natural agent, a fungus to be precise);

3. about 25 km south of Udine there's Palmanova, a famous star-shaped walled town dating back to the Renaissance;

4. You could also visit the archaeological site of Aquileia, 15 km south-east of Palmanova. Aquileia was amongst the largest and most important Roman cities two thousand years ago;

5. once you cross the river Tagliamento you leave Friuli and enter Veneto, the region whose capital is Venice. Portogruaro is the first Veneto town you'll come across, and it's well worth a visit;

6. As viribusunitis mentioned, there's nothing to see in Mestre (it is basically the mainland part of Venice, since it lies within the Serenissima's city boundaries). You might take an alternate route to get to Venice: leave the motorway at San Donà/Jesolo and reach Punta Sabbioni, park your car there and take the boat (motonave). There are two or three motonavi per hour and the journey takes about forty minutes; you'll catch wonderful glimpses of the lagoon and you'll land very very close to st. Mark's square.

[Eastcoasting]

Viribusunitis and Dry Heat, thank you!

Great info and some really good leads to look into.

Thanks again.

[Tex?Il?]

The first time went to Europe in '99, I went by bus from Vienna (where I stayed for a week) to Venice (only there one night and full day).

Basically lots of amazing scenery. High cliffs with sheltered valleys with vineyards and apricot groves. The south, Italian side of the Alps is drier (although not quite Mediterranean). I believe it is known as the Dolomites (Dolomiti).

Once you are on the pancake-flat Po plain, there are several historic small cities you pass through. (might pass through Verona maybe?? I know one of them is somewhat well-known).

There are some Roman ruins along the way. The mainland side of Venice is not particularly atractive as I recall, its largely industrial. I do remember marshes/lagoons with various wetland birds.

Thats what I remember.

[Eastcoasting]

So as a brief update abut the drive from Vienna to Venice.

We decided rather last minute to head to Bratislava and spend a night and the better part of two days there. Great little city and bit of a respite from the overtly tourist driven ares we had been thru.

So with time rather scarce we simply drove right thru from Slovakia to the Venice area. There was some beautiful scenery along the Austrian/Italian border well deserving of further investigation.

Now if I could figure out how to import some of the efficiency, predictability and civility of the European driving culture back here to the USA...one can dream.