Vicenza and Bassano del Grappa: Palladio and the Alpine Bridge
The Teatro Olimpico and Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza in the morning, Palladio's wooden bridge and grappa in Bassano in the afternoon.
Vicenza is the city of Andrea Palladio, the 16th-century architect who taught the world to build villas and palaces like ancient temples: the city and Palladian villas of the Veneto have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. In the morning you'll visit the Teatro Olimpico, the Basilica Palladiana and Corso Palladio. After lunch you head up towards the mountains to Bassano del Grappa, with its wooden bridge designed by Palladio over the River Brenta.
When to goAll year round (the Teatro Olimpico is closed on Mondays)
The plan from Rimini
Leave Rimini for Vicenza2 h 45 driving, 261 km
Vicenza2 h 05 of visits: The Teatro Olimpico, Corso Palladio, Piazza dei Signori and the Basilica Palladiana
Lunch in Vicenza1 h 00 of visits: in the centre: baccalà alla vicentina with polenta, bigoli, risotto with white asparagus from Bassano in spring, Asiago cheese.
Drive on to Bassano del Grappa45 min driving, 46 km
Bassano del Grappa1 h 40 of visits: The Ponte degli Alpini, The squares and grappa
Drive back to Rimini3 h 15 driving, 301 km
Back in Rimini
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
What you will see
1Vicenza
The Teatro Olimpico 45 min
This is Palladio's last work, which he designed in 1580, shortly before his death; Vincenzo Scamozzi completed it, and it was inaugurated in 1585 with Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. The tiered cavea imitates Roman theatres. Behind the stage the set is fixed, made of wood and stucco: seven streets of Thebes that seem endless but are only a few metres deep, a masterpiece of perspective. It's considered the oldest covered theatre in the world still in use.
Admission charge; closed on Mondays.
Corso Palladio, Piazza dei Signori and the Basilica Palladiana 45 min
Corso Palladio, the main street, is lined with noble palaces. You reach Piazza dei Signori, where the Basilica Palladiana stands: it's not a church, it was the Palazzo della Ragione, the law courts. In 1549 the young Palladio won the competition to clad it with white marble loggias, and that commission launched his fame. From the rooftop terrace you can see the whole city, as far as the sanctuary of Monte Berico.
The square is free; the terrace and exhibitions in the Basilica have an admission charge.
2Bassano del Grappa
The Ponte degli Alpini 30 min
The covered wooden bridge over the Brenta was designed by Palladio in 1569, replacing one destroyed by a flood. It has been rebuilt many times, always the same, after floods and wars: the last time it was blown up in 1945 and rebuilt with the help of the Alpini, which is why it now bears their name. Below flows the river, and towards the mountains you can see Monte Grappa.
Free.
The squares and grappa 40 min
Piazza Libertà and Piazza Garibaldi are the heart of the centre, with arcades and frescoed houses. Bassano is the city of grappa: at the head of the bridge is the Nardini grapperia, open since 1779, one of the oldest distilleries in Italy, where grappa is drunk at the bar. In the Chiesa di San Francesco and the Museo Civico there are works by the Da Ponte family, the city's dynasty of painters.
The squares are free; the Museo Civico has an admission charge.
Tips
The Teatro Olimpico is closed on Mondays: on that day another trip would be better.
If you have time you can stop at La Rotonda, Palladio's most famous villa, on the outskirts of Vicenza: you can see it from the road, the interiors are only open on certain days.
7 km from Bassano is Marostica, with its chessboard square where in even-numbered years, in September, a chess game is played with living pieces.
The same trip from other towns
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
This trip with a driver
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
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