It was a 10-day trip in the autumn of 2025. September is always busy in Italy because the weather is perfect for city travel and the most tourists know that. I traveled by train to Venice and the accommodations were in Mestre (4 nights), in Desenzano del Garda (3 nights) and in Milan (2 nights). On this trip I visit the Architecture Biennale in Venice with 2 friends, I got to know the South-Eastern part of Lake Garda and I participated in an office study trip in Milan. It was the fourth time I had been to Venice, and I still hadn’t seen everything. I think this is a city one must visit more than once in a lifetime.
11.09.2025 – Arrive to Mestre
From Zurich you can easily reach Venice or Mestre by train. I recommend you to take a walk in the afternoon and in the evening in Venice – for example St. Marc’s square is beautiful and magical in this time of the day.
12.09.2025 – Venice – La Biennale / Giardini
Visit the first part of the Biennale, the Giardini. The park is famous from the national pavilions, there are some of them, they are very famous. (Book Ship Pavilion by James Stirling (photo), Finnish pavilion by Alvar Aalto, Nordic pavilion by Sverre Fehn, Venezuelan pavilion and the ticket office by Carlo Scarpa, Swiss pavilion by Bruno Giacometti and I like also the Hungarian pavilion with the beautiful tiles on its facade). If you still have energy after the exhibitions you can visit also the Fondazione Querini Stampalia or the Olivetti shop by Carlo Scarpa.
13.09.2025 – Venice – La Biennale / Arsenale
The second part of the Biennale ist the Arsenale (photo). The old industrial buildings made by brick have a really special atmosphere. After the exhibitions go the Guidecca district, because of the social housing projects by Cino Zucchi.
14.09.2025 – To the North from Venice
Rent a car in Mestre and drive to the North. In San Vito d’Altivole there is a very famous cemetery, where a part of it was designed by Carlo Scarpa: Tomba Brion (photo). Go further to Possagno, which is the birth place of the famous sculptor, Canova. The museum is about his life and about his plaster models, which he always made before he started to work with the marble. Carlo Scarpa designed the extention of the museum. There are also some nice towns on the way back to Mestre: Asolo, Castelfranco Veneto or if you have more time you can also visit Padova.
15.09.2025 – Lake Garda
Take the train and go to Desenzano, which is a lovely town at Lake Garda. You can take a walk in the little old town and from here you can ship to Sirmione (photo), which is on an island of the lake. Simione is pretty busy because of the tourists, but you can find some calm places, too.
16.09.2025 – Lake Garda
Ship from Desenzano to Bardolino. After a walk you go by bus to Lazise, which is also a little town with a flair of the middle age. Again by bus you can go further to Peschiera del Garda (photo), where you can find some fortification buildings. The town has this strict military feeling, which is impressive. Take the train and go back to Desenzano.
17.09.2025 – Verona
From Desenzano you should take the train and go direct to Verona. The city is very touristic and in september it is almost unbearable, but try it. The city has a huge old town, so you will be very tired if you go by foot. You can visit the arena and the Castelvecchio Museum (the renovation was designed by Carlo Scarpa and there is one more building of him in the city: the Banca Popolare di Verona (photo)). There are a lot of churches in the city, but I only visited one, the Church of Saint Zeno. It is worth to climb up to the Castel San Pietro, where you can find many places, from where there is nice panoramic view to the city.
18-20.09.2025 – Milan
In the last 3 days of this trip I spent the time with my collegues, because we had an office trip. We visited some nice buildings by S. Boeri, Grafton Architects, SANAA Architects, G. Terragni, G. Ponti, L. Caccia Dominioni, L. Moretti, and A. Mangiarotti. The highlight of the tour was the Villa Necchi by Piero Portaluppi (photo).
ADAM BALOG 