The 10 best places to stay outside Venice

This top ten covers a range of accommodation, from reasonably priced hotels to self-catering flats – for families and groups larger than two renting a flat can prove a big saving. Cooking your own meals bypasses the costs of eating out, and brings the bonus of shopping in local markets.

PADUA

It’s a half-hour train ride from here into Venice, with trains going every 10-20 minutes. where sights include the famous Giotto frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica of St Antony.

1) The Catai B&B is in a comfortable and modern apartment full of fascinating artefacts from the owner’s travels in the Far East: she speaks good English and can offer useful guidance on Padua and the region. The apartment has a large terrace and a spacious living/dining room. It lies in a quiet part of town ten minutes’ walk north of the station and 15 minutes’ walk from the old centre of Padua.

Details 0039 049 8643394 www.bbtibetanhouse.it. Rooms for two to four people. From €70 a night, €400 a week for a double room, and €110 a night for a family room.

2) The San Bonifacio self-catering apartment has three en-suite bedrooms spread over two floors, with a well-equipped kitchen, air-conditioning, wifi, a terrace and private parking. Bicycles are provided to speed you round the city – the apartment is very centrally positioned, just north of the Basilica of St Antony and a seven-minute tram ride from the station.

Details Via Gaspara Stampa 23, Padua. Sleeps five. www.holiday-rentals.co.uk. From €650 a week.

3) If you have a large group how about renting the whole wing of an old mansion? The San Bonifacios also rent out a wing of the Villa Mandriola, their family mansion on the southern edge of town. With six magnificent bedrooms, this is the ‘modern’ wing of the villa – built in the 18th century.

You feel like you are on a film set, lounging around on the gargantuan sofas in the sitting room, which has more than enough room for the whole party – like many of the other rooms, the walls are covered in elaborate pastoral frescoes. The dining room and kitchen are equally imposing. The 12 acres of grounds include a summertime swimming pool, a small lake and swans, and you wake to the sound of the neighbouring peacocks. The friendly owners can arrange tours to their vineyard and the medieval towns of the nearby Euganean hills.

Details Via Sebastiano Caboto 10, Albignasego. www.holiday-rentals.co.uk. Sleeps ten, extra rooms available. The Villa Mandriola is 4km from the centre, 6km – a half-hour bus ride – from the station, car handy for access. From €400 a night or €2000 a week.

4) The Al Fagiano Hotel is a wackily decorated and friendly two-star next to the basilica of St Antony. It has forty rooms over four floors, each floor having a different colour scheme. The rooms are on the small side, but have air-conditioning, TV and hair dryers. The hotel is a five-minute tram ride from the railway station.

Details Via Locatelli 45, Padua, 0039 049 8750073, www.alfagiano.com. Double rooms from €70.

TREVISO

A small and friendly town so close to Venice – again, just half an hour by train – that it slips off the tourist radar. It has a compact buzzing centre and good restaurants, and those of a cultural bent won’t want to miss its frescoes.

5) Apartment Sile is a very comfortable self-catering acccommodation recently modernised and equipped by its English owners specifically with foreign visitors in mind – so it is very well furnished, has six adult bikes and provides excellent information on the area. It has three double bedrooms, a large terrace and secure parking. The apartment is on the ground floor of a modern block in Silea, a western suburb of Treviso. You can get to Venice by car in 25 minutes, or it is only a 15-minute bike ride to Treviso station.

Details: www.holidaylettings.co.uk - sleeps 6. From £275 a week, or £75 a night (min stay 3 nights).

6) The Villa delle Meridiane is a delightful B&B in the village of Castagnole on the northeast edge of Treviso. The ‘Villa of the Sundials’ originally dates from the 15th century but was given a major restoration in the 17th century.

It takes its name from the three old sundials on its frescoed walls– the charming and erudite owner will explain (in Italian or French) their origins - she is also a mine of information about the region.

A plentiful breakfast is served in the large kitchen or in the garden, and in the evening there are several restaurants nearby. The rooms are beautifully furnished with family antiques: there are two double rooms, and a child’s bed and a cot can also be provided.

Details Via Zara 3, Castagnole di Paese 0039 0422 959615 www.villadellemeridiane.it - single, double and triple room. 4km from the station and half an hour’s drive from Venice. Double room from €70 a night, triple from €90.

VICENZA

A Palladian jewel 45 minutes from Venice by train, Vicenza is a prosperous city, popularly dubbed Italy’s “Silicon Valley”. The lively centre has many fine 16th-century buildings, most notably the Teatro Olimpico and the Basilica – and some of the finest ice cream in the region.

7) Holiday Rentals has a three-bedroom flat in the centre of town a few minutes walk from the station. Given the amount there is to see in Vicenza, there is a surprising dearth of hotels and self-catering places. Set in a modern block, this flat is spacious, with two good-sized double bedrooms and one smaller single bedroom – the beds are very comfortable – and two bathrooms.

The flat has fine-looking antique furniture, though some is too fragile to use, as well as expanses of traditional Venetian terrazzo floors – the only downside being that noise travels rather easily between floors. Access to garage parking in the basement.

Details www.holiday-rentals.co.uk - sleeps five. From $165 a night, $975 a week, $200 breakage fee refunded when key returned.

8) The Due Mori hotel is only a two-star but feels better than that. Located right by the Piazza dei Signori – a ten-minute walk from the station – it has a graceful and friendly feel. Its rooms are capacious, especially the two with disabled access, and have beautiful wooden Art Nouveau-style furniture.

Rooms in the recently restored annexe across the road (the former Hotel Vicenza) are larger and slightly more expensive; the annexe also has a roof terrace on the fifth floor. Wifi only in main hotel at the time of writing.

Details Contrà Do Rode 26, 0039 0444.321.886, www.hotelduemori.com. Doubles from €80, double with shared bathroom €55.

9) The Hotel Cristina is a friendly – and eco-friendly – three-star hotel five-minutes’ walk from the station. Its eco-credentials include its breakfasts from organic products, its energy and water-saving policy and the bikes it has for hire.

The more expensive rooms at the back – named after writers and composers – have been recently modernised, and are worth the little extra money. Half the rooms have baths and the rest have showers; there are smoking and disabled-access rooms, too. Wifi in all rooms. Cots available free of charge.

Details Corso San Felice 32, 0039 0444.323.751 www.hotelcristinavicenza.it. Doubles from €90, family rooms from €100.

10) And finally if you just have to be in Venice but don’t want to spend the earth, try the Hotel Bernardi Semenzato: this family-run hotel is just off the Grand Canal in Cannaregio, near the Ca’ d’Oro water boat stop. It’s close to good restaurants and bars and well positioned for exploring the less crowded parts of the city in San Polo, Santa Croce and Castello districts.

The main hotel and the nearby annexe offer a range of rooms, from very cheap single without a bathroom to larger en-suite family rooms with grand canopies over the beds. The friendly owners are extremely obliging and can arrange cots and extra beds if needed.

Details Calle dell’Oca, 4366 Cannaregio, www.hotelbernardi.com, 0039 041 5227257. From €60 for double rooms.

Charles Hebbert was researching the new edition of the Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto