Treviso, Italy

One of the undiscovered gems in the Veneto is TREVISO, a charming, quiet town that makes an ideal jumping-off point both for Venice and the northern Veneto. Treviso was an important town long before its assimilation by Venice in 1389, and plenty of evidence of its early status survives in the form of Gothic churches, public buildings and, most dramatically of all, the paintings of Tomaso da Modena (1325–79), the major artist in northern Italy in the years immediately after Giotto's death. The general townscape within Treviso's sixteenth-century walls is appealing too – long porticoes and frescoed house facades give many of the streets an appearance quite distinct from those of other towns in the region.