25km (16 miles) N of Mestre/Venice, 50km (31 miles) NE of Padua

Long overshadowed by Venice, Treviso is a small, prosperous city of narrow medieval streets, Gothic churches, and an enchanting network of canals, replete with weeping willows and waterwheels (it’s known as “piccola Venezia” or “little Venice”). Much of the city had to be rebuilt after severe World War II damage, but it was done well. Treviso's medieval palazzi and houses with painted facades, churches frescoed by Giotto's follower Tomaso da Modena (1325–79), and pleasant streets cut across by pretty canals together make for a lovely, genuine-Italy break from the tourist beat of Padua-Vicenza-Verona.