Yes, I grew up in Veneto. I lived all of my childhood in a small village in the province of Vicenza, at the foot of the Berici Hills and this is probably why I love nature and the outdoors so much.

I have always been a curious person. I never have enough while exploring a new place. I love discovering landscapes and local tastes, and meeting local people, especially if they have a good story to tell.

How long have you been leading tours?

This will be my third year. I worked with green tourism as an agriculture technician before deciding to get my license and become a guide.

As a technician, I visited many beautiful agriturismos and amazing rural landscapes in Veneto. Everywhere I visited, I found myself surprised that these places were almost unknown to tourists, and that they could be incredible off the beaten path destinations.

A lot of Americans dream of visiting Venice. It’s like a Disneyland for grown-ups. I would recommend no more than a couple of full days in Venice, and instead getting out to see more of the region. Alex, what do you say makes a great base to explore more of the region?

Well, Venice is Venice, one of the most popular (and crowded) destinations in the world. No doubt it is wonderful but Veneto is really much more than Venice.

Veneto has is strength in its big landscape variety. Consider in barely 150 km you can start from the sea level of Venice and arrive at the foot of the 3000 meters peaks of the Dolomites (a UNESCO site).

From Venice in just 100 km you can be at Garda Lake, the biggest Italian lake, which is less popular with American tourists, but is at least as picturesque and amazing as the more famous Como Lake.

Having said this, I can understand that sleeping a couple nights in Venice, walking under the moonlight and seeing the lights on the lagoon is a good life experience. However after that, my general advice is to find a good accommodation in a smaller city or in a local agriturismo in the countryside and visit the region from there.

The first advantage is the prices: Venice is Venice guys (expensive)! The second advantage is that you can move much more easily by car (in Venice you have no cars at all so you can move just by foot and by boat).

For example, Vicenza is small charming city. It is the city of the famous Palladio architect, and it is exactly between Venice and Verona. It has a super nice historical center, old palaces, and countryside villas, yet it's incredibly “out of the radar”. Most visitors make just a quick half-day visit, but they don't even consider it as a good starting point to see the region.