Of the ten most beautiful tourist spots NOT to visit on the planet Venice is placed at the top of many lists. This is sad since the city on the lagoon just happens to be one of the most incredible places to see. I remain truly glad I have visited ‘La Serenissima’ in the last century as I gather it is not quite the place now it used to be. Of course, all the wonderful sights remain there: the canals have not been drained, nor have palaces been demolished to make way for shopping malls. No! The Italians continue to love their ‘centri storici’ and would hate to see those abysmal changes perpetrated under the name of ‘redevelopment’ that have made the centres of such once attractive British towns like Bristol or Nottingham grim monuments to municipal town planning ugliness. No, that is not the reason why Venice is off the list of places to see. It’s because there are just too many people visiting it that the city has become a sort of historical Disneyland. Even more than the human deluge going there is the fact that the people that are supposed to live there, the Venetians, are leaving it in droves for Mestre and other horrors on the mainland.

So what does the present-day traveller do? One solution is to visit Venice when the tourist season is at its lowest ebb. Perhaps the end of January? Another is to visit an  alternative beautiful town in the Veneto region.

In summer 2016 we visited Treviso and spent a lovely day there when the market was on.   

With its own unique history and charm Treviso has everything one could want from a city in the Veneto.

There are mediaeval city walls, palaces and a fine mediaeval town hall:

Lots of pretty canals:

Picturesquely arcaded cobbled streets lined with elegant houses:

A fine collection of churches:

Despite this Treviso receives fewer visitors than its more impressive neighbours.. Just look at how empty the streets are in my photos! It’s such a welcome change from the rush-hour like crowds of Venice which I would now rename ‘La guazzabuglissima’. Treviso is definitely worth a return visit.