What is the best mode of travel for a group of 6?
This depends on your interests and to some extent when you're here. Driving up through the Dolomites to the area around Cortina d'Ampezzo certainly meets the description of beautiful. The cruise on the Brenta canal with visits to the mansions is pretty good. Padova is a very nice city to visit and close to Venice on the train line. With 6 people it would be most economical to rent a car for the day, but the train is more relaxing. Verona is a nice tourist town. There's an old Roman colosseum where the opera is held in the summer and a Roman theater. The old town is quite extensive and particularly nice. The castle often has interesting exhibitions. Or you could go spend a day on or around Garda Lake - there are several Roman ruins and interesting castles. I particularly like Sirmione on the south end of the lake and Malcesine on the north end. Personally, I like Marostica and Bassano del Grappa. Marostica is particularly interesting when the living chess spectacle is being held, but that runs every other year and won't be going this year. If you're here at the end of this month, Ferrara is a great place to be - the Palio will be running the last Sunday of the month. The various neighborhoods gather in medieval costume at the castle. Then there's a big parade to the park where the races are held. The races include a girl's footrace, a boy's footrace, a donkey race, and a horse race. It's pretty spectacular. Ferrara also has a very nice old town and there are many interesting events through the year including a large balloon festival and a very good busker festival.
