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THIS OCTOBER, OVER 130 IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES ACROSS VENETO AND FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA INVITE TRAVELLERS TO DISCOVER THE QUIETER, DEEPER SIDE OF VENICE, THE CIVILIZATION THAT GREW FROM ITS SOIL.
There is a version of Venice that millions of visitors never get to see. It lies beyond the lagoon, along the Brenta and deep into the Veneto plain, where some 4,243 villas, 3,807 in Veneto and 436 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, catalogued by the Istituto Regionale Ville Venete, still stand as the living footprint of the Serenissima’s reach into the mainland. They are the DNA of a culture, agricultural engines, architectural masterpieces, gardens, frescoes and working landscapes that together form what is known as the Civiltà di Villa.
On 17 & 18 October 2026, the fifth edition of the Giornata delle Ville Venete returns, opening the doors of more than 75 villas for over 130 immersive experiences. It is a weekend designed as an antidote to overtourism, a chance to slow down, look closer, and understand that, as the event’s own payoff puts it: “Non puoi conoscere Venezia se non conosci le Ville Venete”, you cannot truly know Venice if you do not know the Ville Venete.
Organised by the Associazione per le Ville Venete, APS under the presidency of Isabella Collalto de Cròy, in close collaboration with the Istituto Regionale per le Ville Venete (IRVV) and with the patronage of MIT, MIC, ENIT, Regione Veneto, European Historic Houses, Rai Veneto and Rai Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the Giornata has grown into one of Italy’s most respected models of experiential, under-the-radar tourism. Since its first edition, it has attracted more than 75,000 participants.
The 2026 programme is organised into nine experiential clusters: Heritage, Green, Wine & Food, Family, Dream, Wellbeing, Vita di Villa, “Se piove?” (for rainy days) and, new this year, Paesaggio (Landscape). The addition of the landscape cluster reflects a broader truth the event has long championed: at the Villa Veneta, architecture and nature are not separate. The garden, the vineyard, the avenue of centuries-old trees, these are not scenery, but substance.
Visitors can expect owner-led tours, wine tastings from estate-grown grapes, garden and orto walks with experts, olfactory experiences, theatrical performances, children’s activities, yoga in historic gardens, and immersive workshops such as the Atelier d’artista. Among the highlights announced in Venice: a music-therapy laboratory at Villa Rizzardi – Giardino di Pojega (Verona); the inclusive, multisensory “Una villa per tutti” at Villa Pojana; a Villa Quiz at Villa di Maser; a botanical illustration workshop at Ca’ Zenobia; and “Le radici della Villa Veneta” at Castello Papadopoli Giol, where a walk through a 13-hectare English-style park ends with a guided tasting led by the owner himself.
For those who prefer to travel beyond the weekend, the official website offers curated multi-day itineraries connecting the Marca Trevigiana and Vicentino, including a route that moves from Villa Versoni Scortecci and Villa Onigo to an overnight stay at CastelBrando, before continuing on to Villa di Maser, Villa Soranzo Chiminelli and Villa Valmarana ai Nani.
The Giornata is not only a weekend of open doors; it is also a platform for reflection. On 16 September 2026, the launch event took place at Palazzo Zeno in Venice with the conference “Algoritmo Villa Veneta. La salienza della Villa Veneta come cura per il nostro tempo” — which translates as “Villa Veneta Algorithm: The Salience of the Villa Veneta as a Remedy for Our Time.” It brought together institutions, owners and communication professionals to discuss how digital language, social media and AI can serve rather than flatten a heritage this layered.
“In an era marked by approximation and superficiality, communicating the Villa Veneta with rigour is essential to enhancing its authentic cultural and economic identity,” said President Isabella Collalto de Cròy. “To narrate this unique heritage with care means practising true culture, returning to the world the wholeness and depth of the Civiltà di Villa.”
That conversation continues at the TTG Travel Experience in Rimini on 14 October 2026 (Sala Cedro, 15:00–16:00), where the Giornata will be presented as a virtuous model of under tourism in a panel titled “Ville Venete: identità, under tourism e AI” — “Ville Venete: Identity, Under Tourism and AI.” The event also follows the Association’s participation in the World Tourism Event (WTE) in Assisi on 24 & 25 September, held within the Regione Veneto stand and marking 30 years since the UNESCO recognition of “Città di Vicenza e le Ville del Palladio nel Veneto.”
The Villa Veneta is not a monument to be observed from a distance. It is a working, breathing system, an early form of circular economy built on agriculture, architecture, water and landscape. In an age of algorithmic feeds and blockbuster itineraries, the Giornata delle Ville Venete proposes something quietly radical: attention. Time. Depth.
“The owner of a Villa Veneta is the keeper of a message and of a collective identity,” Collalto reminds us. This October, that message is open to anyone willing to listen.
Practical information: The full programme of experiences, organised by cluster and province, is available at www.giornatavillevenete.it. Advance booking is recommended.
