Merano

Merano needs 1 day: touring the Gardens of Castel Trauttmansdorff, repeatedly voted Italy's most beautiful park, with over 80 botanical settings from around the world, and walking the Passeggiate, the palm-lined promenades along the Passirio River despite being deep in the Alpine arc, the same afternoon. April-June and September-October bring the mildest weather. It's mid-to-upper priced given its spa town tradition. It was the fashionable thermal spa city for Central European aristocracy in the late 19th century, and its microclimate -shielded from cold winds by the mountains- allows palm trees and citrus to grow at the same latitude where other parts of the Alps have snow much of the year.