italiatraveler

We are looking for recommended agriturismo or country apartments near Bologna. We are traveling with our 4 year old son so require 2 BR apartment with swimming pool. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or recommendations.

Thanks!

stevewith

How close to Bologna do you want to be? There are lovely areas around Vignola (which is a wonderful small town with castles and chocolate cake) and in the hills around Savigno, but you should only go there if you have a limited sightseeing agenda and the point of your stay is relaxing and swimming in the countryside.

But if you are thinking that you want to be out and about everyday, visiting Ferrara or Ravenna, or heading into Bologna, then it is better to stay in areas between Bologna and Ferrara, where you will have easier access to fast highways. There are lots of agriturismi in this area (look around Malalbergo), but getting a 2 bedroom apartment with a pool is going to require a lot of digging around on the internet, and you should check out independent holiday rentals as well.

stevewith

I should mention that another option is to stay southwest of Bologna, in the area of Castel San Pietro/Dozza/Imola. That way you have a major road linking you to Bologna and the seaside.

If Modena and Parma are big on your sightseeing agenda, then obviously you should locate more in that direction, east of Bologna. In that case, I would try the immediate area around Modena, and in its hills

italiatraveler

Stevewith - Thank you for the great reply. We will want to see Modena, Parma, Ferrara, and Ravenna as well as Bologna so really doing little day trips to each of the big locations.

Do you know good locations for finding independent holiday rentals?

stevewith

A great many agriturismi in Emilia Romagna offer apartments, not just rooms, and that would be my choice. Many of them have swimming pools as well. You can try this link

http://www.agriturismo.it/en/farmhouse/emilia_romagna

and you can also try going to Tripadvisor and looking up "specialty lodgings" for Ferrara, Modena and Reggio nell'Emilia. You will usually find some agriturismi listed there.

One bedroom apartments in these areas often sleep 4 and can be quite spacious, and owners are happy to add a cot for your small child. So you might take a look at 1 bedrooms as well as 2 bedrooms.

I recommend that you not situate yourselves too far up into any hills. The stretch of mileage between Parma and Ravenna is considerable, and there is no one good "central" location for day tripping to both. If you have an easy day trip to Ravenna, that means you will have a long drive to Parma. And vice versa.

I am tempted to recommend that you split your stay between many nights in an agriturismo, and then an overnight in either Ravenna or Parma, just to eliminate those outliers as 'day trips.' It is usually easier to find good hotel or b&b accommodations in Ravenna than Parma, but to some extent in depends on where you are arriving and how you are leaving the area to determine which place would make the better overnight.

Just so you know: "little" day trips are not so easy if what you are talking about is visiting the principal small cities of the Emilia-Romagna -- which is what you listed. Although sights are compact and easy to see on foot, the towns themselves are ringed by complicated modern development, so getting to them, parking, walking to the sites... it is time consuming. Add to that the fact that the shops and attractions take a 3 hour lunch break and you have a small child... You will need a strategy.

Consult guidebooks about the opening hours of the places your are most interested in visiting. Don't forget that it is sometimes easier to visit some places well after lunch (not Parma however) rather than arrive just as things are closing. I suggest being highly selective about what you want to accomplish in any given day trip, and how many you want to do. Ravenna is an outstanding world-class monument, so if end up need to cut back, that would be the one to hold onto most I think. Ferrara can be a nice place to visit and just walk around in the late afternoon without necessarily entering anyplace.

Every place you go you will need to have researched ahead of time where it is forbidden for non-residents to drive and where to park on the edge of the historic center (not inside!)

have a great trip. Buying fresh pasta to cook at home is a real treat in that region. It only needs a little butter and herbs.

italiatraveler

Thank you so much for the great advice! I do think we will need to prioritize so it's good to know that Ravenna would be at the top of your list. I also like the idea to stay overnight near the further locations.

If we do Bologna and Ravenna, what third place would you add to the itinerary?

stevewith

Without knowing your primary interests, or what time of year you are traveling, what might work for you is to stay here with a car, and use it a base for a few days to see Ravenna and Bologna -- but I suggest you visit Bologna by train, not car. As you feel like it, you could easily drop by Ferrara (very nice place with a small child) and other quirky small towns or scenic areas quite nearby

http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/agri...8180a84;dcid=1

Or if you could give up the idea of a swimming pool, this would be a nice place for Bologna and Ravenna -- although you would need to drive to Bologna, so get excellent instructions about parking outside the restricted zones.

http://www.ilpalazzo.net/inglese/camere.php

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...a_Romagna.html

(If you stayed at the above in Brisighella, I wouldn't go to Ferrara, but probably Dozza instead, and Sant'Arcangelo in Romagna.

If you also wanted to see Modena and Parma in this trip, you might enjoy staying right in one of those towns for 2 nights, so you would get to enjoy the evening scene. You could give up the car if that was easier and use the train, or get a hotel with easy parking. Reggio 'nell Emilia is also a very nice town.

wekewoody

I suggest you ask you question on:

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums

Go to the Italy forum.

There are many locals that post there, and there are many that have traveled in Emilia Romagna. They would have specific suggestions based on their own experience.

stevewith

Nothing against more information for the OP, but I post on Slow Travel regularly (swithers) and I have never seen anyone posting there who is local to Emilia-Romagna. I make about half a dozen visits to Bologna and its surroundings a year, so my suggestions are certainly specific and based on my own experience!

But by all means ask far and wide, including on TripAdvisor, where there are definitely locals who post there. That I know for a fact. A 2 bed apt with a pool is really hard to come by in that region in my experience, so the more eyes looking for you, the better.

stevewith

If you are looking for specific travel advice from a native of Emilia-Romagna, ask Turambar on TripAdvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/Turambar

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum...a_Romagna.html

wekewoody

steve,
It was merely a suggestion. Carry on.

italiatraveler

Hi Steve,

Grazie mille! Agriturismo Lama Di Valle Rosa looks great with a nice pool. We will be in Emiglia-Romana in late September and will rent a car. It's part of a larger trip in Italy (26 days total), and we will spend five days in this region. We visited Mantova in 2006 and really loved the ambience, food, and passegiatta!

Since we are traveling with our four year old son who still naps, we like to stay at places that have a great pool so at least one of us can go swimming in the afternoon.
We also are willing to spend a little more for a very clean and charming place. And we need wireless internet and washing machine too!

Our interests -- we like seeing the small towns, walking around cities, and eating local food. I have heard great things about Bologna, have always wanted to visit Parma (for no other reason than seeing and eating lots of parmesan cheese), and would like to see the mosaics in Ravenna if that is possible with the four year old.

Any more suggestions most welcome!

italiatraveler

Hi again Steve,

I was just rereading this whole thread and saw your mention of Vignola. I love castles and chocolate cake(!!) so that could be a fun base for us too. Any recommendations for places around there or Savina? Then I suppose we could take the train to Bologna or Ravenna if we really wanted to see them.