Hi Fodorite Italy experts
We'll be making a long-awaited return trip to Italy in September, propelled by past medical events and the realization that it might not be a possibility for ever. One day, hopefully distant, we might be less inclined/not able to undertake ambitious trips.
We're flying via London to Rome, where we'll stay four nights before our Windstar cruise (Rome to Venice). Arrive in Venice early on a Friday morning, and we have a week before we fly out of Milano back to London (relly visit planned) and eventually back home to the US.
My question is about how much time to spend where. I've never been to Venice, so we're spending 4 nights there. Since my DH loves (underscore twice) any good ragu of the Bolognese persuasion, 
we thought we could take a train from Venice to Bologna, stay there a couple of nights, then train to Milano for a night before our flight to London.
Looking at trenitalia, it looks like train services are good, and not too long (we do love train travel!) What do you think? workable plan?
A bit of background: growing up in England, we used to visit Italy every summer. Also have spent time in Rome, Positano, Florence, Cinque Terre, Lake Maggiore, Dolomites -- it's Venice (and the ultimate ragu) that are the missing parts.
Please critique my plan for Northern Italy!
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Sounds lovely to me---good planning.
Holler if you have questions.
If you cut out one night in Venice you might be able to find the time for a day trip from Bologna to Ravenna--the mosaics are something to see.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/4201598764/in/set-72157622914503405
I'm not a huge Milan fan but restricting yourselves to a single night might be shortchanging Italy's 2nd city a bit.
You might think of cutting back to 3 nights in Venice... The city is fabulous but its impact registers immediately and you don't need more than 24 hours before you feel you've "got" the city. What comes after that is simply an enriching of the initial experience.
But, isn't enriching an initial impression what travel is about?
Having said that, you could do with 3 nights in Venice, but I would add an extra day to Bologna. I mentioned in my TR at the time that we felt our biggest mistake of our own visit to Bologna was only planning 2 nights there.
Interesting. Bologna, like Seattle, is one of those places that left me cold. To each his own. Ravenna is absolutely worth the trouble it takes to get there if you are an art lover, though the food isn't as good as in Bologna.
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Thanks for all the great advice! It's helping me put the final plan together.
Silvy, funny you should mention Santa Maria del Popolo. I went to see "Red", about Mark Rothko, at our local theater (awesome production, by the way). Rothko mentioned being transfixed by the Caravaggio painting in Santa Maria -- but when I got home, I couldn't remember which Santa Maria. Called the theater, and person who answered had the script in front of her and looked it up for me there and then. Sure enough, it's Santa Maria del Popolo -- so now that's added to our list. Love our local TheaterWorks for many reasons, and now there's one more!
I agree about giving another night to Bologna. It's not a spectacular town visually, although the porticoed streets are really cool. But the FOOD! AH! It's not just the Bolognese sauce. The pastas are amazing. In restaurants there you can order a "tris" (sp? but pronounced treese) and you get a plate with three small helpings of different pastas to taste. And at ristorante Meloncello I had the most divine gnocchi ever. I would choose it over Milano unless you are avid shoppers.
And from Bologna you could take a day trip to Parma for ham and cheese production or Modena for balsamic vinegar.
I wish we could stop in Bologne for a day from Venice to Naples.
My daughter said last night when I mentioned how close we are to our trip, "I can't wait to stuff my face with Pasta a la Bolognesa, pizza and gelato". She literally ate Pasta a la Bolognesa 5 days out of 7 in our 4 weeks in Italy in 2010.
S.ta Maria del Popolo: the Caravaggio paintings are, of course, the show-stoppers in that church. But there are also northern paintings and sculptures, quite unlike anything you'll see elsewhere in Rome. Pinturicchio, am I right?
Also Raphael's mosaics. Architectural design by Bernini and Bramante. In sum, a microcosm of everything that is best in Rome....