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11-12 days between Bologna and Rome - ideas please!

11-12 days between Bologna and Rome - ideas please!

Old Apr 27th, 2014, 08:15 AM
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Ferrara, oh yes the ZLT is tight.

Do you like pottery? Faenza has a world class museum
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 08:22 AM
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Ferrara, oh yes the ZLT is tight.>>

an argument for the train perhaps?

>

lol- what makes you say that, bilbo? could we achieve much in a week? would i be right in assuming that it would be reasonably flat?
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 01:14 PM
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The Po valley is very flat, lots of drainage canals makes the PO a little tricky and Italian cycle lanes are not always perfect but some are very well described. We did this a few years back.

http://bilboburgler.hubpages.com/hub...ice-to-Ravenna and had a very easy time

In terms of the trains Bologna is the centre of a very large web of rail lines. Certainly if I was staying in Bologna and wanted to get to Ferrara or Ravenna I'd catch the train.

If you want more info there is also http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Verona_Guide.php

and the Panoramic Wheels down load on http://www.ferraraterraeacqua.it/en/...ycle-tourism-1 gives you a good idea of what is available
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 01:14 PM
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It's a ZTL

Zona Traffico Limitato

I don't know why you would want to drive a car where it is easier to take a train. Bologna is the single best rail hub in all of Italy.

Unless your flight lands at an ungodly hour then consider landing and moving on past Bologna for your first night or two. Depending on train connections I would pick either Modena or Ravenna. If Ravenna then I would do 2 nights there and then move on to Modena and see Parma from Modena. Make your last stop Bologna and see Ferrara as a day trip from Bologna. Fly home.

But if you want a road trip then use the car to see places you can't get to by train. I would probably include Ravenna because it is so spectacular but then consider:

Brisighella
Sant'Arcangelo in Romagna
Comacchio
Tresigallo (but only if there are WW2 buffs in the family)
Dozza
Vignola
Castelvetro di Modena
Fontanellato
Torrechiara


That is too many places -- especially if you are going to include Bologna -- but I think if you are going to rent the car it is better to keep out of places with ZTLs and just visit small towns.
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 01:25 PM
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Oh -- another wonderful springtime place if you do the train is Mantova. It is only an hour north of Modena. But it is hard to see in just one day.

So if the choices for a train trip are:

Bologna
Ravenna
Modena
Ferrara
Parma
Mantova

then you need more than a week because some of these places have more than one day's worth of interest.

But remember than Mantova is only an hour from Milan. Ferrara is close to Venice (and Padova on a future trip). Ravenna is an outlier and good to see it while you can.

Another possibility for a road trip? Visit Ravenna and pick up a car and take a loop up through the Euganean hills between Ferrara and Padova. Lots of small towns with charm. You can see Comacchio on the way. Look up pictures of towns like Este and Montagnana and Arqua Petrarca. Stay near there (in resorts with baths and swimming pools if you like). Cut over to Mantova. Head back to Bologna (maybe spend your last night in Modena and drive yourselves to the airport).
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 02:01 PM
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Comacchio is interesting, sort of a poor man's Venice. In Comacchio you can take a gondola ride for a very reasonable price, but the gondoliere doesn't wear a fancy costume, and the gondola has a somewhat different profile from the Venetian one. He may give you a hand-made souvenir: a clam shell on which he has painted "Comacchio" with nail polish. They don't do that in Venice!

There are some excellent restaurants in Comacchio, but the local specialty (eel) is a taste I may never acquire, and I think it's not something I'll regret on my deathbed.

There is a museum featuring the wreckage of an ancient Roman ship that was unearthed in Comacchio, with very interesting exhibits about the possessions of the sailors and the cargo on the ship when it sank (with no one aboard, apparently).

Comacchio is really very small; you could see it in a few hours, but you might also want to drive around the park area of the Po Delta. I'm not sure I would advise taking the trip there unless you were also going to Ravenna. Ravenna merits almost a full day, but if you get an early start and are not tired, you could easily tack Comacchio onto the outing.

I think you'll just have to return to see Le Marche another time. I could go on and on with advice on places you should see; Urbino would certainly be near the top of the list, but there are dozens of charming little walled towns, spectacular scenery, castles everywhere, ancient churches and monasteries, Roman ruins, and great food (better than Tuscany in my opinion), and on a par with Emilia Romagna).
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 02:30 PM
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Great thread. If the timeframe were to be late Fall (October) do folks still think many of these itineraries would work?
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 02:49 PM
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yestravel

In October you have to pay attention to fog issues -- especially around Mantova and Ferrara and that entire area of the Po Delta as it nears the Adriatic. If you are doing train travel it is not an issue at all (and it can be wonderful to be on the train and in the towns in fog) but if you are driving you need to be as flexible about your travel plans as you would be in snow season. The fog absolutely stops all possibility of road traffic in some areas.

Here is another lovely area near Bologna. Less than an hour away by car in the southerly hills. I think Anthony Bourdain managed to find his way to Tredozio. Not mentioned in this link (but worth mentioning) is nearby Predappio -- both the birthplace and burial place of Mussolini and where much of the town has signature fascist-era architecture (as does Tresigallo and at least one corrner of Ferrara).

But this area is farming and vinyards and castles:

http://travelingwithsweeney.com/2013...agna-tredozio/
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 02:57 PM
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PS yestravel

If you are going by train and have more than a week and you like un-toursted but lovely Italian towns then Reggio nell'Emilia on the train line between Modena and Parma is just that sort of overlooked place and very enjoyable.
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 03:23 PM
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Thanks! Planning to train it. We'll be away ~month, but need to figure out the where and how many days. I need to start my own thread. Sorry for butting in!
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 04:10 PM
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I have seen a couple of passing references to Mantova. IMO, this is the absolute jewel of the region. Between the Palazzo Te and the Ducal palace I was entranced. And its water-bound setting is lovely.

Bologna is larger and architecturally even more impressive, I admit. But it's also a rough town -- the only place I've stayed in Italy where:
1. a Roma tried to rob us and
2. I could imagine fights breaking out at closing time, at one of Bologna's many louche bars.
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 04:51 PM
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Hi Annhig, what fabulous suggestions. I presume that you will only be speaking Italian on this trip, right? After your Italian lessons...
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 04:58 PM
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Mantova was a wonderful town. I also loved Bologna...best food ever. Bologna also makes a nice place to make day trips from.
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 01:28 AM
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Hi Annhig, what fabulous suggestions. I presume that you will only be speaking Italian on this trip, right? After your Italian lessons...>>

i agree lateday, terrific suggestions, some of which I hope to be able to follow up. as for the italian, spero di parlare italiano sempre!

sandralist - I agree that this is looking more and more like a train trip at least for the first half. Normally I would agree about putting the Bologna part at the end but if we fly Ryanair into Bologna, we would be landing at about 7pm; the flight home leaves at about 7.30 pm. So it would work better to stay in Bologna for 2 nights, then to move on after that, knowing that we will have a whole day to get back there. This is the suggestion I like best so far:

>.

bilbo - loved the TR of your cycle down and round the Po but I suspect that we are too inexperienced in bike touring to attempt all, or indeed any of that. [that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it]. But your descriptions of the towns and sights [and where to find the TI] will doubtless prove very useful.

blv - sadly i think that Le Marche is probably for another, longer trip.

Again, thank you all. I will report back when/if our plans are further forward.
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 02:39 AM
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Don't ignore doing day rental in some of the towns, the delta is lovely with wildlife all over, so a bike and a picnic can make a good day out
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 03:05 AM
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tedgale

Your experience in Bologna could have happened in Mantova as well and certainly Rome or Milano or Venice or any number of Italian cities (and the thief could have been Italian or another type of immigrant). I actually do know people who have been robbed on the street by Italians and also in Venice. So I am not making that up. I understand how it can color your view of a European destination (a run-in with a bag snatcher in Barcelona soured my view of the city) but Bologna is not remarkably a hard edged city for Italy.

There are ninety thousand students in Bologna and while beer bars and late night bars are plentiful I do not find the bars of Bologna particularly louche or the clientele prone to fights. That is your imagination. I never seen a single fight in many trips there and I have seen them in Rome and Naples and Florence.
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 03:09 AM
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annhg

Sounds like an adventure to be sure. If I can find a good link for touring the Euganean hills I will post it here. Be sure to see Sant'Apollinaire in Classe just south of Bologna before leaving the area. In your brief time in Bologna don't miss the church of Santa Maria della Vita which is only open until noon.
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 03:11 AM
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Oops -- I meant to say that Classe is just south of Ravenna. It is a particularly beautiful mosaic to see in Spring and it only takes a few minutes to do so. It is a short drive and just a walk into the church.
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 03:26 AM
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These links might be worth something

http://www.turismopadova.it/en/nature/euganean-hills

http://www.zainoo.com/en/italy/eugan...s/destinations

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ua_Veneto.html

Not suggesting these commercial establishments personally but just including the links to give you info about destinations and tour strategies

http://www.frassanelle.com/itinerari...euganean-hills

http://www.venetoinside.com/en/disco...uganean-hills/
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 05:06 AM
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The only reasons I can imagine touring the Euganian Hills is
1) it gets so hot in the PO valley you want to cool off
2) the view through the haze of Venice
3) a need to see where various exiles from Rome went

However there are spas at the base (between the hills and the canal to Padua) which might be worth it. Also small A/C wine areas but nothing really worth shouting about unlike the various Lumbruscos from around Ferrara
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