I will be visiting Bologna for the first time next year for around 6 days (main interest is food followed by relaxing and just absorbing the surroundings). After researching, below are my tentative plan. I will not have a car so will be taking train, although I wonder if it is worth it if I'm driving outside of Bologna (more on this below). Looking for thoughts and suggestions and also any ideas that I may have missed from anyone with experience in the area. Thanks!

Day 1 - Bologna
Day 2 - Bologna (Italian Days Bologna Food Tour) --> wondering if this is worth doing since it is a full day activity if I will be going to Parma and Modena
Day 3 - Day Trip to Modena
Day 4 - Day Trip to Parma
Day 5 - Day Trip to Ravenna OR Ferrara OR anything else?
Day 6 - Leave Bologna

In terms of accommodation, I am thinking I should find hotels near the train station since I will be making many day trips (as opposed to city center). Thoughts?

I also considered staying in Modena to experience spending nights in a small and more quiet town. But not sure if that is efficient. I was also interested in staying at an agriturismo in the area, but given lack of car, it would appear this is not a feasible option. Having a car would open up agriturismo option as well as day trip to Brisighella (which I hear is beautiful). Any thoughts on this too since driving is apparently a pain?

Thanks again in advance.

"Having a car would open up agriturismo option as well as day trip to Brisighella (which I hear is beautiful). Any thoughts on this too since driving is apparently a pain?"

Well, I don't think that driving is a pain. It's certainly not like driving in the USA, but millions of Italians are fine with driving. That said all these cities are easy to reach by train(even Brisighella), just save the expense and hassle of renting a car and you can drink wine anytime you wish.

Modena is not that small, I'd rather spend a night in Brisighella if you're looking for a small and quiet town.

At a push you may be able to do Ferrara + Ravenna in 1 day with an early start, you just need to be selective in what to see,

I wouldn't saty in a farmhouse(agriturismo) if you're going to see cities every day. You leave the farm in the morning, you return in the evening. What's the point if you don't have time to savour the slow country life? Staying near the railway station sounds like a good idea.

Have you already been to Florence?

Another good daytrip could be taking the scenic train across the Appenines to Pistoia via Porretta Terme and returning via Florence on the high-speed line(boring tunnel, but quick).

There are even historic trains(steam trains too) on that line a few times a year, but even just taking a regular train makes a nice trip. It was the original railroad between Bologna nd Firenze, built in the 19th century.

https://www.porrettanaexpress.it/

http://www.fondazionefs.it/

Great point and thanks for that. I guess I'll save the farmhouse for next time. I've been to Rome/Florence on my first trip to Italy. This will be my second trip.

Is Brisighella easy to access via train? My brief research shows that I need to take a train and then taxi for a bit before arriving there. I assume that makes sense since there wouldn't be a train station there. I am traveling in a group of 6 which makes taking taxi a bit more trouble since we will need 2 cars (just a minor issue).

Well I did almost the exact same trip last summer. 5 nights in Bologna with day trips to Modena, Parma, Farrera and Brisighella. All by train. I did a trip report which may be of interest to you given how similar my trip was. And check out the B&B we stayed at (half way between the train station and the center) which we loved.

Trip report: 5 weeks in Italy, Croatia, France - Summer 2019


I drive in Italy frequently when it makes sense but for what you describe I don't think it does. Other than Brisighella, it would be more of a pain to drive to those cities than take the train. And interestingly, on a previous trip when we were driving we had intended to visit Brisighella and got lost (which we hardly ever do, and our SIM card ran out of data that day) and never got there. This trip we did get there, by train. It was easy though required a bit of planning time wise.

I think staying in Briishella would be a mistake unless you really just want to chill. We enjoyed it but it is really small. I also think given that you want to see those other towns that staying in an agriturismo would be a mistake. Obviously you'd need to drive and parking in those cities would be a pain. With the train you are deposited 10-20 minute walk from the area you'll want to see, the trains are frequent, cheaper than a car. I only rent cars when I want to see a lot of small villages, or in areas where public transportation is not that good. Also since you are interested in food I would think you'd want to base in Bologna where you'd have a lot of dinner options to choose from.

"Is Brisighella easy to access via train? My brief research shows that I need to take a train and then taxi for a bit before arriving there. I assume that makes sense since there wouldn't be a train station there."

It does have a train station with regular trains.

Since your research seems to be misleading you, here is a vary basic advice on the easiest way to find out about trains to (almost)any place anywhere in Europe.

1) Go to www.openstreetmap.org which I prefer because it shows rail lines and stations much better than Google Maps, look up the city(correct spelling!) and you can see that Brisighella is on a rail line and has a station(the little blue squers are stations).

2) The easiest way to find out the schedules is to use the German Railways site www.bahn.com since it shows most train all over Europe(not just Germany) and it's very reliable and accurate, but it gives you ticket prices only for Germany.

3) If you want to find out the price of tickets you go to operator of the railway, in this case Italian Railways www.trenitalia.it

Now you can find out that you can easily travel from Bologna to Brisighella changing trains in Faenza in 1-2 hour.

thank you both, your responses have been VERY helpful. I know now what I need to do to solidify my itinerary. thanks again!

In October we spent a week in Bologna with several train trips; here's my trip report.

Bologna-Based Autumn Adventure

Our interests don't seem to coincide much, but maybe you'll find something helpful. You'll love Bologna!

I think you'll find the area around Pza. Maggiore a lot more convenient to restaurants and fun in the evening, than if you stay near the train station.

Personally, I'd rather walk the extra miles in the evening for a dinner than to catch a train at 6am.

Welcome, shfflz! DH and I made Bologna a base on the trip below. It is getting older and the hotel is no longer a Sofitel--you should get the idea:
Turin, Spoleto, Bologna and Bellagio TR
Have a great time and please report back.

Different strokes, and all that ...

Between the trip reports and some additional blogs I went through, it seems some common complains about Bologna is that it can be dirty and polluted? Curious how bad it really is as I think most people have different tolerance on this. I was surprised how well kept Paris was when others have complained about it being dirty (this being someone who has been to Bangkok which I think is far worse in terms of trash and pollution). Also I'm from SF where our downtown here is possible one of the worst place I've walked through in terms of trash and grimey-ness.

I don't think that Bologna is dirtier than Paris. It's a large city with lots of cars, so it is of course polluted like any large city.

I never understood why do travellers care so much about the cleanliness of a city. You're not going to live there, just spend a few days. It is what it is. Sometimes the dirtiest places have the most amazing sights, like Egypt, India.

In the Middle Ages and even until much later most cities were very dirty and smelly. When you find yourself in an old town which is still like that it helps you to imagine what was it like in those times. It was much easier to feel myself back in the Middle Ages in the crumbling, dirty, smelly, chaotic old town of Cairo than in a sanitized German old town like Rothenburg.

I didn't find Bologna polluted or dirty. We did a three hour walking food tour with Taste Bologna which was fantastic. You could consider something like that instead of your all-day option.

I really don't know where that idea that Bologna is 'dirty' comes from. It is absolutely not any 'dirtier' than any other Italian city. There are cars and lots of people so it's not a pristine mountain village clean but Bologna is not even close to the 'grittiness' (which is different from 'dirty') that some attribute to cities such as Naples, Palermo, Genoa and Marseille (all of which I find perfectly 'clean' enough).

Google Maps will show you a string of hotels near the entrance to the Centraal train terminal. I stayed here https://www.allegroitalia.it/espresso-bologna/

The Espresso is a low-slung modern hotel with a restaurant and bar. It's one block from the train, and sits opposite the main bus terminal. The airport shuttle stops in the courtyard of the train station. Bologna's compact centre is a 10- to 15-minute walk. The city tourist bureau offers a useful guided walk.

I also did not find Bologna to be polluted or dirty. Looking back at my photos, many more than I posted in my trip report, there was some graffiti but nothing to rival Trastevere in Rome. No trash on sidewalks or in alleys. Its arcades, deep red stone, and medieval towers did give Bologna a broody quality which was offset by the liveliness of its student population.

For what it's worth, I didn't find Bologna dirty/polluted, even though I don't love it as much as many here seem to do.

I am in the middle of figuring out the logistics and planning to get my train tickets ahead of time. Since I am arriving in Rome and traveling into Bologna via train, I am going to purchase the tickets online ahead of time. However for my day trips, should I book ahead also? Below are the trips:

Rome to Bologna (book ahead on Trenitalia)
Bologna to Modena to Parma and back to Bologna (purchase day of at train station? any benefits in booking ahead?)
Bologna to Faenza (purchase day of?) and Faenza to Brisghella (purchase day of)
Bologna to Florence (purchase day of)
Bologna to Rome (book ahead on Trenitalia)

Bologna to Modena, Parma and Faenza will all be regional trains, which you can buy at the station on the day of your journey. There's no savings to be had by buying those online in advance. The same goes for a regional train to Florence, but if you want to get there in :39, you should buy that ahead of time as it will be a Freccia and there should be advance purchase savings for that. The regional train to Florence will be slower, but cheaper.