Bologna/Padua or.....
 

We will be in the Venice area on business in about a month and will have three nights free. We were just in Venice in October so husband would rather see another town (personally I'd be content to go back to Venice). Any recommendations?

Hi Lea - You've got several nice options - Padova, Bologna, Verona, Vicenza, Treviso ...

The choice is yours :)

Steve

We spent 2-3 nights in Verona on our last trip and really liked it and of course went down to Modena to see the Ferrari plant. Anything stand out between Padova, Bologna, Vincenza, Treviso in mid Feb?

Hard to choose - I like them all :)

Why not spend a day in each? Padova is the most central - but they are all well connected by train ...

Or ... if you want a day-trip up into the Dolomites, Treviso would be a good choice.

Steve

I can't speak about the others, but Bologna is really one of Italy's underrated gems.

I really like hunkering down in one city and really exploring rather than flitting from city to city. It sounds like we'll do Bologna. Any suggestions on parts of town? B&B's, inn, small hotels? We'll be traveling by train.

Bologna is a great choice--great food, good sights. Also good because it's a transit hub for a few train lines, so you can make easy day trips from there to Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena, and many more if you feel the need to leave Bologna. if you did want to choose one day trip, I would choose Ravenna--magnificent mosaics easily seen in one day.

B&B Accogliente is lovely. It's an apartment, really, where the owners also live. But the guest rooms are separate from their living space. I found it great - quiet, immaculate, nicely decorated, in a good, central location, and Maria's breakfasts are fabulous. The very clean and comfortable bathroom needs to be shared between the 2 guest rooms. I'd thought that might be a problem but I ended up managing just fine. A wonderful place. And now, going to Genova (hopefully!) I'm looking for a B&B rather than a hotel, thanks to the good experience I had at Accogliente.
http://www.accoglientebologna.it/

I agree that Bologna is an under-rated city, especially as a great non-touristy place to visit and just generally hang out. The food markets are fantastic. And if you like Nutella, there's a "fast-food" place that serves only items with Nutella - it's hilarious!

Ferrera, which is as I recall about 45 min. from Bologna, is a cute little very untouristy city, for a day trip from Bologna. Even more worthy, however, is Ravenna and its beautiful mosaics.

Another option (one that we're taking this fall, after a visit to Venice) is to visit Palladio's villas in the area around Vicenza. If you don't have a car, however, this one may be difficult.

In addition to its well deserved reputation its attraction as a place to visit and for its food, Bologna is also a good shopping destination. We found the prices much better than in the big 3 (Rome, Florence and Venice).

Howard, I am curious as to what you shopped for. I was a bit disappointed in the shopping in Bologna, apart from the foodstuffs, but then I was there for less than 3 days. What items did you find to be less expensive? You are not the first person to laud the shopping possibilities of Bologna (a man I know here in the US buys all his shoes there..)so I would like to hear more....thanks.

Hotel Orologia had small rooms but a perfect location to walk everywhere. Right off of Piazza Maggiore.

It was really my wife who did most of the shopping. Her biggest shopping success was a pocketbook. On previous trips to Italy, she had looked for--and sometimes bought--pocketbooks in Rome, Milan and Florence. Her experience was that Bologna prices for pocketbooks were definitely the best.
While I don't remember what the other items we bought on that visit to Bologna, but I remember that the prices, in general, were definitely cheaper.

Check the rates also at the Hotel Baglioni. We actually got weekend rates there that were only $20 more than the Hotel Orlogia. They also let us keep the weekend rates until Wednesday!

We stayed at the Hotel Metropolitan in August 2005, and found it charming. The location can't be beat, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the room was a good size and quiet.
http://www.hotelmetropolitan.com/

Just a correction..Treviso is not in the Dolomites..it is just north of Mestre.

Personally I would opt for Bologna first of all and Padova secondly.

If you want to stay in Bologna leahinsc I would see if I could get a hotel room ASAP as Bologna has a lot of trade shows and sometimes it is almost impossible to reserve a hotel room. I agree with Steve_James, you do have several nice options.

My "Italian daughter" absolutely fell in love with Padua over Bologna and Verona. I haven't been there, but plan to some day as I trust her taste.

boommark

I spent 7 days in Padua this summer and loved it. I did day trips to Verona, Vicenza, Treviso, and Bologna (and Venice, where I'd already been a couple times). I highly recommend Padua as a base. I did also love Verona and Bologna - Treviso and Vicenza were ok (well ok for Italy, absolutely wonderful compared to most of the rest of the world, but you're talking Italy here). Take a look at my photos of all these towns and decide which ones "grab" you most. They are at: www.pbase.com/annforcier/veneto_and_bologna

If you do stay in Padua I can recommend Hotel Al Santo. I did do a short trip report but can't seem to find it at the moment.