We will be travelling to Turin, then on to Cinque terre, then had planned to stay 3 nights in Bologna to explore Parma, Modena etc. I have read many threads on tripadvisor about how dirty, seedy etc Bologna is, now thinking I made a mistake. Should I stay elsewhere in the area? We will be travelling on to Venice from here.

Hi gia,

> I have read many threads on tripadvisor about how dirty, seedy etc Bologna is,..<

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Although we spent only 1 day there, we found it to be a very pleasant city, well worth a few day's visit.

Details in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

Enjoy your stay in Bologna.

Bologna dirty and seedy? Hmm..we missed that somehow.

We spent three nights there in April and thought it a charming and lively placTrip report:
http://tinyurl.com/2vzs2

Bologna should be a nice place from which to explore the area.

I think you will enjoy the city.

Byrd

Samantha Brown's show "Passport to Europe" just aired a show on Bologna this past week. Looked lovely to me and now I've put it on my short list for whenever I can get back to Europe. If you can check your local listings on the Travel Channel perhaps they'll air the show again.

Bologna has Delicious restaurants! I loved the food more than anywhere. I wish I had wroted down the names to share.

We loved our five nights in Bologna:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34532657

You might be interested in the relelvant portion of my trip report and its photos:

http://tinyurl.com/mgwxl

I have to say, Bologna is not among my favorite places. My fiance is from Ferrara (about 20 minutes away) and Bologna is probably my least favorite city in Emilia-Romagna. It may be in part that it is just a bigger, louder, more crowded city than the smaller and more picturesque cities nearby.

That said, I think it will provide a good, centrally located base for travel to the other cities in the region.

We loved Bologna. A lot of history, not as many tourists as, say, Florence or Venice (at least it didn't seem so), and absolutely amazing food. I didn't think it was dirty or seedy at all, and it should make a good base for exploring the area. Have fun!

Hi gia, Bologna is an university city and consequently there are lots of university students. Some people do not like to be around university students, some of my friends are even like that, lol. I truly believe that is the problem.

I love Bologna and I think your idea to stay there for 3 nights is a wonderful idea. As others have said the food is wonderful and it is fun to walk along the walkways in the porticoed buildings and if nothing else window shop. Very elegant and you will basically see the city's residents going about the business. Go to Google and pull up some websites, I think you will find that you will enjoy your time in Bologna. Best wishes.

We visited Bologna this summer and liked it quite a bit. It was not dirty or seedy. However, I at first thought it was hard to get to know, until we took an English language walking tour which opened up a lot of things that we might not have seen.

I suggest you consider either a walking tour or some reading before you go, as a means of discovering the city. And I agree that it would be a good base for visiting other towns in the region.

Bologna is not dirty and seedy, but even if you don't like it at first sight, it's a wonderful transportation hub and you can easily spend your days in Ferrara or the towns you mentioned, and then simply come back to Bologna for dinner --- mmmmmmmmm-mmmmmmm, good!

I hope you plan to visit Ravenna while you are in the area.

And I hope you are plannng a visit to the cinema museum in Torino if you like movies (and views).

Yes, as "cammci" above stated; The Samantha Brown show on Bolongna was a wonderful show and Bolongna looks to be beautiful and would be a good hub!
Apparently it is "undervisited" and it has so many good points that it is on our list now for Italy...though we've been to most of the rest of Italy. We are sorry we missed Bologna. I look forward to reading about your trip when you return. Sounds like a great intinerary!

Just a FYI, for anyone that wants to stay in Bologna do try to make hotel reservations asap. Bologna has a lot of trade shows so it is often difficult to reserve a hotel room. That has happened to me over the decades and even to my friends in Italy.