styrx

Dear all, I had just completed updating my travel blog and there is a section on the 2 regions which we visited over the christmas period in 2011. This was our 2nd time in Italy, having visited the major cities last time. Our trip lasted for 2 weeks and we based at sorrento to visit positano and amalfi. For the emilia romagna region, we set base at bologna and visited parma, modena and verona. If you are keen on more pictures and write up, do check out my blog.
http://www.travelathousandmiles.com/italy/

rosetravels

styrx -
Thank you - what a delightful blog and beautiful photos! You visited some wonderful places. What kind of camera were you using?

styrx

@rosetravels, thank you for the kind words. I am only an amateur photographer and was only using the panasonic lumix LX5. There is a new model now, the LX7 , which I believe is far superior than the LX5. This camera is fantastic and really easy to use, but I also really lucky to have the right weather on the day we did the day trip to Positano and Amalfi.

pattytravel

nice blog!! I enjoyed how you shared just enough info!! We are going to Italy in April (my 4th trip, my hubby's 2nd) and staying 4 nights in Florence, 2 in Cinque Terre, 1 in x (Emilia-Romana or Verona) and 3 in Venice.

What are your thoughts about the 3rd stop? Would you recommend staying in Emilia Romana or in Verona? Since we are in Florence for 4 nights, we plan to do some day trips from Florence by train.... : probably to Pisa or Lucca 1 day and to Bologna 1 other day. We are zig zagging a little but my hubby really wants to go to the 5Terre. I saw a great property in Reggio Emilia called Hotel Posta which I am considering. Have not researched Verona hotels yet.

We like to eat as well!!
Thanks and regards!

styrx

Thank you for your compliment pattytravel! If you love to eat then u definitely need to stay at least a night in bologna, don't you know its the slow food capital of Italy? There are a lot of expert recommendations on chow hound forum on where to eat in bologna, you will need to consult the experts there.

Why not 3 nights Florence with a day trip to Siena? It is gorgeous and offers a lot more to pisa, not sure about Lucca though? 2 nights in bologna, with a day trip to parma for food? It is easily connected by train from bologna. 3 nights in Venice with a day trip to Verona? We love Verona a lot, it is really beautiful if you look at my photo.

I think this combination is pretty well balanced, what do you think?

annhig

bmking

goldenautumn

"stay at least a night in bologna, don't you know its the slow food capital of Italy"

This statement could provoke riots in the town of Bra in Piemonte, where the Slow Food university is located and which does claim to be Italy's slow food capital. The only possible rival for that title is the city of Torino. Bologna , of course, would sniff that it never needed a slow food movement anyway because it has been hand-making Italy's best pasta dishes for several long centuries, so there. Emilia-Romagna and Piemonte argue all the time about who has the better food, and in truth, nobody knows, but Piemonte does get the credit for inventing the concept of "slow food."

pattytravels,

I also have been researching Reggio nell'Emilia as a place to visit because it is known for its wonderful food, beautiful architecture and fascinating local history. It is very well situated for visits to gorgeous golden Parma (whose restaurants overall are better, I think, than Bologna's), plus you can visit Modena. I think it is nice idea to visit Bologna from Florence and stay someplace else in Emilia-Romagna.

April weather can be very "iffy" for a commitment to stay nights in le Cinque Terre. For 2 nights, you could get rained out. From Parma, it is a 90 minute drive to le Cinque Terre (about 2 hours on the train). You might do better to plan to stay in that region and grab a day in le Cinque Terre if you are certain the weather is nice that day. If you are driving, on your way back, you can stop in Pontremoli for dinner and eat testaroli at Trattoria Pelliccia or Da Busse.

Good advice from styrx to consult Chowhound for recommendations on where to eat in this region, including Reggio nell'Emilia.

pattytravel

goldenautumn, I appreciate your insight.

Right now I am thinking that from Florence we will go to Manarola and stay 1 night at La Torrettas. The hotel looks lovely. It is is raining, at least we can enjoy the hotel and experience some of the views. From there, we will head to Reggio nell'Emilia and spend 2 nights at the Hotel Posta. Would like to go to Parma, Modena and Bologna. Thoughts on this?

Finally, we would then go to Venice and spend our last 3 nights there.

Thoughts about transportation. On previous trips, we've rented a car for certain towns (i.e., Tuscany). We plan to travel via train from Florence to La Spezia/5Terre. and then train toward Reggio nell'Emilia. Would it make more sense to rent a car from La Spezia to head toward Reggio nell'Emilia?