Day trips from Bologna
 

My boyfriend and I are going to be in Bologna visiting family in October for 3 days... any suggestions for day trips? Are Florence and Venice out of the question?

Reference day trips from Bologna you should be able to make either Venice or Florence for one day--but not both. Or you could probably train to Venice--sightsee, then take a late afternoon train ---to Florence --stay overnight and trainback to Bologna the afternoon or evening of the 2nd day.

Have a great time.

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The train will be easier than driving and you do not want to drive into either city, find a place to park, and still have time to sightsee.

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Ravenna is a great day trip from Bologna. Beautiful mosaics!

Ravenna is a fantastic destination, overlooked by most tourists because it is hard to get to from everywhere except Bologna.

Firenze and Venezia are not out of the question if done on separate days. But think hard about whether you want to spend so little time there.

We were just in Bologna in July. We stayed there as our "base" and took a day trip on the train to Florence for one day. Another day we took the train to Venice. Granted we only had one day in each city...but we saw them. I would not think there would be time to do both cities if you are only in Bologna for 3 days. By the way...contrary to many opinions....we loved Venice and thought Florence was just so so.

Another enthusiastic vote for Ravenna--the mosaics are glorious!

We used www.parmagolosa.it for trips to see balsamic vinegar, cheese, ham concerns. This tour was wonderful. You will have to have a car and meet in Parma rather early. Worth it if you like gourmet food/cooking.

I agree with Ravenna, because it's beautiful and also because it is a smaller city than Bologna and will provide you with a nice contrast.

You might want to read my trip report and look at the photos attached to it:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34607146