Found this small town by accident.It is outside of Bologna.We stayed at a 4 star hotel called Monte de rei.It was an old monastery.It has a huge swimming pool with views you can't believe.The room was awesome,breakfast was great,too.We only spent one night,wish it were more.The town of Dozza is very different.They have a mural festival every 2 years,so the walls of the town are covered in these incredible paintings.We had dinner in a place in town at the top of the street.I had the best clams and mussels with pasta I have ever had,and then a big bowl of clams and mussels cooked in tomatoes and garlic.The sauce was so good...with wine it came to about 15 euros.I couldn't eat it all!

I'm sure glad I found your post, we'll be in Bologna soon and this sounds perfect. Any chance you remember the name of the place you ate dinner at?

Interesting information poysine. I thought I knew that area fairly well but I have never heard of Dozza. It sounds delightful! And your clam and mussels dish, one of my favorites, sigh! I hope you get a chance to return there. And I hope I will be able to visit it. Thanks for sharing a new location.

the restaurant is at the top of the street in the town,then turn to the left,there is a church there that has wine tastings..i think it opened at 7 PM,but i do not remember the name of it.there is a tree growing in the middle of it!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451773

Your thread that you pulled up is so interesting too cmt! I will have to ask friends in Italy if they have visited Dozza, somehow I think not.

it was a castle,not a church at the top of the street...the restaurant is right there.and yes,the people we met were so friendly,the woman who waited on us also did the cooking,she actually chose my food.all she asked me was meat or fish,and i said fish,just no eel or octopus!she was dancing in the kitchen while she cooked.she spoke no english,she shook her finger at me because i couldn't finish all the food!

Great info. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks also to cmt for the link to learn more.

A question for either you poysine or cmt. I looked on my Touring Club Italiano N Italy map and I cannot find Dozza on it.

Can either of you tell me which direction it is from Bologna, or which town it is between (ie between Bologna and ?). Thanks so much, this little town really has my interest.

And poysine, I thought, "wow, a church that has wine tastings..my kind of church! LOL". Oh well, I love castles too.

we drove from venice to bologna and turned off south towards imola.i think it was a-14.hertz gave me a map and it was on there

Perfect timing. I'm beginning my planning for a two week trip to Emilia Romagna. I want to stay in a small village and do day trips from there. We are mostly interested in public transportation, do you know if Dozza has decent bus service? Thanks!

Thanks poysine!

Danna, Google Dozza, Italy. There are wonderful websites including photos of paintings that poysine has mentioned.
The Hotel Monte Del Re is also featured. A beautiful hotel!!

Dozza is southeast of Bologna. I didn't look for public transportation information Danna but hopefully you can find a website regarding that.

Again poysine, what an interesting little place you have brought to our attention. Maybe I can "surprise" my friends in Italy, lol! Best regards.

don't know about bus service to dozza,but imola is a bigger town,we drove through there on the way to tuscany and were caught up in some festival that had hundreds of bikes..it was a few minutes of panic as i realized i had driven somewhere i shouldn't!
and if you can afford the hotel monte del re..do it.the views from the bathroom alone were worth it!

I was intrigued by this town and found this interesting site.
http://www.fondazionedozza.it/index.php

Sadly, I will be traveling by train and can't find any way to get there by train and the bus website looks impenetrable. But I have not given up yet!

Danna, I'm pretty sure you will not find a "village" with adequate public transportation for your purposes. Even a regular medium sized town may not have enough public transportation to make it practical for you to stay there and take day trips by bus. However, some smaller cities might be suitable if you don't want to stay in Bologna, which is definitely a transportation hub. Ferrara, e.g., has less of the feel of a city, though it is obviously a city. I don't know how I would have gone to Dozza if I hadn't been riding around with my friend, who had a car. I guess I could've taken public transportation to Imola and then a taxi from there.