Ferrara or Verona for a 4/5 hours stopover?
 

Hi, guys!
You´ve previously helped me on this forum and, well, i´ll ask for help again:
Next september/october ill spend 15 nights in central/northern Italy and my itinerary is 99,5% ok.
Well, what are these 0,5%, you ask? My stopover between Bologna and Venezia, there it is.

Ill leave Bologna after a 3 night stay and then make my way to Venezia, where ill spend 4 nights. Well, im looking for a lovely town to have a nice coffee, people watching time and take some air for few hours. I plan to leave Bologna in the morning (at around 9am) and arrive in Venezia at around 4pm or so.

From my researchs, Ferrara and Verona sounds like the best/most doable options. I know its a personal choice, but i want to read others opinions so i can decide better.
Verona: im curious about the Arena and i like the fact that the station has lockers. But im afraid the city is full of tourists because Romeo/Juliet thing (not my thing)
Ferrara: i would love to see the Castle, but i dont like the fact that the station has no lockers and its far from downtown.

for information: ill spend 4 nights in Firenze, 3 in Bologna,4 in Venezia, 1 in Bergamo and 3 in Torino.

Thanks so much =)

(and for those who remember my last thread: yeah, i gave up Swizterland this time)

I think you could do Ferrara if you wanted to. It's so close to Bologna, you could store your luggage at Bologna Centrale, take a train to Ferrara at 8:20a, arrive 8:49a. Then train back to Bologna at 1:11p or 2:11p, retrieve your luggage and take a fast train to Venice at 2:10p (arrives 3:35p) or 3:10p (4:35p).

You'd have more or less the same amount of time if you went to Verona. Depart Bologna 8:45a (arrives 9:37a). Continue to Venice at 2:00p (arrives 3:10p), 2:30p (3:40p) or 3:30p (4:40p).

I like both towns. Maybe it's because I've been to Verona more recently, but I think it offers more to see/do. The train stations in both towns are about the same distance from the main sights.

FYI, you have to seek out the Romeo and Juliet stuff in Verona; it's not all over the town. You should check what cultural sights are open in both towns on the day you'd be going there. Piazza delle Erbe in Verona is an ancient Forum and site of chariot races. It's now the location of a nice street market (on all but Sundays, I think). Ferrara holds an antiques market one weekend a month.

By the way, there are no lockers in any train station in Italy, for security reasons. There are manned left-luggage facilities in larger stations. The personnel costs are too high to allow them in smaller stations.

Both cities are great places to spend a little time.

If you only have 4-5 hours, then Ferrara is a much better idea. It's right on the way between Bologna and Venice.

We were just in Ferrara (for a couple of days), and it is a lovely town. You can find out about our visit on our web page, whose URL is below:

http://www.travel.stv77.com/emilia/romagna.html

Ferrara for me

But if it's monday I might re-consider.

I'm IN Verona as I type this. In September/October there won't be nearly the number of visitors in town as here are now for the Opera Festival (the arena holds 15,000 people) because that will be long over.

I cannot make your choice for you but do not discount Verona solely based on the number of visitors you THOUGHT would be here.

>>>By the way, there are no lockers in any train station in Italy, for security reasons. There are manned left-luggage facilities in larger stations.<<<

And since there are no lockers, only manned luggage stations where ID's, etc. are required, you might encounter long lines at times to drop off or retrieve luggage. Factor that possibility in if you are booking a train in advance for your final destination.

Be very aware of the difference between "you might" and "you will."

Whoa! I'm happy i had many replies in so little time =)
Thank you all.

For your information, this stopover will be on a Sunday.

@Jean, thanks for your information. There's no open market in Verona on Sundays, but i read that they do exist in Ferrara, though - at least an antiquities one.

@sssteve, i loved your report! It's going to be pretty useful for my Emilia Romagna stay.

@Dukey1, agreed: i don't want to make my decisions according to my thoughts, that might be wrong. I just mentioned the tourist issue because i saw many pics on Giulieta's balcony and yeah, i am scared in advance with the possible crowds of tourists in Venezia.

@kybourbon, thats a new and important fact for me. I was aware that the luggage storage wasn't automatic, but i didn't think about possible lines. Sorry to ask, but lines in Milano Centrale are usually huge? I am planing a 3 hour stopover there also.
Last year i went to Aveiro in Portugal for a stopover and the guys from the Touristic Office allowed me to leave my stuff there for few hours. I guess i will try my luck in Italy, then =)

Well, now i am way more inclined to Ferrara. Any special suggestion for my little time? Grazie!

At the luggage storage in Italy train stations, you will need to show your passport, have your luggage weighed (there is a weight restriction per bag or was), etc. I haven't read any posts about people using the Verona or Bologna storage, but in cities like Rome, there have been complaints on Fodor's of taking as long as an hour. YMMV. I'm just saying if you book a discount ticket Verona/Venice or Bologna/Venice that can't be changed, you need to leave some retrieval time.

Trenitalia has changed their website where you can't access the luggage storage details for stations (used to be available in the Italian version). Some smaller stations can have a few hours closing time in the afternoons, but the last info I could find for Verona (which might be out of date) doesn't seem to indicate that. If you click the other stations in this link, it rolls to the new web link. For some stations (Bologna and Verona are examples) the new links have little to no info. For others, such as Florence, Milan, Rome, you can access the luggage storage info.

http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD

Perhaps if you d/l the app, there will be more info available than what shows online.

My choice would be Verona. Forget anything connected with R&J. From the train station take a taxi to Piazza Bra and have a coffee and a snack at one of the several cafes with a view of the arena which is right there. Then take a walk down the pedestrian Via Mazzini with its high end shops to look at. At the end, perhaps a 1/4 mile will be the Piazza Erbe with all of its stalls to browse. Piazza Erbe is the throbbing heart of Verona and the architecture is what you would hope for. Adjacent to Piazza Erbe is the Pia del Signori AKA Piazza Dante for the statue of Dante found there. Some great architecture there as well. Retrace your steps to Piazza Bra and head to the station.

That should read Piazza del Signori.

Thank you for all replies =)
Im still considering both cities, but more inclined to Ferrara, duo to the distance.
as soon as i decide (or return from my trip) i will tell you which my choice was =)

Seriously consider renting a bicycle in Ferrara. Everybody bikes there - - elderly men and women too, hang around in parks and squares with their bikes; it's perfectly flat; a bike solves the distance-from-the-station problem and lets you explore every aspect of the city. There is a bike rental place by the station. I don't know if they would store baggage though.

Northern italy trip in sept
 

We have 2 weeks to visit and would like to see Bergamo, Verona, the Valdobbiadene/or Conigliano area, venice and bologna, trips to parma and modena. Can you advise how many days to spend in each place, should we do day trips to any of these cities instead of staying there? i know it's alot! we don't mind driving around, we actually enjoy it, and we don't mind changing hotels if necessary. hotel recommendations are appreciated as well. thank you!

wmg18, this thread is three years old. You would probably do better to start a new thread for your question.

i couldn't figure out how to start a new thread. not very good at this

wmg18, If you go to a destination page (Europe for instance) you'll see a box that says, "Post new thread". On a PC, it's a green box above the topics listed, on the left. On a mobile device, it's an orange bar above the listed topics. You'll really get a lot better response on a new topic.

thank you, i think i just did it.