We are in the midst of planning a 25th Anniversary trip.
We are flying Boston/ Paris direct, spending 2 night in Paris and then flying EasyJet to Pisa.

From the Pisa airport, we will take the short train ride to Florence. We should be in Florence around 4PM, in time for a glass of wine at Procacci!
We've got 7 nights total in Italy and I'm having a tough time prioritizing.

This is our 7th trip to Italy and the towns that are the most important for this trip are
Parma, Modena, Mantova, Padova and Ravenna. (none of which we have visited before) Obviously, we cannot fit it all in, but I am having a tough time deciding in which direction to go.
The first night we will stay in Florence. We have spent a lot of time in Florence (of course there is no such thing as ever having spent enough time in Florence), so are happy to be there for one night, have a great dinner and have the following day to roam around.

The first plan is take a late afternoon train to Parma. Stay in Parma for 2 nights, take the short train ride to Modena, one night in Modena, and then to Mantova for 2 nights.
Leave Mantova late afternoon to Milan and fly out of Milan the following morning.
This seems to make the most sense , as everything is fairly close.

My second plan is first night in Florence, 2 nights Parma, 1 night Ravenna, 2 nights Padova,
late afternoon train to Milan for final night. This plan is a lot more time traveling, and as much as I don't want to miss the mosaics in Ravenna and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padova, perhaps
save it for the next time.

Art and food are our priorities, not necessarily in that order! We have decided to do this trip entirely on trains.
Please, if anyone has a better itinerary, I would love some help!

Ralstonlan, I'm worried that you're going to waste a lot of time packing and unpacking as you move hotels so often.

Have you thought about basing yourself in Bologna (which is central) and doing day trips? Parma and Modena are quite close; Padua and Ravenna are more likely 90 minutes by train which is a bit of drag. On the other hand, once you're in those towns it's an easy walk to the centre from the train station. In fact, Padua's Scrovegni Chapel is quite close to the train; if you visit there at the end of a day trip (and it really is spectacular) then it's a very quick walk to catch the train home.

BTW, have you looked into the "double-turn" tickets at the Scrovegni Chapel? Evenings, beginning in March, you can book two back-to-back visits for a total of about 45 minutes in the chapel. It truly is an amazing sight!

If you're a foodie, Bologna is really remarkable. It's also a lot of fun, with so much to do and see. You can also get very good prices on great hotels if your trip falls between conventions (Bologna gets a lot of conventions which drive hotel prices up dramatically!) It's also quite easy to walk from the centre of the city to the train station, or take a city bus.

I've based there, stayed in Parma and then Ferrara to do day trips to Padua and Ravenna. They're all really worth seeing, I know you'll have a wonderful time.

Thanks Sacc,

All good suggestions. I have thought about basing in Bologna for a couple of days, but have my heart set on staying in Parma, at least one night.

Unfortunately, this trip is all too short of a time in Italy. My husband really wanted to spend a couple of days in Paris as we were there for both our 15th and 20th anniversaries...and I appreciate his sentimentality.

So possibly another plan could be, first night in Florence as planned, second night in Parma, 3 nights in Bologna with day trips to Modena and Ravenna, one night Padua and on to Milan for flight home. Save Mantova for another time. Bologna is free these dates. Al Cappello Rosso has rooms with very reasonable rates.

ralstonian - i like your last thoughts. somehow 3 night stays seem so much longer than 2 - you just get so much more time without the moving about.

could you not forego your night in florence and go straight to Parma or Bologna, and add the extra night to either of those, or possibly to Padua?

Those one night stands are sooooo tiring!

If you have not already booked your flights, consider flying into Bologna directly and staying there as long as possible. even Firenze is not that long a train trip from there.

I'm not sure the Bologna plan is so good... didn't you say your priorities are Parma, Modena, Mantova, Ravenna and Padova? So I didn't read anything about Bologna - and why would you want to spend no less than three nights in a (however great and pleasant) city that hasn't been on your list of priorities?
Whatever you're doing, one day is not enough to see Ravenna if you're into art, so the day trip from Bologna wouldn't work at all, but also in your original plan B, the time assigned to Ravenna seems scarce. In my opinion, and I'm an art buff too, two full days are indispensable for Ravenna. On the other hand, one night is certainly enough for Padova.
By the way, I don't also agree that changing hotels more frequently is such a drama for a trip like this. It's certainly less time-consuming to change hotels than backtracking by train to Bologna or whichever other city. And the charm of such a cities-only trip is to compare those cities' flair to each other - which makes it absolutely necessary in my opinion to spend at least one evening in each place, cause you can't do a city full justice without strolling around after dark.

If, finally, you're asking about opinions on those five places that were on your original list (I know all of them), Mantova outshines the rest as far as atmosphere by far, Parma coming next in this respect, then Padova and Modena, while Ravenna has little to offer in terms of flair. In marked contrast, Ravenna has the best art by far, followed by Padova, Parma, Modena - and Mantova is unfortunately occupying the last place in this respect (though I don't say the sights of Mantova are bad - just not as good as what the four other cities offer).

franco - I'm sorry that I have to disagree with you on this. With very few exceptions [Iceland being one- don't ask!] i have found that when we have moved round, we have seen less than when we have stayed put. Somehow the business of changing towns, hotels, finding new places to eat and drink takes up a disproportionate amount of time. whereas staying in the same place and using it as a hub, has led to much more satisfactory trips. it's as if the need to find [perhaps just me?] from doing very much else until I've found a hotel and oriented myself to my new surroundings.

obviously there does come a point when it is necessary to move on as all possibilities are exhausted, but IME that is almost invariably a longer time than I have allowed. so even if bologna is not the most outstanding place in the area, it makes a good hub and base for exploring the area. and changing towns and hotels every night is just so tiring!

Actually, for me, Bologna would be one of the highlights in that region. It's just that the OP, who seemed both knowledgeable and determined, didn't say they want to go there.
So what about (if they prefer the daytripping plan) staying put in Modena instead? I don't know anything about public transport, but it seems probable that Modena is as well linked to any other city in the region as Bologna. (At least this is true for car drivers like me.)

I would skip Paris if you have not booked tickets. I had a business trip in London in September 2010 and, having never been in London and assuming that it would be a bad-food, not so hot destination (I know - stupidly) I decided to spend a few days after London in Paris. I found Paris to be, as contrasted with a trip 10 years to Paris earlier and in contrast to my amazing experience of London, very dirty, beset by negative people due to the present economic difficulties, and generally less appealing than London, something for which I was wholly unprepared. Having said that, more frequent and seasoned travelers may disagree. But if you are crossing the ocean with Italy in mind, why delay? What place could be better at every level: food, warm people, beautiful vistas, and stunning art?