Parma, Reggio Emilia, or Modena???
 

Wondered if one of these would be a good choice of an interesting place to spend the night enroute while driving from Siena to Lake Como in October. Any other suggestions?

All three have their merits, but I would prefer Parma. It's got a beautiful Romanesque cathedral (as does Modena, but it's closed in by other buildings), and several castles.

It really would depend on what interests you. All three have interesting gastronomic possibilities.

Hi
I live in Reggio Emilia. Reggio Emilia is the smallest, there is a very nice historical centre with good tipical restaurants. Maybe hotels are less expensive than Modena and Parma, becouse it is not a touristic town.
There is a cathedral and some buildings. it' s a tipical italian town.
Modena is bigger, historical centre is similar but there are less good shops ( my friends from Modena say this), there are some good restaurants but the traffic is more caotic than Reggio and driving could be hard, expecially around the centre.
Parma has more interesting buildings, the centre is different from Modena and Reggio. It is biggest and seems the centre of a big city. There are good restaurants and good shops. Maybe the best city is Parma but it depends on what are your interest. If you want to have more information, i can help you

Thank you for your suggestions. Would driving into and parking at a hotel be fairly easy in Reggio and in Parma? I read that the Posta Hotel in Reggio was a good one. Do you agree? What would be a good hotel in Parma?

I really love all 3 cities, so I would have a hard time choosing. I found it very easy to drive to hotels in Parma and Reggio 'nell Emila, and I don't think Modena would be very hard. It is a good idea to pick hotel that is just a little bit OUTSIDE or on the edge of the historic city. It is always easy to walk to the historic center from such a hotel, but it is easier to park and drive OUTSIDE the densest part of the old city.

Like francesco_marchi_148 has said, it depends on what your interests are. Personally I think the central food market of Modena is fantastic, but I also think that the shops of Reggio 'nell Emillia are charming and it is wonderful to be in such a town that is so unchanged by tourism. Reggio also has lovely contemporary architecture. It is altogether quite an appealing town.

But Parma has many first class attractions for art and music and history so perhaps you would want to sleep there because some of them are only open in the mornings.

If you are planning to use a car to visit places outside these cities then maybe that will help you decide. I would like to live in all of them. Each one of them has very memorable food.

Good luck deciding!

Thank you for your first hand input, which is very helpful!

Have only been to Parma and loved it - a real sleeper.

For something different than a largish city where driving may not even be allowed in the city center consider bopping by the Certosa di Pavia - an imposing old monastery complex just outside Pavia - right on your route I would think.

Take a tour led by one of the brothers and then buy some of the potent liqueur brewed up by and sold by the brothers!

easy in and out by car.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cert...w=1455&bih=952

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certosa_di_Pavia

Pavia is not directly on the route between Siena and Lago di Como.

While it is possible to drive up to the monastery, Pavia is really no different from Parma when it comes to car access. Both are just as difficult and just as simple. (Ditto Modena and Reggio.) You pick a hotel at the edge of town, not in the medieval core for all of them.