We are planning to visit Torino, the Italian Riviera, Parma, Modena and Bologna in spring. I've found little info/recommendations on these areas. Any favorite hotels, spas, restaurants or sites would be greatly appreciated. We've visited the usual tourist cities and are excited to visit some of the less touristy cities . . . maybe even find a new home . . .

If you are considering torino why not go to Alba instead much smaller and less crowded also very near the vineyards of Borolo and Barbaresco.

Here are a few sites to get you started. There is also a Karen Brown b&amp;b called VILLA LA MERIDIANA-CASCINA REINE but I don't have the web site for it. http://www.turismodoc.it/searchconsorziati.asp<BR>http://www.hotelsearch.it/en/lay2/default.asp?chiave=20105644<BR>http://www.langheroero.it/english/default.htm<BR>www.alba-online.it<BR>We visited the area several years ago and loved it.The TI has a nice map of wine tours. Be sure you get to Barolo and LaMorra and of course do some tasting. The restaurant LaCantinetta in Barolo is excellent and lots of fun. Have a great time.

Hi,I am planning in staying in cascina reine on my next trip.Where did you say the wine map is located? TI dosn't mean anything to me. RR

Any of the local Tourist information offices have them. I believe we picked ours up in La Morra.

website for cascina reine is long<BR>www.turismodoc.it/layout1.asp?id_consoriato=100

Thanks for the input on Piedmonte; anyone on Emilia Romagna? Yes, Alba is great. We stayed at Villa La Meridiana for almost a week and loved it; have toured Barolo, Barbaresco, etc. (Romano Levi's grappas, too!) My hope is to find a bit larger city that I could call home and be close to the many fabulous areas of northern Italy, France, even Germany.

Lynnen,<BR>Take a look at this place. <BR>http://www.villalafavorita.it/<BR>We have reservations there in August.

Check out www.slowtrav.com and then the restaurants review section for E/R. I've recommended a few places here in Bologna.

Hi Lynnen: We stayed in Santa Margherita 2 years ago and loved this beautiful seaside resort town. You can take a boat to Portofino or to Cinque Terre. Out hotel was The Hotel Continental. I know they have a web site but I don't have it available right in front of me.<BR>Have a great trip - it sounds wonderful.<BR>

I'm replying to this mainly in order to &quot;top&quot; this for you, even though I don't have the answers you're seeking re Emilia-Romagna. I haven't really been in Emilia-Romagna, except just passing through when I was very young, and except for one visit to Ravenna about 30 years ago. I loved Ravenna and highly recommend going there to see the the amazing mosaics. Emilia-Romagna will be the next part of Italy that I visit if I take advantage of another off-season airfare sale and decide to go somewhere on very short notice without too much time to plan. I would probably stay in Bologna, in part because it is interesting and important in itself, and in part in order to have easy access to other cities and town by public transportation. I think it might not be especially difficult to travel in this area by public transportation. An Italian internet pal of mine who lives in Bologna says that his favorite city is Ferrara, and I've also heard from some Americans who like to go to Italy for slow trips focusing on a limited area that Ferrara is a favorite place. I don't have a map handy at the moment, and I don't remember whether Urbino is within the boundaries of Emilia-Romagna or just a little south of it, but that it another city I'd probably try to visit if I were in the area. So if I were taking a trip with plans to see that general area, I would include Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, and maybe Urbino, possibly Modena, and possibly a trip to San Marino partly for the silly pleasure of seeing another country in a day.

Hi CMT, I live in Bologna so I can be of some help I think.<BR><BR>Bologna would be the most logical choice of place to stay. It is, imo, the most interesting and beautiful city in E-R, and the most central.<BR><BR>Ferrara is quite pretty, especially the castle. Don't judge the city until you get to the middle of it, because Via Cavour from the train station isn't the prettiest street ever (rather modern feel). However it is tree-lined so in spring and summer it would be nice enough.<BR><BR>Urbino is in Le Marche. It isn't difficult to get to with public transportation, but it does take some time. Much easier to get there in a car. From Bologna you first have to train to Pesaro (1.5-2 hours), and then take the bus to Urbino (1 hour).<BR><BR>I have not been to San Marino yet, however my roomates tell me it is beautiful, as is San Leo, a pretty large castle right nearby. We're going down there in April however, so if you're still curious then I can give ya a trip report.<BR><BR>Modena is a quite interesting city, with a good art museum and a library that houses the supposedly most decorated (illuminated) Bible in existence.<BR><BR>If you have a week, you could do 5 nights in Bologna, and 2 in Urbino. Bologna daytrip to Modena, Ferrara, Ravenna, and Urbino you can daytrip to San Leo or San Marino. <BR><BR>Bologna only really requires two days to see everything, but returning every night for a passegiata under the porticos, and a dinner in one of the great restaurants here, would be well worth keeping the city as your base. Make sure you take the nice walk up to San Luca, aka that church on the hill, if it is a nice day. It's outside Porta Saragozza, you can't miss it.<BR>

Thanks. I'm saving E-R to do sometime when I go to Italy on short notice because of some airfare sale. I'd probably go for at least a week and a half, but at the end of the trip I'd probably spend two nights in the city I'm flying from. Last year I went to Florence and Umbria (and at the end Mialn, with a day trip to Bergamo) on less than 2 weeks' notice because of an unbelievably good airfare. I'm saving E-R for such a last-minute trip because I think it would require less careful planning than Sicily or remote areas in the south, does not have to be seen in nice weather like the lakes, and I wouldn't need to go with anyone because I think I could get along without renting a car (I'm afraid to drive in Italy, also rental is expensive).<BR><BR>Are you a foreign student in Bologna?

I was in E-R a two months ago and found that Bologna was a very good base for trips to Modena and Parma. I stayed in the Hotel Roma which is affordable and incredibly central if not terribly beautiful. Most important, you should try to make it to Hosteria Giusti, in Modena. Only lunch; only what chef/matriarch Laura Galli wants to serve; only four tables, set up in the back of a centuries-old salumeria. Unbelievable. Also, in Bologna, Diana is classic Bolognese bolito misto, tortelleni in brodo, ragu, etc. <BR><BR>You will enjoy yourself.

Yup, I'm taking classes at the university here. And I would not recommend Diana, just looking inside tells me that I would not want to eat there: really bright lighting, and white jacket waiters. There are much better places in Bologna that have a more intimate atmosphere, with food as-good or better than Diana. I posted a few on another thread, if you search for Bologna I'm sure you'll find it.