The more I read about Italy the more I cannot decide on certain places.

After spending a week with a car in Tuscany, originally I thought to stay 4/5 nights in Florence and also use it as a base to explore other day trip areas. But................ after reading more trip information here and especially LowCountryIslanders trip report of Bologna, I know I would like to spend some time there and do some of the tours she mentioned. We would like to do the day tour to the cheese factory, Balsamic prodution and winery tour and also the cooking class.

I note that we can get a train to Florence in 37 mins.....not bad. We like to base ourselves for at least 4/5 nights. Would I be doing the "wrong thing" by not staying "in Florence". Or do you consider Bologna a good base for 5 nights.

Has anyone stayed at www.anticaresidenzadazeglio.it or www.bb-benelli.it. Both places look good.

And by the way I have now booked and paid for the Air tickets so am now getting excited putting the pieces together. Any thoughts are appreciated.

The great thing about Florence is that the train station is right there within walking distance to all major sights. You walk out of the train and within 10 minutes you could be on line to go up the Duomo. Likewise, it makes it a good home base to explore the region. I ADORE Florence and would strongly advise you break your rule of 4/5 days and at least consider one overnight in Florence. That said, the word in Bologna is fabulous as well, so my final advise is make it 2 Florence/3 Bologna day plan.

have been to both and stayed in both

Florence is light years prettier and nicer than Bologna

Just look at some city pictures

Bologna more euroindustrial big commercial metro uni town

hard to navigate lodgings overpriced no deals usually.

very dodgy around train station especially...

So Florence for me cooking classes tours there too...

Usually find great deals on 4 stars from $80 bidding

www.priceline.com or www.booking.com for non bid discounts

www.eurocheapo.com Florence good budget city food lodging

Happy Journey,

Seems to me this is the kind of fine-tuning dilemma that is hard for strangers to advise about, and I tend to think that making the right choice really will affect the quality of your stay for those 4/5 nights.

To me, the differences between the two cities are signficant, and apart from being with 40 minutes of each other, the day trips you would find easy from each place are also quite different.

If you are only casually interested in the legendary beauties and intellectual accomplishments of the Florentine renaissance, and if you really dislike being around crowds of tourists, Bologna has a lot to offer, and puts you in a good position to see both Ravenna and Parma. It has very little in the way of good wine or olive oil, if you care about that. In some ways, it has more exciting shopping (and not just food) if you care about that. It's got a fun youth scene, if that matters. (By the way, I recommend you check out Antica Casa Zucchini as well.)

But if you are at all taken with Fra Angelico, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, the many other great figures of the Renaissance, the astounding church frescoes, magnificent marble and terracotta, the hills of Firenze, the enjoyable piazze, the great wines and oils of the Tuscan region, then you will barely scratch the surface of the immense depth of riches of Florence offers even with 3 or 4 days of full time exploration of the small gem of a city -- one of the most beautiful in Europe -- and you may want to visit Pisa or Siena or Lucca as well, depending on your interests. Unless you are going way off season, you are likely to be among many, many tourists most of the time, and you will have to work harder to get a break from them and locate non-tourist restaurants.

So if the point is getting to know a quieter side of Italy, with intermittent sightseeing of truly fascinating but not necessarily monumental art (except for Ravenna and Parma), you'll have a more intimate experience Bologna if you make the effort to open the doors yourself and explore the history and food. Firenze is almost overhwhelming with all the towering artistic achievement there is on display, and it can keep you going from morning until well into the night, everywhere you look.

Hope that helps!

qwovadis and I were posting at the same time and I really dispute that description of Bologna, even while I agree that showy Florence has more pretty sights to see.

But the piazza Santa Stefano, the piazza Minghetti, the miles and miles of swank shopping streets, the marvelous lodgings like Casa Antica Zucchini, or Albergo delle Drapperie, and the train station area is less dodgy than Santa Maria Novella (much less drug use, but neither is very dodgy anyway). The historic center and the city as a whole is not "much harder to navigate." It has 4 major radial streets, and it is next to impossible to get lost. There are no hills to climb. There are true wide sidewalks, covered with porticoes -- much more pleasant than being pressed to the wall by motorini and cars in Florence, with its hot sun or chilly rain.

If the point of the cooking class is learning to make pasta or pasta sauce, you are well advised to take that class in Bologna, not Florence. While Bolognese cuisine is not my favorite Italian, it is much, much more interesting than any Tuscan cuisine.

Lastly, I would never use Priceline to book a Florence hotel.

Obviously qwovadis has a preference and got little of his or her visit to Bologna. Many people would feel exactly the same way. But for a few -- and you might be one of them -- your dilemma is real. Both are very nice places to spend time in Italy, if you are a certain kind of person. There is no 'objective" measure that will tell you one is "nicer" than the other.

I've also just read Viajero's post. I just spend every week commuting to and from Bologna. It took me 12 minutes to walk from hotel to the train station. Don't pick on the basis that it is easier to get to the train station in one town or the other. It's equal.

But above all, don't pick on the basis that it's easier to day trip from Florence or Bologna. Pick on the basis that the town you pick is the one you want to spend more time exploring and feel would be more congenial to you. Florence is fun tourist town, with a very serious art and history component, plus good wine. Bologna is a wealthy university town, with a lot of subtle treasure and great shopping, plus more interesting food.

Zeppole did a good job of describing the differences between Bologna and Florence, and some factors to consider in choosing between the two.

I love Bologna, probably more than Florence, but I've spent time in both, and they're both fantastic places, but for different reasons; and I think Bologna is gorgeous (as is Florence). Bologna is less touristy, if that's a factor for you. If you want to see the glories of the Renaissance (plus many other things, of course), then Florence may be a better choice. But as you already mentioned touring cheese factories, etc., then maybe Bologna is a better choice for you. (In addition to the other attractions that Zeppole mentioned.) You really can't go wrong, you'll enjoy either place.

Sorry to post again, but I meant to comment on the two Bologna B&Bs you mentioned. The first is near a B&B that we stayed in several years ago. The neighborhood is pleasant; I would go running in the park to the south (Giardino Regina Margherita) in the mornings. It was a bit of a walk to the central part of Bologna, and would be quite a far walk to the train station from there. The other B&B is quite close to the train station - probably too close for my liking, in terms of noise and being a bit less scenic. But if you want a convenient location for day trips, this one would be better.

I like Bologna a lot but Lorenzo the Magnificent hung around IN Florence and after having stayed there I can fully understand why, grafitti on the Doumo included.

BUT, are you absolutely adverse to spending a couple of nights in BOTH?

Zeppole...

Your description of Bologna (for me) is spot on. In fact, you described eloquently how I feel about Bologna with this...

"So if the point is getting to know a quieter side of Italy, with intermittent sightseeing of truly fascinating but not necessarily monumental art (except for Ravenna and Parma), you'll have a more intimate experience Bologna if you make the effort to open the doors yourself and explore the history and food."

Thank you for all your thoughtful and helpful replies.

Yes I had originally planned to stay in both Florence and Bologna, 3 nights in each. But DH prefers to stay in places longer and use them as a base. I don't mind, I just want to see them all!!

We have been to Florence 30 years ago on a camping tour, but I'm sure we were young and did not fully appreciate its charms. As mentioned before, we will be in lower Tuscany for 6 nights and then I has been looking at staying 3 nights further north at a B&B in Chianti region, (had thought to see Siena somewhere here - although had also looked at a day trip from Florence) before heading to Florence and or Bologna. From there our final Italian destination is Venice.

Will be in CT earlier and had thought to do a day trip to Lucca from there. We will be in Italy for 3 weeks in October.

I think I will need to start 'glueing' some of the jigsaw pieces in, as some preferred accommodations seem to be booking up.

Having been to both (Bologna twice and Florence 5 times), I would choose Florence. It is my favorite city in Italy - there is always something new to see, even after 5 trips. The city is beautiful and, believe it or not, I even love the food more. By all means, try to visit Bologna but use Florence as your base. Although your husband doesn't like to move around much, you might stay 4 days in Florence and 2 in Bologna. As you note, it is a very quick trip from one to the other.

You may find huge discounts on hotels in Bologna if you stay over the weekend, provided there's not a trade show going on in town.

Here's another thought. After 6 days/nights in southern Tuscany (you could visit Siena from this location, as well), you might fine 3 nights in Chianti to be a bit more of the same. If it was me (but I love art and history, in addition to beautiful rural countryside), I would skip the time in Chianti (which I btw find to be a less interesting part of Tuscany, and I don't much like Chianti wine) and spend 3 nights in Florence and 4 nights in Bologna. Or the other way around, depending on what you want to do in each location.

Another suggestion, from Bologna consider a day trip to visit Ravenna. Churches and mausoleums there contain incredible mosaics dating back to the early days of Christianity. Those mosaics are in my top 10 man-made sites that I've ever seen in my life (I'm not sure exactly what else is on the list, but definitely the prehistoric cave paintings in the Dordogne and Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona).

I guess the briefest way I could express my feelings about the two places is to say that if somebody offered to completely foot the bill for a stay in either city for a couple of days, I'd pick Florence. If somebody offered to buy me an apartment in either city, I'd pick Bologna.

Lots of good thoughts and suggestions here, thank you

Ok after talking to DH this morning we have pinched 3 nights from the beginning of our trip (pre Italy). We can fit in 3 nights in Florence and 4 in Bologna. (4 night here as we would like to do the food tour (1 day) and the cooking class (1 day), also train it to Ravenna.

The Chianti bit was a working farm with good food and rural agriturismo near San Gimignano called Ill Vecchio Maneggio. It was purely for the more relaxed stay with good food and walks......hmm maybe a whim.

sorry spelling 'Il Vecchio Maneggio'

Zeppole,

Seriously considering Bologna in September until I read your comment, "Bolognese cuisine is not my favorite Italian, it is much, much more interesting than any Tuscan cuisine". Would you please expound on your comment and then include your favorite area for Italian cuisine.

Your comments are always informative and helpful. Thank you,