Where to stop along train route from Bologna to Milan
 

Will be spending the night before our early morning flight out of MXP at an airport hotel. We'll be coming from Bologna. I was thinking we'd take the train to Milan, leave bags at station, and explore Milan for a few hours before going to our hotel. However, after reading trip reports and opinions on Milan, and having just seen a tv show on the Travel Channel on Milan, it doesn't look that appealing.

What suggestions do you have for a place along the train route, to spend a few hours?
And do all train stations have luggage storage facilities? Obviously we don't want to be dragging our bags with us. Thanks. (Oh, this will be in April, if that makes a difference).

Parma is the best choice between Bologna and Milano. Modena is a good choice too, but too much close to Bologna. Parma is art, history, architecture, culture and good food, perfect for a few hours stop. I don't know anything about luggage storage facility, but if you are interested about it I could call the tourist information center.

link: http://turismo.comune.parma.it/

Maurizio - Italy

I really enjoyed Parma so second that choice

no not all train stations have left-luggages but i believe one as large as Parma does - you can check www.trenitalia.com for those that do - but you may have to speak English.

I would not neglect spending a half a day or so in Milan if you have never been there - though this is a huge industrial area with arguable Europe's most fouled air, the town center offers many things - including the fantastic Duomo and the chance to view the Last Supper (reservations imperative it seems) - there are also suave shopping arcades - lots of fashion stores and the usual savoir-faire of any large Italian town.

If you take an ICPlus (as opposed to faster trains) it stops at Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma and Piacenza. Google each of these - they are well worth a visit.
If you pick even slower trains, you have many more options. Heck, you'll never make it as far as Milan... Details at www.ferroviedellostato.it of course.

Or head for Pavia, a so-so town known for some towers, including one that crashed to the ground not too long ago but put your bags in the train station luggage depot and take a taxi or bus out to the fabulous IMO Certosa di Pavia - a three-star Michelin site a few miles outside of Pavia. Monk-led tours were great as well as some potent brew they sold in the souvenir shop. Trains also serve the Certosa but it's an unmanned station and a long walk from the entrance will no taxis or buses in sight when we got off - we took the bus back to the town center.

Certosa di Pavia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Certosa di Pavia ("Charterhouse of Pavia") is a monastery complex in Lombardy, northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certosa_di_Pavia
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Certosa di Pavia (comune) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Certosa di Pavia is a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Pavia, Lombardy. It is famous for the omonymous religious complex. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certosa_di_Pavia_(PV)

Certosa di Pavia - Home Page
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In Questo sito web, dedicato interamente alla Certosa di Pavia, ... La Certosa di Pavia fu eretta, a partire dal 1396, per volere di Gian Galeazzo Visconti ...
www.comune.pv.it/certosadipavia/home.htm

Orange- I am also thinking about a day trip to Parma in April, so this is a good thread for me too!

Here is what I have found:

One reply on TripAdvisor from someone in Parma who said there is a luggage storage service at the station.

I searched but couldn't find info about Parma station on the Trenitalia website. I did find a section with the services for major stations, and Milan does have luggage storage, too.

Liberosette, I'd like to take you up on your offer to contact the tourist authority to see if they have luggage storage at the Parma train station. I'll keep checking back to see what they tell you. Thank you for your kind offer.

Short of someone actually going to the station and looking for it, there's no way of knowing for certain if there is luggage storage in Parma.

The Trenitalia Web site says there is. I'd be inclined to believe them.

I didnt realize the trenitalia site says there is storage. if they do, then I believe them.

I spent 5 days in Parma on a food tour. It is a charming town.

But don't sell Milan short. There is plenty to hold your interest there for a couple of days. Certainly the Last SUpper, the Duomo. If you like fashion the sops are well worth a visit. La Scala is worth visiting or ideally see an opera there.

Milan, some love it and some hate it. Personally I would take the time and spend it in Milan as I love it! Palenque mentioned some of the wonderful sites and the Galleria (to the left of the Duomo when facing it) is wonderful. LaScala Opera House is reached when exiting the other end of the Galleria. Going to the top of the Duomo is worth a look..the stautes and the overview of Milan. But again as I am someone who has spent a lot of time in Milan I love it and have no idea if you would or not orangetravelcat (love your nick). I am a big city person so that might make a difference.

Pavia is a nice town, but it isn't on the railway line Bologna-Milano.
Between Milano and Parma, I agree with LoveItaly, it depends on what kind of person you are: if you like big cities, and you are minded to suffer some discomforts (traffic, crowds, more time for transfers) choose Milan and enjoy of its several attractions (Duomo, Castello, Galleria, Scala, Pinacoteca di Brera, Sant'Ambrogio, etc) and shopping tour, if you prefer something smaller but appealing and human-sized, choose Parma.
Personally, I would prefer Parma, but I live in Milan so my opinion doesn't really matter... ;)

I have just received from the Parmisan Tourist Office the reply to my request about baggage:

"The railway station currently doesn't provide this facility; therefore, to remedy this problem, our office offers to keep them free. We need only an identity card to those who leave the baggage, which return at the time of the withdrawal. Our office is open on Mondays from 9 to 13 and from 15 to 19, from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 to 19, Sunday and holidays from 9 to 13".

Informazioni e Accoglienza Turistica
Comune di Parma
Via Melloni, 1/a - 43100 Parma
Tel. +39 0521218889 - Fax +39 0521234735
www.turismo.comune.parma.it
[email protected]

I've seen it on the map, it's a 10 minutes trip by feet from the railway station to the Tourist Office in via Melloni. Too much for you?

http://maps.google.com/maps?source=i...num=1&ct=title

I'm no Milan fan, and it's not clear what's turned you off it, but personally I wouldn't bother with an intermediate stop.

Milan's actually easier to get around than Parma, since you can leave your bags at the station then get the metro to places like the Duomo. It's stuffed with wonderful things, from one of the world's three great minimuseums, the Poldi Pezzoli (up there with the Frick and the Ashmolean), the best view from an urban tearoom anywhere (the view over the gargoyles of the Duomo from the Rinascente store) and simply the most stylish fashion window shoppers on the planet, in the fashion quarter around Via Sant'Andrea. It's also got a surprising amount of impressive 19th century architecture, as well as much older buildings, like Sant'Ambrogio.

Not necesarily somewhere you'd choose to stay for a holiday. But you HAVE chosen to overnight there, so you may as well make the most of it.

Not knocking Parma, Reggio Emilia or Modena. But with bags, they all seem to add unnecessary hassle. Save them for a nice two day pootle in a car some time.

You can do so: if it will be a sunny day, stop and spend daytime in Parma, if rainy stay on the train and go on until Milano.

For Libersotte. We're planning a fall trip to Emilia Romagna region and trying to pick a town/city to spend a week or two. Parma seems interesting as well as Bologna. Prefer to rent a place that we can experience the local activities. Do you know anything about Bagnacavallo?
Thanks

Sorry but my english needs help, sometimes. What do you means with “local activities”?

Bagnacavallo is a fine little town in the plane, surrounded by vineyards and orchards, with a little but interesting old town. It is close to Ravenna, one of must-see places in Emilia & Romagna. Here we are in vicinity of the (imaginary) border between the two sub-regions, but already in Romagna.

Emilia – Romagna is one of the most beautiful Italian region, for a lot of good reasons:
- Variety of landscapes: you can find plane, hills, mountains, sea and the main Italian river, the Po, which delta is here. It misses only lakes.
- Presence of several “città d’arte”, 5 of them are absolutely to be visited: Parma, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna.
- Myriad of little towns and villages, each with something that make allowance for a stop
- Culinary attractions: I have to make mention to some of them: Parmigiano-reggiano, Parmisan raw ham, culatello, tortellini, lasagne, aceto balsamico, piadina romagnola: alla come from this region, and are known worldwide…
- Last but not least: sympathy of the people, reputed to be one of the most friendly and cheerful in Italy.

Do you think you’re going to move by train or rent a car? For the first option it is better you’re looking for an accommodation in big cities, well served by the railway line: the main line is the Milano – Bologna – Rimini, and the majority of the big cities are positioned on it.
If you choose to rent a car, I suggest you to choose ad accommodation in a smaller town, maybe on the first hill belt. IMO, car is required the more you want to visit in Romagna.
If you have to choose only one place to stay, choose one on the middle of the region, like Modena or Bologna (train option), rather than Vignola or Dozza (car option). If you have two week, probably the best choice is dividing your trip in two parts: one for Emilia (base in Reggio Emilia or Modena), and one for Romagna (base in Bagnacavallo or Bertinoro).

At the end, my favourite area in this region is southern Romagna, a hill area (it must be beautiful in the fall) known as “Montefeltro” which starts at S.Arcangelo di Romagna and go towards (and further) the border with Marche, trough delightful places like S.Leo and Pennabili until the astonishing Urbino. This area includes also S.Marino, a popular and always crowded of tourists destination I don’t like too much.

flanneruk, you are making me reconsider my decision to skip Milan.

Thank you Liberosette. "Local activities" is my way of saying to experience the life of the local people and not so much to just limit our time to the normal tourist attractions. Medium sized towns are preferable rather than large cities but good eating experiences are always important.