I am looking for a bit of an Eat Pray Love adventure this fall (2 months) and think I would like to be based in a small village outside of Bologna where I can work online and hike/bike/eat on my free time. I will not have a car. Any suggestions of areas with stunning vistas yet somewhat close to the train line into Bologna if I need a bit of city vibe from time to time? I am an active single woman (somewhat mature) who would be up for meeting people as well.

Ferrara is plenty quiet but sweet. Everybody rides bikes (the elderly congregate in the park and in front of the cathedral with one leg draped over the bike); half an hour to Bologna by train. Loads of atmosphere and pretty sights.

Ferrara is indeed a very nice town, actually a city of about 130,000 people, and a provincial capital. It is by no stretch of the imagination a "small village".

However, I suggest you rethink the idea of spending two months in a small village with no car. Very few small villages have a train station. Small villages have very irregular bus service. Unless it's a well-known tourist destination, a small village might have one restaurant, if that. Without a car, even getting groceries would be a problem.

Think of a tiny town near where you live, and consider if you'd enjoy spending two months there with no car.

If the village is near Bologna, it's probably in the Po Valley, which is as flat as the Netherlands, so stunning vistas are mostly vast expanses of orchards or intensive agriculture.

If a small city would suit you, Ferrara is an excellent choice. It's near the Po delta, where you could enjoy vistas of wetlands and waterfowl, but maybe too far to bike there. You can get to Ravenna by train from Ferrara, which is also worth an excursion.

bvl has written what I would have written (but better).

A small village or agriturismo would be a poor solution

Rovigo might be ok, I've only spent a night there but it seemed pleasant enough

Ferrara is indeed a very nice town, actually a city of about 130,000 people, and a provincial capital. It is by no stretch of the imagination a "small village".

However, I suggest you rethink the idea of spending two months in a small village with no car. Very few small villages have a train station. Small villages have very irregular bus service. Unless it's a well-known tourist destination, a small village might have one restaurant, if that. Without a car, even getting groceries would be a problem.

Think of a tiny town near where you live, and consider if you'd enjoy spending two months there with no car.

If the village is near Bologna, it's probably in the Po Valley, which is as flat as the Netherlands, so stunning vistas are mostly vast expanses of orchards or intensive agriculture.

If a small city would suit you, Ferrara is an excellent choice. It's on a direct train line to Bologna, and also an easy distance from Ravenna, another very interesting small city.

Sorry, don't know how that got double posted. I edited it, and maybe the original got retained

We spent a month in Bologna and took a few side trips outside of the city usually when the people came to visit. Loved Ferrara and Ravenna, but as mentioned already, they are not small villages. One place that may suit is Dozza. we took our nieces their when they came to stay. It is 30mins drive time from Bologna. There are also buses and maybe trains , so perhaps an hour by public transport. Here is a link to our blog with a few more details and photos https://accidentalnomads.com/2018/08/27/dozza-day-trip/

If you are fluent in Italian , I am sure you would get by just fine in a small village for a couple of months , if not, it could be challenging and bit lonely? We really liked Bologna as , although it was a big city, it felt like a small town and renting an apartment right in the centre meant that we could walk out of the door and have hundreds of restaurants and bars within 1o mins walk or, we could cook at home.

Personally I would do it the other way around and stay in the city and escape to the villages as and when. Bologna seemed a very social sort of place so I think there would be plenty opportunity to meet others. We did a few cooking lessons there.

Actually, Dozza looks like a good choice for a small village near Bologna. There are two train stations within reasonable biking distance from Dozza (Castel San Pietro Terme and Imola). Imola is a fair-sized town, which would surely have supermarkets. There are also bus connections to Bologna. It's also on a hill, so there could be some nice vistas.

Some trains allow you to bring a bike on board, so you might be able to do some longer distance touring.

I still think it would be better to stay in a larger town, since you won't have a car. You would have a wider variety of restaurants and shops. But if you really want a village, this one would be better than most.

Thank you all.. great advice.... I will looking into Dozza and Ferrara, as well as Bologna instead of small village. My Italian is poor to none.
And I thought Bologna as I wanted a university vibe, and heard about its wonderful food. Also thought central location would make for good weekend or day trips.
However, also open to any other suggestions for another region if anyone has an absolute must.

"areas with stunning vistas yet somewhat close to the train line into Bologna"
Stunning vistas into the winter fog of Val Padana?
But may be you will find something more or less scenic along the Ferrovia Porrettana.

Ignore, edited version below.

Bologna does have some justifiably famous restaurants, but you don't have to go to Bologna to find excellent regional cuisine. Ferrara, Modena, and even tiny little towns have little-known restaurants with superb traditional Emilian fare.

It's hard to find a bad meal in this part of Italy. I can say the same for Le Marche, the region to the south of Emilia Romagna, where I live.

If you want a 'university vibe' and 'great food' the Bologna is the place. We were there at graduation time and it was great fun wandering around the oldest university in the world at a major party time. We ate in and drank in some old bars and restaurants, some so old that they were frequented by the like of Michael Angelo and Da Vinci and De Niro and Muhamed Ali (allegedly - though the last two had their photos on the wall).

The Quadrilatero is the most famous area, jam packed with great eating places, many with communal tables. writing this makes me realise how much I would like return..