Our 5-week Italian Adventure - Bellissimo!!!
Jul 1st, 2025 | 05:38 PM
#1
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Joined: Mar 2003
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Our 5-week Italian Adventure - Bellissimo!!!
Our 5-week Italian Adventure – Bellissimo!!!
Hello everyone,
Thanks to many people on this forum my husband and I had a wonderful trip through northern and central Italy. For context, I am 75 and Ed is 78, and this was our second trip to Italy; our first trip was in the 1970’s when we spent a week in Rome and a day in Florence. We decided it’s time to return and visit the beautiful iconic places we have been reading and hearing about for decades.
Firstly, I want to thank the following people who wrote some fascinating and very helpful trip reports: coral22, MaiTaiTom, Progol, ANUJ, and Leifields. Additionally, I also want to thank the following people for answering my many questions about our itinerary and for giving hotel and restaurant recommendations: Leely2, Jean, Travel_Nerd, Shelemm, Maribel, neckervd, mjs, mendota98, aliced, Geetika, KTtravel, trophywife007, SusanP, and ekscrunchy.
OUR ITINERARY: The dates of our trip were from May 2 to June 7, 2025 (35 nights in total on the ground).
Milan – Hotel Gran Duca Di York – 3 nights
Parma – Palazzo Dalla rosa Prati – 1 night
Manarola – Hotel Marina Piccola – 3 nights
Lucca – Hotel Palazzo Alexander – 3 nights
Siena – Palazzo Ravizza – 3 nights
Florence – B&B Cimatori – 4 nights
Bologna – Casa Bertagni – 3 nights (with a daytrip to Ravenna)
Venice – Hotel Agli Alboretti – 4 nights
Verona – Hotel Giulietta e Romeo – 2 nights
Merano – Hotel Annabell – 4 nights
Varenna – Hotel Albergo Milano – 4 nights
Milan – Hotel Gran Duca Di York – 1 nights
What I like about our itinerary is that we had a mix of cities (large and small), the seaside, the lush countryside of Tuscany with its hills and vineyards, the mountains of the Italian Alps and Dolomites, and the lakes region. My husband did comment at one point that there were too many churches and art museums! 😊 And he was getting confused!
TRANSPORTATION WITHIN ITALY:
We traveled mostly by train. I purchased all of our train tickets on the Trenitalia website months in advance. I also uploaded the Trenitalia app, and that came in very handy. I purchased our regional tickets to Ravenna in the taxi en route to the train station, so it’s very convenient to have the app on your phone. With Trenitalia, you have to enter the Italian name, so Venezia instead of Venice, for example. And be sure to scroll up and down to see all of your train choices. Don’t just enter the exact time you would like to leave; give yourself some leeway because a better train (fast train or inter-city train versus regional) might be available an hour earlier.
We also rented a car twice: one for Tuscany and one for the Italian Alps/Dolomites. I used Kemwel/AutoEurope who I have been using for years.
And we splurged and hired a private driver twice to make things easier for ourselves. We hired 5Terre Transfers to pick us up at our hotel in Parma and drive us to our hotel in Manarola. The reason we did this is because when I went to make our train reservations, I discovered that the train would take close to 5 hours with 1 or 2 changes. This is because of track works going on for about 6 weeks in the spring from Parma directly to La Spezia.
I also hired City Airport Taxis to pick us up at our hotel in Varenna and drive us to our hotel in Milan. I had been reading horror stories about the chaos at the Varenna train station going to Milan. People wrote about standing room only and jostling with luggage and baby strollers on the regional trains, and I decided we are too old to deal with that. We owe ourselves a splurge sometimes. 😊
TRAVEL SOURCES AND PLANNING:
I don’t know how many people use travel guidebooks nowadays, but I still use them and I find them invaluable. I like having the information all in one place, and I like the organization of guidebooks. I am better organized by using them. So, for this trip, I used the following guidebooks:
Italy – Lonely Planet – LP used to be my favorite guidebook but I am disappointed in their new format. I most likely won’t be using them again.
Tuscany – Michelin Green Guide
Venice – Rick Steves
The Italian Lakes – Rough Guides
And of course, the wonderful and knowledgeable people on Fodors have been very helpful and always give invaluable advice. I also seek advice from the Rick Steves travel forum and from the Trip Advisor travel forum. And I read travel blogs, too.
WEATHER:
For the majority of our trip, we were blessed with spectacular weather! We are spoiled with always hitting the jackpot with weather, and I am so afraid that one of these days our weather luck will change. Temperatures were typically in the 60’s and 70’s, and we had an abundance of sunshine. We actually had the warmest weather in the Italian Alps/Dolomites. And we had the wettest weather at Lake Como but this actually turned out to be advantageous in some ways for us.
Hello everyone,
Thanks to many people on this forum my husband and I had a wonderful trip through northern and central Italy. For context, I am 75 and Ed is 78, and this was our second trip to Italy; our first trip was in the 1970’s when we spent a week in Rome and a day in Florence. We decided it’s time to return and visit the beautiful iconic places we have been reading and hearing about for decades.
Firstly, I want to thank the following people who wrote some fascinating and very helpful trip reports: coral22, MaiTaiTom, Progol, ANUJ, and Leifields. Additionally, I also want to thank the following people for answering my many questions about our itinerary and for giving hotel and restaurant recommendations: Leely2, Jean, Travel_Nerd, Shelemm, Maribel, neckervd, mjs, mendota98, aliced, Geetika, KTtravel, trophywife007, SusanP, and ekscrunchy.
OUR ITINERARY: The dates of our trip were from May 2 to June 7, 2025 (35 nights in total on the ground).
Milan – Hotel Gran Duca Di York – 3 nights
Parma – Palazzo Dalla rosa Prati – 1 night
Manarola – Hotel Marina Piccola – 3 nights
Lucca – Hotel Palazzo Alexander – 3 nights
Siena – Palazzo Ravizza – 3 nights
Florence – B&B Cimatori – 4 nights
Bologna – Casa Bertagni – 3 nights (with a daytrip to Ravenna)
Venice – Hotel Agli Alboretti – 4 nights
Verona – Hotel Giulietta e Romeo – 2 nights
Merano – Hotel Annabell – 4 nights
Varenna – Hotel Albergo Milano – 4 nights
Milan – Hotel Gran Duca Di York – 1 nights
What I like about our itinerary is that we had a mix of cities (large and small), the seaside, the lush countryside of Tuscany with its hills and vineyards, the mountains of the Italian Alps and Dolomites, and the lakes region. My husband did comment at one point that there were too many churches and art museums! 😊 And he was getting confused!
TRANSPORTATION WITHIN ITALY:
We traveled mostly by train. I purchased all of our train tickets on the Trenitalia website months in advance. I also uploaded the Trenitalia app, and that came in very handy. I purchased our regional tickets to Ravenna in the taxi en route to the train station, so it’s very convenient to have the app on your phone. With Trenitalia, you have to enter the Italian name, so Venezia instead of Venice, for example. And be sure to scroll up and down to see all of your train choices. Don’t just enter the exact time you would like to leave; give yourself some leeway because a better train (fast train or inter-city train versus regional) might be available an hour earlier.
We also rented a car twice: one for Tuscany and one for the Italian Alps/Dolomites. I used Kemwel/AutoEurope who I have been using for years.
And we splurged and hired a private driver twice to make things easier for ourselves. We hired 5Terre Transfers to pick us up at our hotel in Parma and drive us to our hotel in Manarola. The reason we did this is because when I went to make our train reservations, I discovered that the train would take close to 5 hours with 1 or 2 changes. This is because of track works going on for about 6 weeks in the spring from Parma directly to La Spezia.
I also hired City Airport Taxis to pick us up at our hotel in Varenna and drive us to our hotel in Milan. I had been reading horror stories about the chaos at the Varenna train station going to Milan. People wrote about standing room only and jostling with luggage and baby strollers on the regional trains, and I decided we are too old to deal with that. We owe ourselves a splurge sometimes. 😊
TRAVEL SOURCES AND PLANNING:
I don’t know how many people use travel guidebooks nowadays, but I still use them and I find them invaluable. I like having the information all in one place, and I like the organization of guidebooks. I am better organized by using them. So, for this trip, I used the following guidebooks:
Italy – Lonely Planet – LP used to be my favorite guidebook but I am disappointed in their new format. I most likely won’t be using them again.
Tuscany – Michelin Green Guide
Venice – Rick Steves
The Italian Lakes – Rough Guides
And of course, the wonderful and knowledgeable people on Fodors have been very helpful and always give invaluable advice. I also seek advice from the Rick Steves travel forum and from the Trip Advisor travel forum. And I read travel blogs, too.
WEATHER:
For the majority of our trip, we were blessed with spectacular weather! We are spoiled with always hitting the jackpot with weather, and I am so afraid that one of these days our weather luck will change. Temperatures were typically in the 60’s and 70’s, and we had an abundance of sunshine. We actually had the warmest weather in the Italian Alps/Dolomites. And we had the wettest weather at Lake Como but this actually turned out to be advantageous in some ways for us.
Jul 1st, 2025 | 05:41 PM
#2
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 6,173
Likes: 0
May 2 and May 3: Departing Boston and arriving in Milan
We used miles (Star Alliance) for this trip but we did not have the best flights. I have noticed lately that our flight choices using miles are getting worse and worse with fewer flights to choose from. For our flights to Milan, we flew from Boston to Chicago to Milan. There weren’t any glitches but it makes for a long travel day and night. For our return flights, we flew from Milan to Newark to Boston, and that was horrible! We will never do this again. Will explain in more detail at the end of my report.
Upon arrival, we took a taxi to Hotel Gran Duca di York, which Progol recommended, and we were very happy with our hotel. The lobby is beautiful, and there is a nice bar next to the lobby. The hotel offers a happy hour every evening with complimentary prosecco and light snacks. Our room was a comfortable size. The hotel is in a convenient location, about a 5-minute walk from Piazza del Duomo. And we enjoyed the included hot and cold breakfast buffet.
We wandered around the neighborhood and walked over to Piazza del Duomo to get our first sighting of the Milan Duomo, which is spectacular with its many, many spires and pinnacles. Then we walked through the exquisite Galleria Vittorio Emauele II, a glass domed arcade that houses restaurants and up-scale stores and boutiques. We had an average dinner (pizzas) at Sophia Loren, close to our hotel, before calling it a night.
May 4: Exploring the Brera District
We walked over to Pinacoteca Brera, Milan’s prestigious art gallery, but we couldn’t get in. Tickets were sold out because the first Sunday of the month is Free Sunday. While you don’t have to pay, you do have to reserve online which we didn’t know. But that was fine with us because we had an enjoyable day wandering around the Brera District which is lovely. This area is Milan’s artistic district with pretty cobbled streets lined with a profusion of restaurants, bars, cafes, and boutiques. This would be another nice area to stay in as well. We had lunch at Restaurant Il Kaimona. The food is very good; we dined outside; and the service was excellent. I notice the restaurant gets mixed reviews but we can’t complain.
Jetlag set in at some point, so we headed back to our hotel to rest. We enjoyed the Brera district so much that we returned and had dinner at The Fisherman Pasta. This is a very casual place with delicious seafood dishes. I had seafood linguini, and Ed had pasta with shrimp and mozzarella sauce. We shared a dessert. The price is 40 euros, including 2 glasses of wine.
May 5: The Majestic Milan Duomo!!
Today was our guided tour of the Milan Duomo and its amazing rooftop. I purchased our tickets online through the Duomo’s website about a month or two prior to our visit. There are 52 huge marble piers inside the Duomo. The interior really is striking. The highlight, however, is the amazing cathedral roof and its terraces; there are pinnacles, 150 gargoyles, and stunning views of the city. We took an elevator to the roof. There is a lot of walking around on the roof, going up and down stairs. We had to descend by stairs, too. Because of the routing of the tour, you take the elevator to the roof, but you have to walk down.
So by the time we got to the bottom, our legs felt like jello! We were hungry at this point, but couldn’t imagine walking far, so we stopped for pizza at one of the cafes on the piazza. The views of the Duomo were magnificent and the service was great, but this was our worse meal in Italy. The pizza was really bad. I know these restaurants in very touristy areas are usually bad, but we didn’t have the energy to walk any further.
Our ticket price included the Museo del Duomo which is interesting up to a point. We started to get tired after awhile, and still suffering from jet lag, we went back to our hotel for a rest. I notice we were doing a lot of this on our trip. Must be our ages!
Dinner tonight is at Trattoria Milanese 1933, which we enjoyed very much. It’s about a 5-minute walk from our hotel. This restaurant serves traditional food, and so we tried some unique dishes. First up was an appetizer of cold veal and eggplant cutlets in vinegar and onions. For my main meal, I had veal scallopine with artichokes, and Ed had osso bucco with risotto. This was a great way to end our stay in Milan. Today was a perfect day until . . . .
When we returned to our hotel we discovered that the train strike scheduled for May 6 was really happening. I had asked the hotel’s desk clerk several times if he had information about the strike, and he told me he didn’t think it was going to happen. Well, unfortunately, he was wrong. The strike was nationwide, and was from 9AM to 5PM. (our original train reservations were for the 11:50AM train.) So I immediately checked the Trenitalia app, and we were in luck! There was a train to Parma that was leaving at 7:50AM. I immediately booked these tickets! It meant waking up much earlier than planned and missing our breakfast buffet but this actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Side Note: why didn’t we see the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci?
Seeing The Last Supper painting was at the top of my list. The only day that we could see this most famous painting was on Sunday, May 4. So I set my alarm clock on the day in March when tickets were going on sale. I woke up early, turned on my computer, and I was in the queue for a few minutes when I was allowed in to purchase my tickets. But lo and behold, I couldn’t purchase tickets for Sunday, May 4, because this was the first Sunday of the month, when tickets are free. Even though they are free, you still have to reserve your free tickets online. But not on that day in March. I had to wait until April 30.
So I went through the same rigmarole again. Got up early, waiting in the queue, got in and selected a time. Nothing available. I selected several time slots before one was finally available. I had to enter my data, check off that I am not a robot, and then click on the squares showing street lights, or motorcycles, etc. There were about 4 of these that I had to complete, and then I was finally given the Continue button, only to find out there were no tickets left for this time slot!! So I went back to the calendar to try other time slots, and by this time, nothing was available.
I went into this detail so that if The Last Supper is a top priority for you, do not plan your itinerary so that the only day you can visit is the first Sunday of the month. And keep in mind that The Last Supper is closed on Mondays. You can purchase a tour that includes The Last Supper for more money. However, tours are not allowed in on the first Sunday of the month.
We used miles (Star Alliance) for this trip but we did not have the best flights. I have noticed lately that our flight choices using miles are getting worse and worse with fewer flights to choose from. For our flights to Milan, we flew from Boston to Chicago to Milan. There weren’t any glitches but it makes for a long travel day and night. For our return flights, we flew from Milan to Newark to Boston, and that was horrible! We will never do this again. Will explain in more detail at the end of my report.
Upon arrival, we took a taxi to Hotel Gran Duca di York, which Progol recommended, and we were very happy with our hotel. The lobby is beautiful, and there is a nice bar next to the lobby. The hotel offers a happy hour every evening with complimentary prosecco and light snacks. Our room was a comfortable size. The hotel is in a convenient location, about a 5-minute walk from Piazza del Duomo. And we enjoyed the included hot and cold breakfast buffet.
We wandered around the neighborhood and walked over to Piazza del Duomo to get our first sighting of the Milan Duomo, which is spectacular with its many, many spires and pinnacles. Then we walked through the exquisite Galleria Vittorio Emauele II, a glass domed arcade that houses restaurants and up-scale stores and boutiques. We had an average dinner (pizzas) at Sophia Loren, close to our hotel, before calling it a night.
May 4: Exploring the Brera District
We walked over to Pinacoteca Brera, Milan’s prestigious art gallery, but we couldn’t get in. Tickets were sold out because the first Sunday of the month is Free Sunday. While you don’t have to pay, you do have to reserve online which we didn’t know. But that was fine with us because we had an enjoyable day wandering around the Brera District which is lovely. This area is Milan’s artistic district with pretty cobbled streets lined with a profusion of restaurants, bars, cafes, and boutiques. This would be another nice area to stay in as well. We had lunch at Restaurant Il Kaimona. The food is very good; we dined outside; and the service was excellent. I notice the restaurant gets mixed reviews but we can’t complain.
Jetlag set in at some point, so we headed back to our hotel to rest. We enjoyed the Brera district so much that we returned and had dinner at The Fisherman Pasta. This is a very casual place with delicious seafood dishes. I had seafood linguini, and Ed had pasta with shrimp and mozzarella sauce. We shared a dessert. The price is 40 euros, including 2 glasses of wine.
May 5: The Majestic Milan Duomo!!
Today was our guided tour of the Milan Duomo and its amazing rooftop. I purchased our tickets online through the Duomo’s website about a month or two prior to our visit. There are 52 huge marble piers inside the Duomo. The interior really is striking. The highlight, however, is the amazing cathedral roof and its terraces; there are pinnacles, 150 gargoyles, and stunning views of the city. We took an elevator to the roof. There is a lot of walking around on the roof, going up and down stairs. We had to descend by stairs, too. Because of the routing of the tour, you take the elevator to the roof, but you have to walk down.
So by the time we got to the bottom, our legs felt like jello! We were hungry at this point, but couldn’t imagine walking far, so we stopped for pizza at one of the cafes on the piazza. The views of the Duomo were magnificent and the service was great, but this was our worse meal in Italy. The pizza was really bad. I know these restaurants in very touristy areas are usually bad, but we didn’t have the energy to walk any further.
Our ticket price included the Museo del Duomo which is interesting up to a point. We started to get tired after awhile, and still suffering from jet lag, we went back to our hotel for a rest. I notice we were doing a lot of this on our trip. Must be our ages!
Dinner tonight is at Trattoria Milanese 1933, which we enjoyed very much. It’s about a 5-minute walk from our hotel. This restaurant serves traditional food, and so we tried some unique dishes. First up was an appetizer of cold veal and eggplant cutlets in vinegar and onions. For my main meal, I had veal scallopine with artichokes, and Ed had osso bucco with risotto. This was a great way to end our stay in Milan. Today was a perfect day until . . . .
When we returned to our hotel we discovered that the train strike scheduled for May 6 was really happening. I had asked the hotel’s desk clerk several times if he had information about the strike, and he told me he didn’t think it was going to happen. Well, unfortunately, he was wrong. The strike was nationwide, and was from 9AM to 5PM. (our original train reservations were for the 11:50AM train.) So I immediately checked the Trenitalia app, and we were in luck! There was a train to Parma that was leaving at 7:50AM. I immediately booked these tickets! It meant waking up much earlier than planned and missing our breakfast buffet but this actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Side Note: why didn’t we see the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci?
Seeing The Last Supper painting was at the top of my list. The only day that we could see this most famous painting was on Sunday, May 4. So I set my alarm clock on the day in March when tickets were going on sale. I woke up early, turned on my computer, and I was in the queue for a few minutes when I was allowed in to purchase my tickets. But lo and behold, I couldn’t purchase tickets for Sunday, May 4, because this was the first Sunday of the month, when tickets are free. Even though they are free, you still have to reserve your free tickets online. But not on that day in March. I had to wait until April 30.
So I went through the same rigmarole again. Got up early, waiting in the queue, got in and selected a time. Nothing available. I selected several time slots before one was finally available. I had to enter my data, check off that I am not a robot, and then click on the squares showing street lights, or motorcycles, etc. There were about 4 of these that I had to complete, and then I was finally given the Continue button, only to find out there were no tickets left for this time slot!! So I went back to the calendar to try other time slots, and by this time, nothing was available.
I went into this detail so that if The Last Supper is a top priority for you, do not plan your itinerary so that the only day you can visit is the first Sunday of the month. And keep in mind that The Last Supper is closed on Mondays. You can purchase a tour that includes The Last Supper for more money. However, tours are not allowed in on the first Sunday of the month.
Jul 1st, 2025 | 05:59 PM
#3
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 6,173
Likes: 0
The small but enjoyable bar at Hotel Gran Duca Di York
The lobby of the Hotel Gran Duca Di York
The exterior of our hotel in Milan, the Hotel Gran Duca Di York
The exquisite Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The designer of this glass domed arcade, Giuseppe Mengoni, died just days before the inaugural ceremony when he fell from the roof.
The Galleria is filled with upscale boutiques and pricey restaurants and bars.
We walked through this beautiful space several times during our stay in Milan.
Restaurant scene in the Brera district.
Street scene in the Brera District. I love the color of this building.
Another restaurant in the Brera district.
Strolling through the Brera neighborhood. We really like this part of Milan.
Restaurant Il Kaimona where we had lunch.
Would you believe the first time I had an Aperol spritz is when we were in Queenstown, NZ last fall??? I am now addicted to them!
My pasta with mushrooms lunch at Il Kaimona.
Ed had lasagna. He liked it but it was prepared very differently from what he expected.
Jul 1st, 2025 | 06:19 PM
#4
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 6,173
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The magnificent Milano Duomo!
The stunning interior of the Duomo with its 52 marble piers.
Interior of the Milano Duomo
Statue of St. Bartholomew, with his flayed skin thrown like a toga over his shoulder. One of the churches more gruesome statues.
Beautiful stained glass!
This is what you will see on the rooftop tour.
The amazing rooftop of the Milano Duomo
There is lots of up and down walking on this tour. Be prepared with good walking shoes.
We were in awe of the rooftop. It is so spectacular.
One of the 150 gargoyles!
Walking along the rooftop
Some artifacts that you will see in the Museo del Duomo
Museo del Duomo
Museo del Duomo
Museo del Duomo
The FisherMan's Pasta in Brera, where we had dinner one evening. Very good food and inexpensive.
Seafood linguini and pasta with shrimp and mozzarella sauce - FisherMan's Pasta
Street scene of Milano
Milano at night
Menu from Trattoria Milanese 1933
Our appetizers - cold veal and eggplant cutlets in vinegar and onion
Our dessert - forgot what it is
The beautiful Milano Duomo at night!
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Jul 2nd, 2025 | 11:15 AM
#14
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,562
Likes: 6
This is what Fodors is all about. Thanks so much for taking the time for a trip report with lovely photos and lots of details.
I wanted to travel to Italy this year and I can now do it with lunch, coffee, and your descriptive report.
BTW, I’m definitely in agreement with you about an Aperol Spritz. 😊
I wanted to travel to Italy this year and I can now do it with lunch, coffee, and your descriptive report.
BTW, I’m definitely in agreement with you about an Aperol Spritz. 😊
Jul 2nd, 2025 | 02:34 PM
#15
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 6,173
Likes: 0
Thank you to mendota98, SusanP, Maribel, Adelaidean, melnq8, tripplanner001, ekscrunchy, lrice, and TPAYT for your kind words. They mean a lot to me. As everyone knows, trip reports are a lot of work; however, I enjoy doing them not only because I get to re-live our vacation, but I also enjoy helping people plan their trips, and I like to give back. I always read trip reports when planning our trips because they are so helpful. And I read trip reports about places I find interesting but I may never get to.
Jul 2nd, 2025 | 02:40 PM
#16
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 6,173
Likes: 0
May 6: Pretty Parma!!!
We woke up at 5:30AM and had to skip our delicious breakfast buffet at our hotel. Got a taxi to the Milano Centrale train station. We arrived early because I was a bit nervous about finding our way around the train station, so I’d rather arrive earlier instead of later. The train station was eerily quiet due to the strike. The customer service office was closed. But we found a few employees who directed us upstairs where the departure boards are located. After standing around awhile, our train came up on the screen and we made our way to our platform, which was much easier than I expected. And there are signs indicating where each coach will be when the train stops. Easy peasy! We are not experienced train travelers so I had some apprehension but that was for naught. Despite the train strike, everything worked out smoothly for us.
After about an hour’s ride, we arrived in Parma, and took a taxi to our hotel. The Palazzo Dalla Rosa Prati is in an excellent location, literally right next door to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta and the octagonal-shaped Battistero. And they upgraded us, at no extra charge, to a HUGE 2-bedroom apartment! I wish we were staying a week! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of our apartment.
The Manager recommended several cafes nearby where we could have breakfast, all within easy walking distance. (Our rate did not include breakfast at the hotel.) After cappuccino and some delicious pastries, we started exploring Parma. And this is where the train strike was a blessing in disguise. By being forced to take the earlier train, we had a whole day in Parma instead of half a day. And it was well worth it! We love Parma!
Parma is a beautiful medieval city with narrow lanes, colorful buildings (lots of yellow and rose), the Parma River, a flea market along the river, and some interesting churches, such as San Vitali Church, St. Bartholomew and Allesandro Church. Parma is small and very peaceful, not crowded at all, at least not in May. I remember discovering a small piazza with a neighborhood produce market playing such lovely Italian music. I took a video so I could hear the music! A small moment in time but such a lovely scene. I felt like I was in a movie!
We had a delicious lunch at Antica Caffe located close to the flea market. I had a salad with Parma ham and mozzarella cheese. Ed had beef cheeks with parmesan stuffing. And for dessert, gelato, of course! Mixed fruit and mango and chocolate.
Our dinner was at Three Sisters. First we shared a Parma ham and cheese platter, and then we shared risotto with mushrooms and ham. I am normally not a huge fan of risotto (at least here in the US) but we absolutely loved the risotto everywhere in Italy. It was a lovely evening, very peaceful, so we strolled around for awhile and then stopped for pasty and cappuccino at a Patisserie Bar.
My only regret is that we didn’t have an extra night in Parma. We didn’t have time to visit the Palazzo della Pilotta with its 2 museums and rebuilt Renaissance theater. And we didn’t have time to wander across the Strada della Repubblica to see what was on the other side. Three nights would be perfect if you want to visit Modena as a daytrip.
We woke up at 5:30AM and had to skip our delicious breakfast buffet at our hotel. Got a taxi to the Milano Centrale train station. We arrived early because I was a bit nervous about finding our way around the train station, so I’d rather arrive earlier instead of later. The train station was eerily quiet due to the strike. The customer service office was closed. But we found a few employees who directed us upstairs where the departure boards are located. After standing around awhile, our train came up on the screen and we made our way to our platform, which was much easier than I expected. And there are signs indicating where each coach will be when the train stops. Easy peasy! We are not experienced train travelers so I had some apprehension but that was for naught. Despite the train strike, everything worked out smoothly for us.
After about an hour’s ride, we arrived in Parma, and took a taxi to our hotel. The Palazzo Dalla Rosa Prati is in an excellent location, literally right next door to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta and the octagonal-shaped Battistero. And they upgraded us, at no extra charge, to a HUGE 2-bedroom apartment! I wish we were staying a week! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of our apartment.
The Manager recommended several cafes nearby where we could have breakfast, all within easy walking distance. (Our rate did not include breakfast at the hotel.) After cappuccino and some delicious pastries, we started exploring Parma. And this is where the train strike was a blessing in disguise. By being forced to take the earlier train, we had a whole day in Parma instead of half a day. And it was well worth it! We love Parma!
Parma is a beautiful medieval city with narrow lanes, colorful buildings (lots of yellow and rose), the Parma River, a flea market along the river, and some interesting churches, such as San Vitali Church, St. Bartholomew and Allesandro Church. Parma is small and very peaceful, not crowded at all, at least not in May. I remember discovering a small piazza with a neighborhood produce market playing such lovely Italian music. I took a video so I could hear the music! A small moment in time but such a lovely scene. I felt like I was in a movie!
We had a delicious lunch at Antica Caffe located close to the flea market. I had a salad with Parma ham and mozzarella cheese. Ed had beef cheeks with parmesan stuffing. And for dessert, gelato, of course! Mixed fruit and mango and chocolate.
Our dinner was at Three Sisters. First we shared a Parma ham and cheese platter, and then we shared risotto with mushrooms and ham. I am normally not a huge fan of risotto (at least here in the US) but we absolutely loved the risotto everywhere in Italy. It was a lovely evening, very peaceful, so we strolled around for awhile and then stopped for pasty and cappuccino at a Patisserie Bar.
My only regret is that we didn’t have an extra night in Parma. We didn’t have time to visit the Palazzo della Pilotta with its 2 museums and rebuilt Renaissance theater. And we didn’t have time to wander across the Strada della Repubblica to see what was on the other side. Three nights would be perfect if you want to visit Modena as a daytrip.
Jul 2nd, 2025 | 02:52 PM
#17
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Our hotel in Parma, Palazzo dalla Rosa Prati
Interior entrance to our hotel
Parma street scene
Enticing storefront with lots of goodies!
Parma street scene
A fun mural
A mural of cheese, of course!
Scenes from Parma
Scenes from Parma
My salad with with Parma ham and mozzarella cheese
Ed's lunch - beef cheeks with parmesan stuffing
Jul 2nd, 2025 | 03:16 PM
#19
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Interior of San Vitali church
San Vitali church
Altar in San Vitali Church
The Parma flea market with some interesting wares!
You can find anything at the Parma flea market!
Colorful umbrellas
More interesting finds
We enjoyed browsing through the flea market
This is the fresh produce market where I heard the very pretty Italian music
Typical Parma photo, right?
Cheese, anyone???
These school children were having a lunch break in front of the Palazzo della Pilotta which houses 2 museums and the Teatro Farnese. We saw many, many school groups on field trips throughout our trip. Oftentimes the children were all wearing matching hats so the chaperones wouldn't lose them.
Piazza Garibaldi
Bridge over the Parma River
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta and its Bell Tower
Beautiful interior of Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
The first thing I noticed about this church are the many, many stairs leading to the altar.
The Bell Tower and the octagonal shaped pink Battistero.
Interior of the Battistero with its 13th century Byzantine frescoes
Baptismal font inside the Battistero
There are many figures in the Battistero that represent the months, seasons and signs of the zodiac.
Gorgeous domed ceiling - takes your breath away!
Parma in the early evening with the Battistero, Bell Tower, and Duomo at the end of the street.
Sunset in Parma!
