Hi travel soul mates,
I have seen the recommendation of the star hotel excelsior which sounds practical for visiting Bologna, Parma, Modena. Any other hotel suggestions?
Favorite day or half day tours?
Favorite things to do?
Tips on seeing Bologna, Parma , Modena in 3 days?
Many thanks
J
We found our hotel, Arts Hotel Novecento, very well located in the historic center of Bologna. A/C worked well in September in 103 degree heat! Parking is offered in an adjacent garage if you have a car. Recommend.
I've stayed at the Excelsior. Part of a reliable chain. Unremarkable, but extremely convenient, right across from the train station. You have a tough choice between convenience and old-town charm.
If in Bologna, you MUST go to the Pompeii Painters exhibit at the archeological museum, ends 3/19. Otherwise, Bologna has a lot of nice but not outstanding sites, although Santo Stefano and the statues in Santa Maria Della Vita are unique. Food is the big draw of the area. We did food tours of both Bologna and Modena, from Taste Bologna. We ate at the Trattoria Rigoletto in Parma, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our favorite meals in Bologna were at Ristorante Donatello and Da Cesari. The area is also car central, although the only car site we covered was the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena. Parma had the best cathedral and baptistry of these cities. It also had some small gems, like the Museo Glauco Lombardi (Dedicated to Napoleon's 2nd wife} and the Camera di San Paolo.
We loved Bologna; I would suggest a room with air conditioning. We were then in June and melted.
We used AirBnB experiences to find a walking tour with a student named Mersedeh that was charming. I'd also suggest a food tour. There are several companies. And a tour of a parmesan cheese producer is well worth your time!
Specific recommendations of food tour and cheese producer?
For tours of parmesan cheese producers, we went with Claudio and enjoyed it tremendously (did the balsmaic tour in the afternoon) Small group; he picked us up, took us to the cheese producer, then on to see the cows, and then to a farm for a cheese and wine tasting. We also joined his afternoon tour of a balsamic producer. Claudio is charming and fun and was great with my teenagers. My boys still say it was the best thing we did during the whole trip!
https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/91363
We didn't do this tour, but this group gets very good reviews on this site: https://www.italiandays.it/
In terms of Bologna food tours, we went with Mattia from Delicious Bologna. Comprehensive and hit all the highlights of foods and key neighborhoods.
https://deliciousbologna.com/about/
This tour company also gets good reviews (she was featured in one of the Somebody Feed Phil episodes)
https://www.tastebologna.net/
Bologna also has wonderful gelato. We went to Cremeria La Vecchia Stalla and Cremeria Mascarella. And don't miss the famous Fiat chocolates at Majani!
For cars, we went to see the Pagani factory, where the cars are handmade and the factory floor is cleaner than a hospital room.
