Bologna

We are headed there in two weeks for a three night stay. I've been using the Lonely Planet book for Italy and also looking for ideas on Trip Advisor.

Tripadvisor is a good place to start for travel articles. Lonely Planet, the Rough Guide have good coverage of Bologna, depending on your style of travel. Bologna is a great destination.

Bologna has been discussed and recommended on here quite a bit. Go to the search box and type in Bologna, plenty of old threads will come up. I'm fond of saying that Bologna is a true hidden gem in Italy as it's seldom mentioned as a tourist destination yet has plenty to offer - not the least of which is the best food in Italy.

If you are a secure traveler, you should consider Bologna as a base and get out on your own on the train to visit other smaller towns around the region. (if the hubby is busy and can't accompany you) Spending a full week in Bologna would be boring for me. We spend 3 days there and I had enough after the first day. We walked the porticos, ate Bolognese, climbed the leaning tower, saw the Duomo, etc. We took a side trip to Verona (beautiful town!) and one to Ravenna (to see the chuch and mosaics) Neither trip was a long train ride and each was an enjoyable day- although we had bad weather both days- rain) You can simply 'google' Bologna and come up with a tourist site for the town, print out the info you need. When you arrive, I'm sure the hotel will have lots of suggestions for you as well. I believe in doing some research before I leave for a trip, but then leave time open to discover on my own, and from suggestions from hotels, travel agencies and other travelers I meet when in country.

I used the Cadogan guide and felt it was fine supplemented with my own online research. Have a great time, Bologna is fantastic (and oh, the food).

I'm not sure what travel guides you looked at, but we used Frommer's, Blue Guide to Northern Italy, and the Rough Guide to Italy. And, yeah, that food!! Even Italians agree that Bologna has the best food in the country.

Thanks so much for all your advice. I'm amazed at how quickly people responded. (This is my first time using this site.) I am in the process of getting the Lonely Planet Guide and the Rough Guide to Italy as those were mentioned most frequently. I will also be suing the Trip Adviser. I was also delighted that nearly everyone was really delighted with Bologna. One person, though, felt I would need to make side trips and had some good suggestions for those. Again, thanks for the help.

Thanks so much for all your advice. I'm amazed at how quickly people responded. (This is my first time using this site.) I am in the process of getting the Lonely Planet Guide and the Rough Guide to Italy as those were mentioned most frequently. I will also be using the Trip Adviser. (using ..not suing!) I was also delighted that nearly everyone was really delighted with Bologna. One person, though, felt I would need to make side trips and had some good suggestions for those. Again, thanks for the help.

We are making a return visit to Bologna in a fortnight for a week's holiday. One of the reasons we are returning is that we found the people there some of the friendliest we have met on our travels. Another one is that it is an ideal base, being a railway hub, for visiting many of the smaller towns and cities eg Ferrarra, Parma, Modena and Ravenna. We are townies at heart and love wandering around streets, sitting at cafes, visiting parks etc etc and found that we felt very comfortable doing so in Bologna. And of course the food, there seems to be a cafe, food stall or deli every few yards in the city centre!

I just returned from my Italy vacation. We stayed in Bologna for only two nights and found an excellent Gelato Shop. In fact it's the best we ever had. Chocolate, Via Guerrazzi, 25B is the name and address. If you would like I also have two outstanding restaurants in Bologna.

We got the Insight pocket guide when we went to Bologna-- there was a great bookstore there with lots of English language books. It's relatively small and has some good itineraries in it. I second the above recommendation for a side trip to Ravenna. Its mosaics are beautiful, and the town is easy to see in a day trip. We also LOVED our side trip to Parma, which was one of my favorite semi-off-the-beaten-path places in Italy. I remember the Duomo was particularly beautiful and the Baptistery was striking. Wish I could remember the name, but we had a great lunch at a restaurant very close to the Duomo-- leaving the Duomo, turn right and go about 100 yards. Bologna itself was great for the food and the markets, but you'll probably want to explore further afield after a few days. Ciao,
Meredith