Bologna and area...in March

I enjoyed staying in Vicenza because it is much less touristy and smaller than either Verona or Padova. Also less expensive. Trains serve well and it’s convenient to travel to either of the other cities, as well as getting to Venice. I stayed at the Hotel Campo Marzio, a short walk from the train station and just on the edge of the centro storico - easy to walk anywhere in the historic center.

As far as Bologna is concerned, consider a trip to Ravenna to see the magnificent mosaics. I think it’s something that shouldn’t be missed.

https://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/

The Bologna tourism bureau has information on DIY itineraries and guided tours. Surface transportation for day trips is plentiful and the central train station and bus depot are only a couple of blocks apart. Choosing themes for your excursions may help your planning. Food, for instance, might guide you to Parma, a hundred kilometres away. For fabulously fast cars, the Ferrari and Maserati installations. Pisa for faulty engineering. I enjoy touring Bologna's medieval architecture and history; I suggest a walk that includes climbing up one of the distinctive siege towers. And always, Bologna is a wonderful place to eat.

If you are returning to North America, it is worth searching for an itinerary that flies you into London and home from Bologna, probably with at least one European connection. A multi-destination search function will show you all the connections and save you lots of time and possibly some money.

You could eliminate either Parma, Modena, Reggio-Emilia...all three towns have their distinctions however, as a tourist, you're viewing communities within the same region, that aren't terribly distinct from one-another. Personally, stay in Bologna and in order of visiting preference: 1) Parma, 2) Modena and 3) Reggio-Emilia. If you're looking to add or, change it up, definitely Ferrara and do not miss Ravenna; capitol of the Western Byzantine Empire it was the capitol after the fall of Rome. The mosaics are very impressive not to mention the various layers of history that arc through the town.

Thanks for the heads up on Vicenza...I’ll look into that.

As for flying home...well, at that time of year, our only choice from Halifax to Europe is Air Canada, via London. And we may even have to stop over in Nfld...I’m not sure. Flying over NS to Mtl or Tor is just not something I want to do, and I don’t want to fly via the USA. We will spend another day or two in London before coming home - that’s when we do our souvenir shopping ;) ...it’s what we are used to, with our limited options from Halifax. (And as we learned when we flew to Montreal a few years back to fly to Paris...I’d rather the smaller planes from Halifax than the huge squishy monsters from the bigger cities).

Ravenna, Ravenna!

So I did do an Expedia check and our options from Bologna to home are either via LHR anyways, or BLQ to FRA to Toronto to Halifax. So we will just spend a few more days in London...maybe take the chance to spend a few days visiting my sister before coming home, since I haven’t seen her since 2015.

And I see lots of love for Ravenna! Ok ok. So I wonder if maybe after leaving Venice we should spend two nights in Ravenna, then 3 in Bologna and leave out one of the day trip places? Ravenna looks like about 90 min by train, so that may be pushing it as a day trip, since my husband is NOT an early riser and we’d be lucky to get there by noon.

Or maybe keep Bologna at 4 nights and just tack a few more days on for Ravenna. The wonderful thing about my husband retiring next week is that we aren’t going to be stuck to two week holidays.

Nicole, Ravenna is very flat, therefore easy for walking. The RR station is about a 10 minute walk to the beginning of the center of town. It also has more common use of bicycles by all ages than any place I have been, outside of China. There are several sites with beautiful ancient mosaics, most within walking distance of each other, but one a few km outside of town, easily reached by local bus. Some of these sites date back to,the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Good restaurants, and various forum participants have mentioned small hotels or B & Bs they have enjoyed in Ravenna. Lucky you guys!
PS: when I was in Ravenna, for just a day, I bought a beautiful paperback book, in English, entitled “Ravenna: Capital of Mosaic” by Salbaroli Publications. It has many photos and explanations of the various sites of mosaics, and would be a good purchase as you arrive, to use during your visit, rather than just as a souvenir which I bought as I left town. I am enjoying it very much, right now while I write.

We were in Bologna this past March. I posted a trip report (you may want to check out) about our wonderful time there. It mentions some great restaurants. We have also visited Modena, Reggio Emilia and Parma by train. They are all similar, but are lovely historic towns to see.