Hi. We are going to Bologna for a week (8 days) in September to celebrate my husband's birthday. We want a relaxing week so we will spend a few days in the city and take four day trips: Parma, Modena, Ravenna, and Ferrara. Any recommendations for that itinerary? Attractions? Restaurants? We like we can the train everywhere without having to rent a car. Should we book the tix for the trains before the days we go on the various day trips? Thanks for any help.
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Forest Grove, OR
12329 posts
Speaking to Ravenna and Ferrara. We were in both last fall.
Ravenna is famous for the mosaics and they are spectacular. In Rick Steves’ Italy Guide book he has a terrific self-guided tour of the sites. Note that some of the sites (2, I think) you have to reserved a timed entry, so spend a little time figuring out your plan of attack. It is a full day, we had a wait for our train back to Ferrara and stumbled into this bakery which was delightful. https://panificiopasticceria3sorelle.it/
We spent quite some time in Ferrara. We walked the walls, toured the old city with a private guide https://www.getyourguide.com/ferrara-l1139/ferrara-guided-walking-tour-of-the-historic-old-town-t1395832/?ranking_uuid=81b7ba8b-0599-4d6d-819c-766302f03953&q=Sightseeing%2C+Ferrara which enhanced our understanding a great deal. The food is phenomenal! We absolutely loved https://www.trattoriadanoemi.it/en/. Reservations highly recommended.