Bologna as a base or pass thru?

Lots of places near Bologna to visit as day trips:

• Ferrara (30 min on fast train)
• Modena (30 min)
• Firenze (40 min on fast train)
• Parma (<60 min)
• Ravenna (1h15m)
• Mantova (1h45m)
• And I’m sure others!

Only you can decide if you want to base in Bologna the whole time. I would probably base in 2 cities each for a week so that I had a few days to explore/enjoy that city and options for day trips from each base.

I've twice used Bologna as a base. It's near Modena, Parma, and Ravenna by local train, less than an hour from Florence by fast train, and fairly easy day trips to Milan and Padua. plus Bologna has several worthwhile sites itself, as well as some of my favorite restaurants. I've never tried to get to Pisa, Lucca, Sienna, or San Gimignano from Bologna; perhaps others can discuss whether such day trips are feasible from Bologna.

TY Accidental S and JCM, great ideas. will look at a 2nd base. I had just been to Venezia this Oct. and it looks tempting again being relatively close to Bologna. Just sayin'. TY again.

Oh...and where does one usually fly into? ty

Venice came to my mind as a second base for the same reason as you, gritz -- having been there once I want to go back. Oh to have a whole week in Venice!! Also can visit Padova from Venice, plus Murano, Burano, and Torcello (with the oldest church in the lagoon if memory serves, and its AMAZING Byzantine mosaic).

For flights, if you thinking return visit to Venice, you could look at flying into Venice and out of Bologna. Saves you from having to backtrack, but it does "lock you in" versus a roundtrip to Rome and then train to wherever your first base is.

Another thought is to head south for your second base. Some friends of mine did that this past spring - they had one base city up north, and then they flew to Bari and made their second base in Puglia.

Second vote for Torcello!

As for flights, Venice has direct flights to and from the US and Bologna doesn't. For Bologna, we're Delta people, so had to choose between going through Amsterdam or Paris.

TY guys..def is getting my planning hat on. I did fly into Ven non-stop from Newark and home non-stop to Nwk from Rome. Very convenient.

Third vote for Torcello, however the food in Bologna is better than Venice, and it has train connections to everywhere. For example, you can easily pop over to Firenze. Ravenna is worth a day trip IMO for the fabulous mosaics.

ty PonyG for the feedback. So much to consider, which is a good thing.

We spent 10 days in Bologna last November. We loved Santuario Madonna di San Luca (we walked up!) particularly. We used it as a base for day trips going to Parma, Padua, and Lake Garda.