Bologna for 30 days?

I haven't stayed in Bologna for more than 4 or 5 nights at a time, but I have stayed there many times. It is a big city - it is the 7th largest city in Italy and larger than Florence. And while the downtown and university area is walkable and feels smaller if you are looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city I don't think Bologna would be my first choice. To stay within easy distance of the train station you will likely be in the downtown area rather than a quiet neighborhood.

On the plus side Bologna is really well connected to a bunch of different places - Modena and Parma, Ferrara, Ravenna, Florence, Venice, Verona, Lake Garda, etc. and has no shortage of great restaurants and college life bars and outdoor areas. I will say that for me Bologna has a bit of a 100 restaurants with 1 menu issue, but there is also foreign cuisine there Chinese, Poke and other things to try if you're there long enough to become tired of "Italian" food every night. Assuming you have a kitchen the amazing markets in Bologna will lend themselves to more lunches and dinners in which helps keep going out feel special rather than a requirement.

One warning - if you haven't been through the Bologna train station it is somewhat sprawling and the fast trains come in on level -4 so it is an airport like transfer to switch between the local and fast trains. Don't linger over a coffee and assume your train is close like most stations but instead head to the train immediately.

Bologna is a huge student town and is increasingly becoming a tourist center so housing is tight and often more expensive than you might think. I doubt you could spontaneously extend a 30 day stay another 30 unless it is a very specific rental spot that maybe only does 30 day minimums or something.

Honestly the only time I've spent one month in one spot in Italy was a place I was considering moving and I wanted to see what daily life was like, but I do enjoy staying in places for 5-9 days if you can. If you have 30 (and maybe up to 60) days I would think about longer stays but in a few more places. A week in Bologna - or maybe longer if you want to do day trips to Ravenna and Ferrara - but then actually think about a week somewhere in some other places and using a series of hubs scattered around to see more place and settle in more. I think constant day trips gets tiring so you'll really like where you're staying rather than just using it as a base.

If I had a free week or more to plan a slow trip I would absolutely look into spending time on the Ligurian coast - say Chiavari or Moneglia - and explore all the cities around it by rail. But just what I would do but with a month or two I would recommend more stays in base towns rather than one.

My .$02, sounds like an amazing opportunity,
=Tod

I understand the desire to avoid moving lodgings when visiting a European country, but using one place for a month would involve a lot of wasted time and expense in travel.

I think using a place as a base makes some sense for a shorter term, especially if the places that you wish to see are not far away.

We did a wonder Road Scholar Tour of Tuscany and Umbria. The tour used Siena as a base for Tuscany and Spoleto as a base for Umbria. We rarely experienced more than 1 1/2 hours in travel to our towns or cities we visited.

Your plan would work for visiting places like Ravenna or even Venice. Not sure the amount of time on the train to visit Florence.

I suggest that you first pick the PLACES that you wish to visit and design a plan for lodging at more than one base city for an entire month.

If you wanted to visit Rome or farther south, Bologna would not be a viable location, in my opinion.

By the way , we visited Bologna, but did not spend a long time there, it is not a small city. It appeared crowded and would not be my choice personally.

We have stayed in Bologna for up two weeks and have never been bored. The historical center is great to explore. There are many excellent restaurants and unique museums and galleries. It a good base for visiting other cities like Modena, Parma, Ferrara, Verona, Venice, Florence and Milan.

Bologna is a lot busier than it used to be. In the past 14 years I've noticed the difference. I've stayed 3-4 weeks there studying Italian 5 or 6 times. Now I am nearby in the province of Modena. The rental market is not cheap.... lots of students and workers vying for rentals. I love Bologna but it is crowded and is a large city in my opinion. It is not a small town.

Appreciate everyone's response/comments/suggestions. We definitely need to do more research and decide which towns we want to visit and go from there to decide on a base.