Bologna - Ravenna

I did Ravenna as a day-trip, and I'm not typically an early riser, so I'd say it can certainly be done that way. But it's an unusually nice, not terribly touristy, small city, with a lovely historic district, and I think spending the night would be better if you can spare the time. It would allow you the opportunity just to wander around at will. I had to walk pretty fast to cover the ground I wanted to and get to all the mosaic sites.

But checking in and out of hotels is a pain, especially for one-night stays.

I always try to spend a night or more in Ravenna. As acraven said, it's a great little city. One of the most beautiful churches is a little outside of the town, Sant'Apollinare in Classe. You can see a lot in a day trip, but it is much more relaxed than Bologna (which I also love). Depending on your interests in Bologna, you might stay in Ravenna and go to Bologna for the day/evening/

We did a half day trip from Bologna, started late in the morning and back by late afternoon. Didn't see everything but saw a lot of mosaics and had a good lunch.

My wife and I did a day trip to Ravenna from our Airbnb apartment in Bologna on a Saturday. A 9am'ish train to Ravenna ... followed RS's walking tour part-way ... a relaxed pizza lunch ... continued the RS walking tour ... returned to a couple of places for a 2nd look ... 5pm'ish train back to Bologna ... rested at our apartment before a 9pm'ish dinner. A long day but entirely doable.

When are you going to be there? I spent 2 nights (1.5 days) in Ravenna in February, loved the quiet easily walkable town and had enough time to enjoy all the mosaics quietly and at length and a couple other sights as well, like the museum. I went back a couple years ago in mid-May as a day trip from Bologna and there were a lot more tourists, including some groups. At the same time, there were few tourists in Bologna.

In any event, if you decide to stay overnight, you could make it easier by leaving your luggage in storage at the Bologna train station and taking only a small bag to Ravenna (then walk from the train station). Going to Ravenna is almost always a round-trip train journey from Bologna, no matter where you are coming from or going to.

How do you get from Ravenna to Sant'Apollinare in Classe?
Thanks for the responses!

There is a local bus that you catch in the city of Ravenna (I think it's bus #4 but I could be wrong, check with your hotel or the TI office), that lets you off very near the church in Classe. Make sure you know where the return stop is (as I recall, they are on opposite sides of the street). It's not a very long ride.

The bus worked well for me, too. I don't know how often it runs on Sundays, though, so if you happen to be in Ravenna on that day, check the schedule early on.

Another thing to be careful about is that I don't think the train station is the terminus of the bus, so you need to be sure you get on going in the right direction. I don't remember whether there is destination-specific signage at the bus stop; it's possible I just figured out which side of the street I needed to be on, based on geography. If there are other people around, they'll be able to help out.

If you take the bus, be sure it's going in the right direction (the bus makes a loop and you could end up on the "scenic" route). It's about 3 km so you could also go by bike - some hotels provide them.