Bologna stay

I don't think you will be disappointed. Bologna is one of my favorite cities in Italy. I spend half the year nearby in Vignola. The small towns in the area are wonderful. If a pool is important to you then that would make sense. I also like Castelvetro but it is not on the train line. I highly recommend Alice with alyandiamo (she is on Instagram and maybe Facebook). She can arrange a balsamic, cheese, etc tour for you. Small producers and a personal tour. My friends and family that have come to visit have been quite happy with their tours. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

will we be disappointed to not be staying in Bologna?

How often do you plan to go to Bologna? Factor in getting to the train station from your villa, waiting for the train in Formigine, changing trains in Modena, etc. So maybe 1.5 hours each way. If you can handle the commute, go for it. A pool for kids to chill in goes a long way to keeping spirits high.

I'll be staying in Bologna early July for 3 nights. We'll have a car but just one day trip planned to Lamborghini factory and nearby reggiano tour. So we thought it best to stay in Bologna proper.

Hello Italydream, and welcome to the forum,

Your question is hard to answer because it depends on what you are looking for. My generic answer is that if you have never been to Italy than I would recommend staying in the city. If you are going to engage a culture and experience it for the first time then diving in would be my choice. The typical Italian first visit is Rome, Florence (maybe Siena) and Venice. On the second trip people then usually start to explore "secondary" cities and smaller towns. But that doesn't mean you need to do it that way. If being able to relax and have the kids enjoy themselves rather than have easy access to big sights is your priority then that sounds like a good option.

My only cautions with staying in Formigine would be same for staying anywhere "outside" the bigger towns:
- Fewer options for restaurants and shopping experiences.
- You access to other places will always have the extra step of getting to Modena and then getting on a train to somewhere else. The train to Modena seems to run early until 10pm so your options are pretty good for eating in Modena late or being able to get back from a day trip without getting stuck in Modena.
For instance I don't think Ferrara is a good day trip from Formigine since it will probably be 2.5 hours each way changing in Modena and Bologna. Train travel is way less stressful than driving but 5 hours is longer than my daytrip allowance.
- English proficiency drops off dramatically in Italy outside of touristy places and with older people. The younger people who speal English head to cities to interact with the tourist trade. The Italians are super flexible and you can get by with a little tourist Italian but it will impact your ability to interact with the locals.

Obviously what you want out of your vacation is up to you and you should plan it however you want. I'm just pointing out my logistical concerns with staying rurally versus urban.

Be aware that the fast trains come into Bologna at level -4 so changing from local to fast trains in Bologna takes a 4 level change like an airport transfer so don't linger. Changing local trains is the same as any train station but Bologna is large and has a couple of track areas so it may take more walking than some cities. Also Trenitalia seems to have some bus service replacements in the middle of the day to Modena for June and bus only service Formigine to Modena in July so I suspect there is track or station work going on. Any substitutions is clearly marked on the Trenitalia site.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Thank you! This is all very helpful. We found a place closer to the train station in Bologna with a rooftop whirlpool. But then we were told that area in unsafe. So we have another option in Santo stefano area, but no pool.
Just having trouble deciding what the best option for us would be. Is a pool a. Necessity with young kids?

If you would like other opinions on the location of the place with the rooftop pool, please share the actual location. I suggest this because I too heard that near the station was not so safe but, as an older solo woman, I never felt uncomfortable using the station for daytrips or staying for a week in a condo complex about 5 minutes walk from the station.

Is a pool a necessity with young kids?

Sometimes, it's nice to be able to do stuff in the morning through lunch and have a pool to retreat to during the hottest portion of the day. Too many adult-oriented activities (museums, churches) could bore them. The pool might keep their spirits high and wear them out in a good way.

Santo Stefano (assuming you mean the SE corner of the city) might work as it's situated near a kid-friendly park. Just consider how to get to the train station from there as it's on the opposite end.

One option with the outdoor swim spa is on v.Milano and via cairoli. The other is off of via cartoleria close to via de chiari

That area is blocks away from the train station and I think that area is fine.

We stayed over a couple of separate nights closer to the train station and walked back and forth through Piazza dei Martiri in both day and night. There was a lot of street construction - on Via Giovanni Amendola I think - that caused traffic issues but construction in Bologna is no surprise. There's a fairly large Coop there in the piazza which might be helpful with a family for everyday things BTW. Those are good streets to catch buses as well. Buses in Bologna are not particularly helpful because the old town streets are too narrow but with kids they might help you skip some walking distance between your hotel and Piazza Nettuno and the old town area if you want.

The area around the train station just seems kind of sketchy at night. The area around the front of the train station and Piazza XX Settembre and around the bus stops just seem to have people hanging around that have nothing else to do. Not menacing in any way but a lot of just 'hanging around'. The area around the train station is bustling at all hours from everything I've seen so it's not like you're wandering alone in the dark in the train station area since there always people heading to or away from the station.

Be aware that Bologna has long blocks and interesting architecture which makes walking there interesting but crosswalk times are short and there usually a lot of pedestrian crossing traffic so be aware walking in a group. You'll probably use the cross walk at Via Giovanni Amendola from the train station many times. It's where the people getting on or off the trains cross the major street and it is always busy.

If you stay in Bologna that puts Ferrara and Ravenna within reach as well as Florence as possible daytrips.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

v.Milano and via cairoli

If you mean via Milazzo and Via Cairoli in the NW corner of city center, that is only a couple blocks north of where I'm staying. Your other location is about a 30 min walk to the Bologna Centrale but you can bus it there in less than 20 minutes. Both seem well situated, so just pick the one with the better living space/swim options.

One of the reasons I chose my place was that it had a dedicated parking spot just outside the ZTL, which was rare. I didn't have to deal w/ finding a parking spot in a foreign town where they can ticket you for driving in certain areas.