Bologna vs. Milan

That depends--What do you want to see?

Milan by far

Have you been to Florence? Bologna is just an hour north of there--a quick and easy train trip.

If you want fast-paced, modern, glamorous and some "wow" historical sites spread out and intermingled with high end shopping and fashionable eateries-- Milan.

If you want an old-world feel, intriguing historical sites, lots of wonderful regional/homestyle food, a casual vibe, more walkability, a more compact historical center, and like the feel of University Towns (lots of coffee shops, lol), then Bologna.

You can take fantastic day trips from both locations, though the train station in Bologna is easier to get to and navigate and the one in Milan is closer to something like Grand Central Station in beauty and size.

Thank you for your helpful input!! I love the Old World flavor! Sounds like I might really enjoy Bologna. Wish I had more time to see/do everything everywhere!! Be blessed!!!

We’ve not been to Milan so can’t speak to that, but we loved Bologna for many of the reasons given by @Sleight.

We spent several days there this past fall after visiting Venice, Florence, Sulmona and Assisi. Overall, Bologna was our favorite. Not everyone will agree. In fact, it seems many on the forum are not so fond of Bologna. Even with all the graffiti, it still was very safe and very lively, but not over the top. We stayed in the area of the Santa Maria dei Servi church. We walked everywhere! Food was very good and varied. As is true with much of Italy, also not very expensive. Bologna does have good historical features also, so there was enough to keep us busy.

Good luck and good travels!

Having just added the above, I will amend to say that getting to Bologna from Genoa takes around 3 hours and you will need to change in Milan. As you only have 5 days, you might be happier staying closer to Genoa, so Milan might make more sense. If you are really looking for a bit larger city, Torino (Turin) might fit the bill. I’ve been researching that city a bit and it also has lots to see and do. Nothing like perhaps complicating your decision!

Thank you for your input!! I think that Milan kind of overshadows many of the smaller cities in that region because of its reputation for the fashion industry. I prefer the smaller, more quaint towns that give the feel of centuries past. I loved Volterra in Tuscany which is a pedestrian village not too far a drive from Sienna, Lucca and San Giaminiano. (I didn't spell that correctly!!) I don't think Bologna gets much press; neither does Genoa. I'm departing a cruise ship in Genoa; hence, my being in that part of Italy. I say "You can't go wrong anywhere in Italy!"
I'm traveling solo, so sometimes small towns feel safer than cities (may not be true).
Thank you for taking the time to add your comments!! Be blessed!!

Sandra

Hi Sandra, I enjoy the smaller Italian cities so much, along with the larger cities.

Of the two you mentioned, it would be a bit of a toss up for me. Neither would be my first preferences to send you for your short time. And now with your added comments, I think you would love Bergamo. For Bergamo, stay in the upper section of the city - Citta Alta for a wonderful ambiance you are wanting. You could easily do a day trip into Milan - less than an hour by train or bus to enjoy some highlights of Milan. If you just do Bergamo as a day trip, you will miss the evening ambiance in Bergamo. Also, the lower main section of Bergamo has a lot of historic buildings & churches. I ran out of time to explore that part, too.

I stayed at Hotel Piazza Vecchia and the Gombit Hotel. The first one is less expensive, and they are both very nice and includes breakfast.

(I’ve stayed at over 25 towns in Italy, so PM if you want more ideas.)

To complicate matters further, there are some lovely towns on the seaside near Genoa, like Camogli.
Milan is going to be a definite since you fly home from there, but you could split it with a lake town or a town like Bergamo as suggested.
You really have thousands of options, you just have to pick what you want to see most--then sorting out whether to stay in city or nearby smaller town is usually easy.
I'd also sort of hate to backtrack out of Milan to Bologna, but it's a fast train and nothing you can do about that routing.

Wow!! Now I don't know what to do!! (Just kidding!!) I booked my ticket home out of Milan thinking it would have more flights at lower fares than Genoa seeing as Milan is a bigger city. Maybe that was a mistake. (?) I guess I'll throw a dart since you can't go wrong in any part of Italy. It will all be new to me in that area, so it should be good. Thank you ALL for your input. I just need another lifetime with more money and less work (like most of the world!!).

Blessings!!