Cinque Terre and..... (favorite spots in Emilia-Romagna?)

Have you priced flying in or out of Bologna? It’s the capital of E-R, and we spent a great week there last fall. We’re going back again this October. We did a food tour with Italian Days that visited other parts of the region, closer to Modena, but were otherwise occupied the whole time in Bologna itself.

Same trip, we visited many hilltowns in Umbria, and tii ohwns like Spello were as charming (or more) than Assisi. That’s Umbria, though, and not E-R. Assisi is St. Francis, of course. Bologna has the tomb and church of St. Dominic (Dominican order), with Michelangelo statues. The town streets are practically all lined with porticoes, allowing you to stay out of the sun on hot days and out of the rain during downpours. It’s a major food location, too.

I'll second Bologna. The TI is in a central location and the staff is very helpful; they also offer a fantastic walking tour every morning (at least, they did pre-Covid). Their website is bolognawelcome.com. I took a day trip to Parma (via train) and really enjoyed it. One of these days I'd love to return to that region!

Very good CT trip report:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187817-i997-k13684981-Our_Week_in_Cinque_Terre_Trip_Report-Cinque_Terre_Italian_Riviera_Liguria.html#postreply

S. Margherita Ligure and Rapallo are on the rail line with ferries to Portofino, where there is excellent hiking:

https://portofinotrek.com/gb/6-trail-map

Click on trails of interest. Easy day trips from either SML or Rapallo would be Camogli, Chiavari, Sestri Levante and Levanto.

If including the CT, Emilia-Romagna is pretty far away, Bologna [e.g.] a little under 4 hours, taking 4 trains.

Seconding Den’s seconding, in October 2021, the Bologna TI also did a 2-hour walking tour in the mid-afternoon. The one we took was in Italian and English.

I too like some of the other riviera towns north of the CT like N_Kingdom suggests e.g. Rapallo, Camogli (though I like the Cinque Terre too).

We really loved Modena. Smaller than Bologna but still enough going on to keep you occupied, and easy to train to the other towns in ER. We took a fantastic parmiggiano tour from there on an AirBNB experience and it was one of our favorite days of our trip.

In general almost all cities (except Ferrara and Ravenna) of Emilia-Romagna are easy to be reached from Milan, because are on the main train line. Bologna is an important train hub, so from there you can ge by direct train anywhere.
Move from Emilia-Romagna to Cinque Terre is a little more tricky. There are some Regional direct trains from Parma to La Spezia, than you can find a connection. From other cities (like Bologna) if I'm right you must change train at least twice.

As suggestion, Emilia-Romagna is plenty of activities and places to be visited. If you like small medieval towns I can suggest Bobbio, Vignola, Castell'Arquato, Vigoleno, Fontanellato, San Leo. Four Cities are UNESCO World Heritage: Modena, Ferrara, Ravenna and Bologna. Four UNESCO Cultural Heritage: Parma, Modena, Bologna, Cesena. Plenty of medieval fortress, but even supercars producers (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ducati, Maserati: maybe your kids like a different visits that churches! :-D ).