Deep Dive Italy - Northern and maybe central towns

Modena is a fine city to base out of and day trip to the other Emilia Romagna towns you mentioned. I did exactly that several years ago. Plenty to see and do, and some nice villages that most tourists miss in the countryside.

I would encourage you to take the opportunity to go to Ravenna. Take the time to go outside the city to Classe as well.

Well, you named the exact five places I would have named! We have stayed in Modena, Parma, and Ferrrara for several nights each (without a car), a week or so in Ravenna with a car ( a bunch of day trips and I wanted to see ALL of the mosaic sites), and did a day trip to Mantua by bus. I guess you could stay in either Modena or Parma and day trip to the other. Stay in Ferrara. People do visit Ravenna on a day trip, but I don't see how. Visit Mantua from Modena.

You will eat extremely well (I actually prefer the local food of Ravenna and Ferrara to Bologna's) and if you like art and architecture you will see a lot of great stuff. We used Tours by Locals to visit a cheese factory and went by bus to the castle of Torrechiara for its painted interior walls.

Closer to Rome, there are the towns and cities of Umbria. Also wonderful, but we felt like we needed a car for a lot of the places we wanted to go in Umbria.

Easter is a factor. We just spent Easter in Sicily and loved it --- maybe google on which of the five towns/cities have interesting processions (although they cannot be as freaky as Sicily's were!)

Here’s a different itinerary for your consideration. We did this trip last year — and it was fabulous!

We flew to Milan and then took a train from Bologna then onto Vicenza to Trieste to Treviso, ending our trip in Venice. We traveled in late September through to the beginning of November. It was a nice mix of big cities and small towns, beautiful museums and churches, excellent food and wine. Weather was cool, albeit damp, and there were no crowds.

I've been to Ravenna a couple of times, most recently in 2022. I like both mosaics and art, and it took me two full days to get through my list of sights. Others may get enough mosaics in one day. I think it's smart to go to Ravenna now, before the cruise passengers docked nearby discover the charms of Ravenna.

I like Orvieto a lot; it could be your last stop before Rome. It has quite a lot of sights compared to the traditional hill town.

hey hey hiredman =Tod
always enjoy reading your posts when answering and recommending people, places, and things.
several years ago we hired orianancc.it for a prosecco road/hills 4 to 5 tour. it was fabulous, took train from venice santa lucia to susegana, she picked us up and off we went. speaks great english
oriana born and raised here, gorgeous land, hills/vineyards & homes/small villages. stopped at 2 wineries for tastings, a family owned
restaurant for family meal for 4 of us. looked like was open special for us. oriana planned it. dropped off at train station and fun ride back, bought local bottles to take back to our venice apartment for happy hour.
kayratours.com/ free guided walking tours treviso
home of tiramisu and radicchio, walking/roaming the piazzas and canals
italoamericano.org/ discover treviso
mycornerofitaly.com/ dozza street art village
a friend told me about this place, "off the beaten path", friends enjoyed this small village. scroll down to events: dozza wine festival first part of may. keep bolognawelcome.com on your list to check date if interested
withlocals.com rome
beautiful countryside day trip: castelli romani
short train ride to frascati countryside, pope's summer villa and gardens, small villages, lake nemi, strawberries
italyreview.com/ nemi
have a fabulous trip and enjoy
aloha

Thanks everyone, I think I know what I'm going to do.

Spend more time in Modena and do Parma as a day trip instead of splitting my time between them. I'm choosing Modena over Parma because it also has easy access to Mantua. That will allow me to carve out 2 nights for Ferrara on the way to Venice.
Then I'm planning on Ravenna - probably 3 nights depending on the timing for Venice and Rome.

I feel like I might be short changing Parma but I can always come back if my visit leaves me wanting more and it gives me Ferrara so that's the trade I'll make to check all the cities on my list.

Thanks again, Rome and Easter in Tuscany future posts!
=Tod

I’ve stayed in each of the cities you’re considering. Here’s my thoughts on each. I am a big proponent of traveling extremely light & moving locations often to experience each city, especially in the evenings and not waste any time heading back to a main city location….but I realize everyone has their own preferences. : )

• Modena - I was just here a few weeks ago. It’s fine and has a fantastic market! The sites & smells there are wonderful. Do a balsamic tour.

• Parma - stayed here twice. One of my favorite church interiors in Italy is the Parma Cathedral. The center of the city is more exciting than Modena’s. La Forchetta is my favorite restaurant here & close to the cathedral.

• Mantua - very authentic with the three adjoining piazzas. The Gonzaga collections are excellent! I stayed in a former palazzo in this city that’s handy to the train station, if you’re interested.

• Ferrara - I was just here a few weeks ago for the second time. I really like this city, and wow, the food continues to be excellent! Ravenna is a direct train from Ferrara. If doing Ravenna as a day trip, get up early and arrive as the mosaic combo locations open. Go to the best one, first, while it isn’t crowded.

  • Ravenna - the combo ticket locations are fantastic. If staying here, be sure to also go to the museum to learn a lot more about the mosaics. Also, the underground mosaic floor museum is worthwhile. I enjoyed staying in this smaller city, too. (Personally, I wouldn’t give Ravenna three nights when looking at your options.)

If you can extend Venice for an extra day or two I think you'll be happy you did. We've been twice in March 2023 and in March 2025. Our first trip we were there for 3 nights, it was great but there are lots of things we didn't get to do. This year we went with friends who have never been to Italy and they weren't too excited with Venice only wanted 2 nights at most. By the time we had to leave they were very sad they didn't stay longer! My experience in March has been wonderful, good weather, not terribly crowded (but still lots of people, especially in the biggest tourist areas). As many others have said the magic of Venice is wandering away from the crowds and getting lost. Next time, I'm definitely staying longer.

Thanks @sanomh, usually I'm the one urging people to spend more time in Venice.

I love Venice and really I'm heading over there for my birthday because that's where I want to spend it. I could always spend more time in Venice but I'm concentrating on Rome and other places this trip and the 3 nights in Venice are just an indulgence on my part.

BTW I'm reading a really interesting book called Venice by Jan Morris. It's a recounting of a modern (1960s out dated now) visit to Venice intertwined with the history of the city. I've got a running list of things in the city she talks about and I'm going to try and find some them while I'm there. I'm only part way into it but so far I recommend it.

Thanks for the all the good input,
=Tod