Emilia Romagna (and surroundings) - 2 week breakdown

I wouldn't rent a car for the entire time. I'd spend part of my time in Bologna to see that city and take advantage of its superb rail links to cities that are sight-rich enough that you could spend a whole day seeing them, leaving little extra time to take advantage of traveling by car. Then I'd rent a car for the time I expected to be hitting 2, 3 or 4 small places in a single day.

If you're wedded to the idea of a 2-week car rental, Bologna may not be a good base. I know ZTLs are an issue, and I assume parking doesn't come cheap. It's a large city with considerable traffic, and I imagine you'd burn a lot of time driving out of the city and back in every day. But if you stay outside Bologna, you may want to make two trips in (very large historic area, and tremendous food), so you'll still be dealing with a car in the city.

Ravenna is gorgeous as well as host to fabulous medieval mosaics. If you really have no interest in seeing those mosaics (in 6 or 7 different locations, all walkable except for one), I suppose the city isn't a must, but otherwise I'd rank it very near the top.

Faenza has an attractive historic area, but to me it's not in Ravenna's class (plus no mosaics). What Faenza does have is a very good ceramic museum that (unlike many) has good displays of contemporary ceramics. If the latter happens to be an interest of yours, I certainly recommend Faenza.

I know it's beyond Emilia-Romagna, but I found Padua a very good base (without a car). It has more than one day's worth of sights itself and is a short train trip from Vicenza (small, laid-back town with Palladian architecture). Verona and Ferrara are viable day-trips by train. I haven't checked the driving times but imagine they would be workable as well.

So my suggestion is that you consider starting the trip car-less in Bologna and end the trip car-less in Padua (fly back from the nearby Venice or from Milan). Rent a car for the middle of the trip to hit the places that are tricky by train or require only a few hours.

Take a look at the Airbnb apartment in Reggio Emilia, called something like Appartemento Luminoso (I’d try a Google search with Airbnb and that name). It has free parking and a washer. Reggio Emilia would be a nice city for a base. And this apartment is 100 meters from the train station if you wanted to do day trips into Modena, Parma or even Bologna.

Just a few bullet point thoughts:
* acraven’s caution about parking and ZTLs is worth considering so if your vacation package requires getting a car, do get information about parking costs before settling on your base city.
* a car will be very useful in travel from Ferrara to Pomposa Abbey.
* Parma’s cathedral and Baptistry are worth visiting and food there is wonderful (as is the food in Ferrara). Also, the T.I. can provide information about visiting nearby castles.
* Mantova has two wonderful palaces and a church in Grazie with amazing votives.
* the Violin Museum in Cremona is unique and one does not need to be a musician to appreciate either the history or the craftsmanship involved in creating these instruments.

* touring the Ravenna mosaic churches and the mausoleum of Galla Placidia is an unforgettable experience and be sure to include a visit to Sant Apollinare in Classe just outside of town.
* Bologna is a lively city - but definitely a city. One of its attractions, particularly during the rainy month of November, is its miles of porticos- good protection from the rain.
* any of the towns on your list will provide a lovely destination for walking, sitting in a Piazza, encountering a less touristic part of Italy, and enjoying the food of Emilia Romagna.

Wherever you decide to go, you will not be disappointed!

Thank you for your replies. We have settled on three bases, Ferrara-Bologna-Parma in that order.

We will split Emilia-Romagna into three sections based on our bases when it comes to day trips.

Our possible day trips will be:

Ferrara: Po Delta area, Comacchio

Bologna: Ravenna, Faenza, Brisighella, Imola & Dozza

Parma: Modena, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza, castles, etc.