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Florence and Tuscany 6 nights-can we fit Emilia-Romagna in too?

My husband and I will be spending 3 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Greve in Chianti in an agriturismo in late June. We will have a car whilst in Tuscany but not in Florence city. Would we have enough time to go to the Emilia Romagna region as well. Main interests are Parma, Modena, Bologna for food and also Fererri/Lambourgini museum/factory. Looking to only spend a day here (no overnight as our accommodation is already booked).

Should we use one of our Tuscany days to drive around to the ER region? Another option is we split up and use one of our Florence days and do separate tours (he for cars, me for food) This is only a part of our month long Euro trip, so doing our own thing for a day is not a big deal. Any recommendations for tours?

Posted by
5241 posts

This is only a part of our month long Euro trip

Only if you consider allocating more time to Italy :-)

Posted by
11613 posts

If you plan a daytrip from Firenze to Bologna, I would take the train for that day, or drive but plan to park outside the city. For the car visits, you would need a car.

Any of the cities in Emilia Romagna will have great food.

Posted by
2123 posts

Jenn,
That would make for a very long day. It's 2 1/2 - 3 hours from Greve to Parma. As much as I would have loved to visit the Ferrari factory/museum (they'll let you take one for a spin on the test track for only $1900), we decided it was just too far away.

Since you have so little time in Greve and there's so much nearby to do, I suggest you concentrate on the immediate area.

We stayed in Greve at the Castillo di Verrazzano when we went to Tuscany for 8 days. Where will you be staying?

When you're in Greve you have to eat at La Cantina. We ate there twice and both times (in December), we were the only non-locals. The food is great and Alessandro and his mother Lorena (who oversees the kitchen) were wonderful hosts. They made us feel right at home and even taught us some Italian!

Also, if you are not staying at Castillo di Verrazzano, I highly recommend taking their winery tour followed by a food and wind pairing. If you do, that's the only meal you'll need to eat that day! Be aware that it will be a relaxed time. Plan on at least three hours for the tour and the tasting. If you can't spare the time in the day, see if you can arrange to have dinner there.

Posted by
503 posts

Jenn, You may or, may not realize that E-R is on the other side of a mountain range from Tuscany?

Since you have a rental car, you're not bound by train schedules however, a day trip over to Bologna is about 90-minutes. Round trip, you're spending around 3-hours transiting back-n-forth. Since you're already going to be on a month long holiday, why not carve 1-2 nights in Bologna, then continue on to Tuscany or, the reverse.

Posted by
906 posts

I wouldn't do it. Just too much for your short time in the region. It is a ways to get up north of Florence (even further from Greve) and then go both east and west to see Parma - Bolgna.

Plan another trip, you will be back!