Florence Day Trip to Bologna, Parma

What do you want to see in Bologna? We visited the city once and didn't find it that interesting, except the unfinished Cathedral.
Ravenna was fantastic.

I was underwhelmed with Bologna when we day-tripped there from Florence in 2014. It's an easy enough train ride. I can't speak for Parma, but I wished we had enjoyed an extra day in Florence or else gone to Ravenna instead.

I haven't done it, but a quick check shows Bologna an hour away by train and Parma another hour from Bologna.

You'd have to check schedules, but I could see catching a 7:00 am train and getting to Parma by 9:00 or so. Spend the morning in Parma and take a noon train to Bologna, then catch an evening train back to Florence.

This would make for a long day. You'll have to decide if it is worth it. Read up on both. Also, if I only had a few days in Florence, I'm not sure I'd burn a day for such a trip.

At least you didn't ask about going to Pisa/Lucca/CT in a day!

We stayed a week in Bologna and loved it as a base. Made a day trip to Florence.

Bologna has a huge medieval center, very atmospheric and lively. Lots of food-oriented shops and restaurants, as one would expect. Not tons of American tourists, which I really liked. And the tourist office has a nice English-language walking tour.

I haven't been to Parma.

I love Ravenna, but it will take 2 to 4 hours to get there from Florence, and the walk-up fares for the faster routings (involving Frecce trains) at sane hours are sitting above 30 euros one way. If your trip is well into the future, you can probably get tickets on fast trains for considerably less. If you want to remain flexible on the day-trip, you're probably looking at over 60 euros per person.

Ravenna works a lot better as a day-trip from Bologna, from which the travel time is about an hour.

In late March of last year, we took a day trip from Florence to Bologna by train. We purchased tickets in the automated kiosks in the Firenze SMN station, and the trip was only 40-minutes by bullet train. Bologna has many sights worth visiting in the Old Town, and we chose to see the Basilica di San Petronio, the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio with the Teatro Anatomico (an anatomical theater where trainee surgeons once studied and viewed public body dissections), and the Abbazia di Santo Stefano (originally the site of 7 churches, now a "labyrinth of interlocked ecclesiastical structures" to quote Lonely Planet). We also had a very nice lunch at Osteria La Traviata, which I would highly recommend. Also had time to do some shopping. We did the entire day in Bologna on foot (I recall about a 30-minute walk from the main train station to the Basilica di San Petronio). What was really nice about Bologna is that it was locals and university students living their daily lives - no hoards of tourists with selfie sticks - and a very nice change from the crowds in Florence, even in March. The only groups we saw that day were Italian children on school trips. Lastly, since the Rick Steves Italy guidebook does not cover Bologna, I purchased a pdf copy of the Emilia Romagna & San Marino chapter from the Lonely Planet Italy guide. It had lots of good info, maps, lists of restaurants, etc. I have not been to Parma, so I cannot comment on that, but I do recommend a day in Bologna.

Parma is more distant from Florence. Both are feasible day trips, I would not try both in the same day. Also Parma is a foodie paradise, actually IMHO Parma is the foodie paradise; wife and me often stop in Parma to have lunch when traveling between Milan and Florence. Personally, I like Parma more than Bologna for a day trip.

You can find good food (with regional variety) all over Italy if you choose your restaurants carefully. You are not likely to find the best meals/values on the most touristy streets of Venice or Rome, but with some research or a judgmental "eye," you can find good food. Interesting markets and bakeries are also in most cities.

To me Parma is more about visiting a day for a tour not to visit the town of Parma. We LOVED Bologna and next visit rather than staying in Florence we will stay in Bologna.

We spent 10 days in Bologna, day tripping from there. We even went to Florence by high-speed train--30 minutes each way-- for two excellent tours with Walks of Italy. I knew Florence would be a mob scene in May, so I just wanted to get in, re-see sites I had visited forty years ago, and then get out. Yes, Bologna is famous in Italy for its cuisine. Like Robert, we found a lot to visit, but what stands out the most for me is the 5th C. church complex Basilica of Santo Stefano. See http://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/

Many people do day trips from Bologna to Parma to see cheese, ham, and vinegar makers.