How to spend 4 nights, flying to Bologna (but not staying there)

Hello morenomarquez86, and welcome to the forum,

Generically I will always advise that you spend the last night in the town you are flying out of rather than depend on train travel the day of a flight. If you fly out late in the day and do end up close - Florence is about 30 minutes away by fast train - then you could consider it. But I would recommend 3 days and then the last night in Bologna giving you that evening and the next day to explore the city a little bit.

The big 3 for a first time visit are Venice, Florence and Rome. I love Venice, but if accommodations in Bologna are too expensive I doubt Venice will be any better unless something is specifically happening in Bologna at that time, Florence is a great city full of art, history and a modern city as well so it is an easy recommendation.

With three nights I would not split any time anywhere. If you want to explore smaller cities Modena, Parma, Reggio Emilia and even Ferrara I would choose one city and train it around. I think Ravenna is out of reach for this trip unless you go and stay there only. Because this is your first trip and it is very short I would keep the trip logistically as easy as possible. Stay one place, get to know the area, buses and how things work. Your trip is very short so I would fill as little of it with things checking into and out of hotels.

There is a tram from the Bologna airport directly to the train station. A cab from the Bologna airport is about 20e to the center depending on traffic. And get to the Bologna airport early as there is one security line for all gates.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

I’m assuming you are locked in to flying in and out of Bologna. Therefore arrive in Bologna and travel immediately to Florence. Spend all four nights in Florence. Your challenge will be to get back to Bologna on the day of your departure. Because you chose to fly in and out of Bologna you might have to pay the premium for a hotel there on night four so you don’t miss your flight out of Bologna. You do not have enough time for traveling between several cities. Enjoy Florence on this trip.

There are hourly trains from Bologna to Ravenna taking 72 minutes each way, plus a few others that are a bit slower. I found two full days allowed almost, but not quite, enough time to see all the mosaic- and art-related sights in Ravenna and spend some time walking around the historic center. Many folks do treat Ravenna as a day trip from Bologna. In either case, the travel time isn't onerous.

Bologna is definitely worth exploring itself; the medieval center is large, and many of the streets are arcaded, so it's a good place to be if you get stuck with chilly, wet weather. However, the center of the medieval area is perhaps a 20-minute walk from the train station, so it's not a great option for a quick look around; you'd need to stash (and later retrieve) your luggage and either get a taxi or research bus options ahead of time. There are definitely buses making the trip, but there are an awful lot of buses outside that train station.

I've found hotel costs in Bologna often rather high for a comparatively non-touristy city. I'm guessing it gets a lot of business travel. Maybe hotel rooms are cheaper on weekends.

The plan is good. However I recommend that if your return flight is out of BLQ, you spend the night before your flight in Bologna. A day ago there was a major technical problem in the Florence-Bologna high speed rail line and the entire system south of Bologna came to a halt, with trains arriving with many hours of delay. Shoot happens, not only with airplanes but also with trains.

When I fly out of BLQ I stay at the airport hotel below (formerly a Sheraton property). Check what they have available for the night before your departure. It’s fancy but in my experience (generally in summer) not expensive at all. They have a shuttle from/to the terminals (5 min away).

https://www.flyonhotel.it/en/index

Thank you all for your recommendations!

It seems that sticking to Florence is the best plan... now I have to decide whether to spend the last night in Bologna.

On one hand, I forgot to add that my departure flight is at 17:15, which makes easier to arrive on time to the airport directly from Florence. But on the other hand, it would be nice to spend the last evening and part of the morning in Bologna. And for just one night, I think I could manage to get an afordable room. In this case, I think I would skip any other say trip and focus in Florence.

Any other opinion will be welcome!

If you flight leaves at 17:15 you have more margin for potential rail disruptions. For a European flight you need to be at the airport a couple of hours early and the trip from Florence is only 35 min plus a bit of time to reach the airport via taxi or people mover (no more than 30 min, inclusive of walks and wait time). If you intend to take the people mover (Marconi Express) be aware that it is not that cheap (about 13€ pp.o/w) so for two passengers or more the taxi is cheaper.

If you plan to visit Bologna you might consider staying in the city center. It might be more expensive than the airport hotel, but once you factor in the cost of the taxi back and forth (maybe 50€ round trip) it may be similar price.

Personally, I would skip Firenze and just stay in Bologna.
After 10 days in Bologna, we are planning 5 more this Fall.
Stay in an AirBnB.

I spend a lot of time in Bologna. I would spend the night in Florence so as not to have to change hotels. Then I would take a morning train to Bologna and leave any bags at the train station and spend time seeing Bologna. Have lunch etc. The Marconi Express while not cheap is FAST - 7 minutes when it is running (don't ask it has been non functioning many times) but it is very convenient when it is running. For a trip within Europe you can not go through security more than 2 hours in advance. Some times hotels are expensive in Bologna when there is a fair (and Bologna hosts a lot of them).

Linda wrote: "Some times hotels are expensive in Bologna when there is a fair (and Bologna hosts a lot of them)."
I use https://www.eventseye.com/fairs/c1_trade-shows_italy.html to check when/where there are shows/conferences.

Yes, I have check it and there are a few fairs that weekend in Bologna. Also I arrive on Saturday, which doesn't help at all. It's hard to find even a good Airbnb for that first night, but then for the rest of the week there are more options.

Davebarnes, thank you for your recommendation. I was almost sold to Firenze, but certainly Bologna and some near towns appeal to me a lot. If not now, I will visit it in the future for sure!