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Italy for a one month long stay October 2025 -

We are planning on going to Italy for a month in October 2025. We’ve been to Cinque Terra, Milan, Rome, Venice, Pienza, the Amalfi coast. We’re looking for something more centrally located that we haven’t explored before. Ferrara and Verona are enticing.
We like to have a base location for the month and be able to take trains to nearby locations to explore out further. We prefer to stay in smaller to midsize locations as opposed to the huge cities, and still have the city/town offer enough to keep us active on those rainy days or days when we don’t leave to explore elsewhere.

We would enjoy doing the fall foodie type things that Bologna area might offer. Easy/direct train transportation into Bologna or Verona or Parma or Moderno would be nice although we could rent a car for a few days if we had to. We will like an area that’s extremely walkable and that we don’t need a car for the most part.
Not touristy! We want to live like the locals as much as possible.
Thank you in advance!

Posted by
5179 posts

Verona and / or Vicenza. Perhaps two weeks in each? Good rail transportion, good food, good architecture. and not overrun with tourist. Lots of places close enough to do day trips. Just one opinion.

Posted by
8161 posts

You haven't been to Florence. It is an amazing place and deserves several days.

You could stay in Siena, near Florence and take day trips throughout Tuscany.

Another choice is to explore Umbria and stay in Perugia, Assisi or Spoleto.

Posted by
3641 posts

I don’t see Ravenna on your list. In my opinion, it is definitely a must-see. The mosaic sights are mind-boggling beautiful. The town, itself, is very attractive, with a pedestrianized historic center. Staying at least one night would be preferable to a day trip, as there are a number of sites, somewhat spread out.

Posted by
469 posts

I would choose Bologna for ease of transportation to other places and amount of stuff to do and places to eat in town. I also enjoyed day trips from Bologna to Ravenna, Parma and Faenza. I would have also gone to Modena or Ferrara if I hadn't been dodging train strike days. I could have happily spent an extra day in any of my daytrip towns, but for a month-long base, I would choose Bologna.

Posted by
690 posts

I vote for a month in Emilia-Romagna!

Wonderful food, interesting places, easy to get around by train.

Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Ferrara, Ravenna, etc. and Mantova nearby too (technically in Lombardy).