Parma / Modena or Bologna

I highly recommend the Italian Days Food Tour that leaves from Bologna. They pick you up and take you to a Parmesan factory, vinegar producer and proscuitto factory. You get tons of samples and then there is a group meal afterwards. Everything was well run and the food was great.

It's only an hour from Bologna to Parma, and Modena is equidistant between them. So, I don't think it matters much which one you use as a base; wherever you stay overnight, you can easily visit the other two.

I didn't like Bologna, liked Parma a lot, and liked Modena but not as much as Parma - but that's just me, and I was there over 15 years ago.

If you will have a car, stay wherever you can find a good place with parking (beware ZTL's).

Modena is pleasant but too small. Bologna is good, and great for transport, but it's so big that it's time consuming to leave by car. Stay near Parma and visit the others. You can also consider Torrechiara, Castel'Arquata, Fontenellata, Busseto and Piacenza depending on your interests.

with a car its usually easier if you don't stay in larger towns/cities. We've stayed in Bologna with a car and it was a bit dicy; several of the parking garages are located right on the border of the ZTL and some of the streets leading to the garages are in the ZTL so you have to be careful even if your GPS is saying "go 2 blocks down this street and turn right". Personally I liked Parma a lot, was underwhelmed by Modena, and thought Bologna is worth a day or two visit. Nice museum, miles of covered walkways, etc. If you stay in one of the other towns I'd say visit Bologna by train; it goes to the heart of downtown, no ZTL worries, and there are trains probably every hour or more. Also check the TI online in Bologna; a few times a week they have guided tours in english, at least during the summer.

We stayed in Bologna in 2010 for a few nights. We day tripped to Modena for the Ferrari Museum and lunch at the Cavallino. We did another trip into Tuscany for the day. We also went to the Lamborghini Museum. We stayed outside of Bologna at a Hilton property and come to think of it I do not believe we ever went into Bologna. We did not explore Modena or Parma so I can not speak to those.

We stayed in Bologna last month. I second the suggestion for taking the Italian Days food tour with Alessandro. It was so good. We actually took the train up to Parma for a day trip. It is an incredible place. Not many tourists, nice museums and Churches, and very walkable. We enjoyed using Bologna as our base. It was also easy to get to from our previous location. You really can't go wrong with either. We flew out of BLQ, as it was our last stop on our trip. Very easy to get to the airport from the center.

I am in Parma currently and find it totally charming. The food is even better than in Bologna, people are very friendly, and the city is small enough to explore on foot. Bologna was my first Emilia-Romagna destination and it is great, but I prefer Parma and Ferrara.

I love Bologna, it's easy to get to other cities (Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena, Parma) by train even without a car. Taking a tour (the one suggested in previous posts sounds good) will relieve you of the need for a car.

If you want your own transportation, I would suggest Parma.

We just got back from a trip to Italy that included a six night stay in Bologna and a day trip to Parma by train. We didn't visit Modena. Bologna is a big, busy, energetic, working city. Parts of the historic center are nice, but other parts are somewhat gritty - they have a more significant grafitti problem there than in some other places. We really liked it, but it might be off-putting to someone who is expecting a conventionally charming place. Train connections there to all parts of the region are excellent, and the train station is an easy walk. Parma is smaller, more conventionally charming, and much quieter. Train travel there is also easy, if somewhat less direct for many destinations. If you want to keep a car for the entire trip, you should stay in Parma. You might also consider renting a car for a day. If transportation by car is not an issue, I think it really comes down to your personal preference for a big city versus a small city. There are good restaurants in both places.

I would also highly recommend the Italian Days tour. It is super fun, very informative, covers cheese, vinegar and prosciutto, and includes a fabulous meal at a restaurant out in the countryside.

Bologna as a base is the best. Larger city, and it's the center for good food.

As other recommended, you HAVE to do Alessandro's food tour Here is the link: http://tours.italiandays.it/#

Sign up now. They pick you up at 7AM and drop you off at 4:30PM at your hotel. Best 150E I've ever spent.

Did this with my 30 year old son 2 years ago, and even seeing the Ducati factory paled in comparison to this full day tour.
Go HUNGRY don't eat breakfast at the hotel...you'll have more than you need to eat all day.

Besides that, stay by the main/central train station in Bologna for lots of options for trains north, west, or east.

We spent just 4 days in Bologna, with a day trip to Venice, and another day trip to Florence, the food tour, and a half day for the Ducati factory, with the rest of that day spent in Bologna, climbing the tower, and eating the best gelato ever!

We have stayed in Bologna and Parma (2 separate trips). Never been to Modena.

In Bologna, we did not do a food tour, we just wandered around the town, stopping to eat and drink at the many bars and restaurants. We happened, by accident, to catch the world guitar exhibition (rock concert) while we were there and it was one of the highlights of our trip.

Parma is a smaller city, and charming. We did the food tour there, cheese, ham, and Balsamic vinegar, with lunch at a winery out in the country. Beautiful!

We enjoyed both places a lot. Both are really big on their cheese, hams, and pastas (tagliatelle and tortellini).

Lizth's post reminded me - I also love Ferrara, and it's only about an hour from Bologna (so, farther from Parma or Modena, but still perfectly do-able as a day trip).

HI Robert,

I stayed in Parma for several days a few years ago and loved it. It's easily connected by trains to other major cities such as Milan and Bologna and makes a good home base for day trips to Modena (which I highly recommend) as well as Bologna. I stayed at the Century Hotel, near the train station, which was quite nice - www.centuryhotel.it. If you go to Modena, check out Modenatur - www.modenatur.it, which organized tours to balsamic vinegar producers and parmesan dairies.

As a small child I spent a lot of time in all 3 cities, but mainly Modena and a bit of Bologna in my adult life (as a kid we had a car in Italy) and it's sad to say Modena has changed a lot. It's still worth seeing, but I must sadly admit my favorite restaurants have changed owners and menus leaving me lost.

As a transit hub I'd always choose Bologna for obvious reasons, but to be honest I'd love to have a proper visit to Parma at this age.

This thread made my mouth water :)

Hi Robert,
I spent 3 weeks in Bologna studying Italian and doing days trip to Parma and Modena. I also on that trip stayed in Ferrara and Ravenna. I very much enjoyed Bologna and its historic center. I was there in the fall and since it is has a major University the city has a wonderful engery. Do a food tour and make sure you visit and taste real balsamic vinegar. I brought back a small bottle of it aged 90 years.

I'd you stood in any of those cities you will not go wrong. I would say Parma would be just as delightful to stay.