We are having a hard time deciding. Our time is limited. We leave Milan the evening of June 17th and and must be in Rome by the 20th. We are traveling by train. Recommendations?
If you haven’t been to Ravenna, yet, I would go to Bologna and do a day trip on one of your days over to see the mosaics.
I will be back in Parma next month - mainly stopping to see my favorite cathedral interior again.
Bologna can be visited in less than a day, and so does Parma. I don't want to go as far as saying that you can visit both in one day, but the 4 days you have are more than sufficient to visit both, and also some more.
oops - I made a mistake on the date in my original question - need to be in Rome by the 20th.
I stayed in Parma in 2019, and in Bologna in 2021, and also took a food tour each time, from the respective cities. While Parma was an enjoyable visit, and I’d never say to not go there, now that I’ve been to Bologna, I’d say stick with just Bologna with just two-three days.
My husband and I are returning to Bologna this fall, and at this point do not have plans to include Parma in the trip.
We stayed in Bologna for a few days and went to Parma as a daytrip on the train. Nice town to visit but we felt we saw all we wanted in a half-day or so.