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Rome & Bologna?

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Traveling to Italy in the fall. We've been several times before. We will be doing 6 nights in Puglia (confirmed) and trying to determine if we fly into Rome for 4 nights, 6 nights Puglia, and then out of Bologna after 4 nights or just do Puglia + Bologna. We are flying into one city and out of another (working on airfare now after I confirm the cities). We've not been to Bologna before. In Rome, we'd spend our time seeing things we missed on previous trips, taking things more leisurely, staying in a new neighborhood, etc. So, 4 nights in Rome + 6 nights Puglia + 4 nights in Bologna or 8 nights in Bologna + Puglia for 6 nights? It's my mom & myself and we enjoy art, history, architecture, wandering, food, etc. Thank you!

OPTION 1
Rome (4nights) -Puglia (6 nights) -Bologna (4 nights)

OPTION 2
Puglia (6 nights) + Bologna (8 nights)

Posted by
7566 posts

Bologna is wonderful, and we visited it two years in a row (2021 & 2022). We stayed a whole week the first time (not busy every single day), and 4 nights the second (busier). Even if you haven’t been there before, 8 nights might be excessive, especially if you have unfinished business in Rome. If you’re focused on food, Bologna could warrant the full 8 nights. I also recommend taking the Italian Days food tour one day, however long you stay.

Bologna has a very nice modern art museum, and we saw an exceptional temporary exhibition on Pompeii frescoes at the Archaeological Civic Museum. There are lots of opportunities for wandering, in and along the corridors.

Rome has so much to offer, I could argue for spending at least some of your time there. If you don’t have a burning desire to absolutely HAVE to be in Rome, you could embrace Bologna for 8 whole nights. How much do you want to have at least some time in Rome?

Posted by
21 posts

Bologna has the benefit of being close to several day-trip locations. My favorites are Ravenna with its mosaics, Modena, and Parma. It's also fairly close to Florence and Padua by fast train if you've not exhausted either of these.

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