Short trip to Bologna and Venice itinerary

Unless you plan on visiting balsamic vinegar tours or sights in Modena (since you say you are foodies), I would visit Ravenna instead. I visited Ravenna, Modena and Parma as day trips from Bologna a few years back and while both Parma and Modena are nice and have a few nice sigths, I found the Byzantine churches and mosaics much more rewarding. Food wise you can get the exact same food in Bologna as in Modena and Parma.

True, Emilia-Romagna as a province has common food themes. I would go to Ravenna for a long day trip, visit the church in Classe (short bus ride). The tomb of Theodoric is not worth the extra time, in my opinion. If you could squeeze in a day for Ferrara, that would be nice, too.

In Venice, since you are not into art, here are our favorites in Venice.

St. Marks Cathederal, Doge's Palace, Friar Church, Rialto Bridge, Morning Fish Market near the Rialto, a trip up and down the Grand Canal. Gondola Ride in the day, at night, you don't see the beautiful buildings. Get lost! Skip the Gugenheim Museum, it is filled with Modern Art, which is not why I came to Venice.

Try a chichetti crawl by visiting different places. Each chichetti pub has their specialties, fried, sandwiches, etc. My favorite is Osteria al Portego. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187870-d1034685-Reviews-Osteria_al_Portego-Venice_Veneto.html

I haven't been to Modena, but Ravenna's ancient churches and mosaics are stunning, one after the other. Bologna doesn't have any major tourist sights but it's a great place to walk and just enjoy. I think you could do that in the evenings and use Day 2 for another day trip, and/or take an early train on Day 5.

Are you taking a stroller? Bologna, Florence, Ravenna, Ferrara, all are flat. Venice should be but because of the canals, you'll constantly be going over bridges, some with steps. Not a reason not to go, just something you should know.

I'd vote for Ravenna over Modena. I really liked the mosaics in Ravenna and visited all the major sites with the exception of the tomb because it wasn't on the combined ticket and I was running the half marathon and that was enough walking for one day. It is an easy trip from Bologna to Ravenna, Modena and Florence. I went to Florence for the day on the high speed train from Bologna. Bologna ( I was there for a month) is not over run by tourists and there are some beautiful churches to see and the endless covered walkways were a surprise to me. You can also walk up to the sanctuary (or take the bus) thru all the porticoes.

Assuming your real interest is "local food", I wonder if this is the best plan. Maybe you have been researching specific restaurant names. But wouldn't you do better staying a few days in the same place and asking people you meet, even your waiters, what they think are the best nearby restaurants? Sure, sometimes the hotel check-in clerk is just a bored teenager. Other times, it's someone who loves their region and wants you to have the best possible visit. Just walking around in the hope of finding a place that both "looks" and "is" a great restaurant seems pretty chancy to me.

For example, I had stayed three times in a (now sold to a chain) family-owned hotel in Reggio nell Emiliga. I'd never been free (from work) for their absolutely family-style, lunch-only restaurant meal. It was a revelation when I came back on a vacation. Referring back to my first paragraph, you need to make your own luck.

You may know that Rick Steves, our host here, sometimes seems like a guide who wants you to sleep in a different town every night. But there are plenty of posters here who prefer three nights in a row in one place. I'm one. I'm suggesting that you make a list of more day trips than you can manage, and then improvise just a little.

Thanks everyone.

I was uncertain about making the hour-long trip to Ravenna just to see mosaics (forgive my ignorance) but now we're definitely leaning towards visiting it!

1. The reason we were hoping to visit Modena was because we were recommended a restaurant for lunch there. It's half an hour to Modena, so we might make a short trip there if we could squeeze it in or skip it in favour of more time in Bologna.

2. Venice: Is the Cannaregio area the right place we should be looking for hotels/airbnbs since we have a toddler? We will have a stroller, but are not intending on using it in Venice - still, we will have to carry it along with quite a bit of luggage.

3. With lots of tourists during the day in Venice, what is a good time to arrive?

Thanks in advance!

Another vote for Ravenna over Modena. With regards to Venice, any area is fine as the whole place is relatively small. When you firm up your hotel / apt., there are many on the forum who can give you great info about how to get there with a toddler and luggage. The main thing about Venice and the tourist during the day is this: Stay away from the biggies during the middle of the day and afternoon -- go to them early in the morning or in the evening. Explore the back streets during the rest of the day. Venice is at it's best early and late.

The island of Torcello gets few visitors during most days; this was the original Venetian settlement.

I think Cannaregio would be fine. I prefer the Dorsoduro. In the Cannaregio you are likely to be in walking distance of the train station. It's easy to get to other areas on the vaporetto (get 72-hour passes). Nowhere in Venice is very far from anywhere else. I've seen lots of strollers in the city and easy to take one on the vaporetto. Just be aware that some not all walking paths are equal.

I had to sign in to reply to this thread just because I think Ravenna is so beautiful and worthy of your time. We went last February.
First the mosaics, they are breathtakingly beautiful. Its so hard to imagine if you haven't been but let me say it was the highlight of our 1st trip to Italy.. A bit of history someone once shared was that during WW II the British saved the San Vitale from being bombed by the US, The Basilica Sant'Apolllinare Nuovo looks much smaller but the mosaics inside are incredibly beautiful.
We also found Dante's tomb interesting. But the Basilica San Vitale and its mosaics, the open grassy area outside, location to its lovely town with wide fresh walkways were lovely. We are heading back to Italy late April-May and going back to see the basilica just outside of town that we missed. There is a bus that is a short ride or cab to that one. The towns people were friendly and helpful, food at café very good. Easy walkable place.

Visited all of your listed locations back in October, hands down, Ravenna should not be missed.

A day trip in Ravenna you should hit most highlights, I'd recommend at least spending a night but, you've got a schedule. The mosaics are very impressive, as is Dante's final resting place, a face that wrinkles the Florentines.

Modena is a nice town but, there's not much else, other the small Ferrari 'museum' and Osteria Francenscana, some listings #1 restaurant in the world. Parma I thought had more charm and Bologna is much larger with a variety of restaurants, streets to meander and accommodations to choose from.