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Northern Italian towns

Posted: July 31st, 2023, 5:52 pm
by Clariman
We are interested in visiting some of the historical towns of Northern Italy that could be reached from Bologna reasonably easily. We have had many holidays in the Italian Lakes, Verona and Venice - and love all these places. We've also had one great holiday split between Bologna and Florence, getting the fast train between them.

We'd like to do the Bologna/Florence combo in again and adding in a place or two that isn't far from Bologna. Cremona, Mantua and Padua are some ideas of places with a long history of music and culture. Any recommendations for what ones should top our list?

We could do it by train from Bologna - or hire a care for maybe 4 or 5 days to drive round before doing the rest of the holiday by train.

Many thanks. We are thinking of doing 12 to 14 days in total.

Re: Northern Italian towns

Posted: July 31st, 2023, 7:32 pm
by mc2fool
Clariman wrote:We are interested in visiting some of the historical towns of Northern Italy that could be reached from Bologna reasonably easily. We have had many holidays in the Italian Lakes, Verona and Venice - and love all these places. We've also had one great holiday split between Bologna and Florence, getting the fast train between them.

We'd like to do the Bologna/Florence combo in again and adding in a place or two that isn't far from Bologna. Cremona, Mantua and Padua are some ideas of places with a long history of music and culture. Any recommendations for what ones should top our list?

That's easy -- Ravenna!

Re: Northern Italian towns

Posted: August 1st, 2023, 10:41 am
by stevensfo
Clariman wrote:We are interested in visiting some of the historical towns of Northern Italy that could be reached from Bologna reasonably easily. We have had many holidays in the Italian Lakes, Verona and Venice - and love all these places. We've also had one great holiday split between Bologna and Florence, getting the fast train between them.

We'd like to do the Bologna/Florence combo in again and adding in a place or two that isn't far from Bologna. Cremona, Mantua and Padua are some ideas of places with a long history of music and culture. Any recommendations for what ones should top our list?

We could do it by train from Bologna - or hire a care for maybe 4 or 5 days to drive round before doing the rest of the holiday by train.

Many thanks. We are thinking of doing 12 to 14 days in total.


You're spoilt for choice, but you can't go wrong with Ravenna, as the other poster suggested.

Out of interest, when are you planning your trip? We tend to avoid July and August, especially August when Italians traditionally take their holidays and the place becomes chaotic.

Auguri e buon viaggio!

Steve

Re: Northern Italian towns

Posted: August 1st, 2023, 3:11 pm
by Clariman
stevensfo wrote:You're spoilt for choice, but you can't go wrong with Ravenna, as the other poster suggested.

Out of interest, when are you planning your trip? We tend to avoid July and August, especially August when Italians traditionally take their holidays and the place becomes chaotic.

Auguri e buon viaggio!

Steve

Grazie Mille,

We'll probably go mid-October.

Ravenna does look very interesting.

Thanks both
C

Re: Northern Italian towns

Posted: August 1st, 2023, 5:02 pm
by MyNameIsUrl
For days out from Bologna, you might want to consider Maranello and Sant'Agata. If those places don't mean anything to you, then you probably wouldn't want to visit. They are the locations of the Ferrari and Lamborghini factories, and have showrooms/museums/tours.