Planning a trip to Bologna next year. Suggestions?

[Christian]

I've been itching to visit Italy and the Ducati factory for years, and next spring I'll finally make the trip.

My current rough plan is to fly out of Boston where I live into Bologna. I'll probably rent a bike and ride to Roma at some point. Not 100% sure of trip duration. Probably 1-2 weeks.

For those of you who have been - do you have any suggestions? Where to go, what to avoid, etc?

[mitt]

I assume you are a good rider, living in Boston.  The traffic is kind of crazy, and gets worse the further south you go. 

Other than Ducati, not a lot else to do in Bologna compared to the rest of the region between there and Rome.  Florence is a must, Sienna also. 

You probably can't go wrong planning - the Tuscany region is my favorite part of Europe.

mitt

[Christian]

I grew up in Boston so the traffic doesn't seem too bad to me.

Thanks for the tips on Florence, Sienna, and Tuscany - I'll add those to the list!

[gregrnel]

Eat, drink, rome, er, uh, roam. But mainly eat and drink, have fun.

[derby]

three replies and no mention of the hookers yet?

[bluemoco]

What's the nature of your trip?  Spend the entire time on a bike, or stay in/around Bologna and do day trips?  Rent a bike for both weeks?

I took my family to Bologna for spring break last March, and we had a great time. I'll second the recommendation to visit Florence (but it's only worth a day-trip), and we also enjoyed Venice.  (Venice is about a 1.5 hour train ride from the main station in downtown Bologna).  We also went to visit Ferrari in Maranello.

Give a little more detail about your trip plans, and I'll throw out some more advice.  Traveling alone?  Going to find a race (motoGP or F1)?  Need info about the Ducati factory?  (we visited that, too)

Sorry about all the questions - I don't want to waste your time with useless info/stories about our trip. 

[DanTheMan]

Just got back from there two weeks ago, Hotel Amedeus and hotel Del Borgo are next to the factory, airport, and a easy bus ride to the city center,(65e/night) With a grocery center near by. If your planning September, World Ducati Week will be in misano 2010. You can rent bikes from the factory and there are a lot of great mountain passes close by. So im told, we only did one. Hookers are by the grocery center  A ride around Lake Como would be nice if you make it up that far. If you plan to do site seeing in Rome, you'll need at least two days to see the major attractions, maybe not spend much time, but see. Not a whole lot in Bologna. Id do at least 2 weeks if time and money permits. Fly into Milan, Night or two at lake como, Venice, Bologna, Sienna, Florence, Rome, fly out of rome.

[nicrosato]

Bologna is my dream trip next year, too. I have been told it is the best food city in Italy. I willing to have that proven to me.

My cousins just got back and I'll be seeing them this weekend, so I'll try to pick up some useful info to contribute.

[mdriver]

Id do at least 2 weeks if time and money permits. Fly into Milan, Night or two at lake como, Venice, Bologna, Sienna, Florence, Rome, fly out of rome.

Sounds like the perfect Italy trip to me.

My only suggestion is to go early. Around late March or April, the weather should be warm enough for a Bostonian. I cant speak for Bologna, but during the summer it seems like Florence & Rome have more tourists in them then they have Italians. And the Italians that are there are noticeably and quite understandably irritated.

[DanTheMan]

like Florence & Rome have more tourists in them then they have Italians.

Yeah its all tourists...

[donzo]

Sounds like this is a pilgrimage that we all aspire to go on one day.  I was thinking about going next summer also and taking a ducati tour from ducatitours.com.  check out the website, they do tours of several regions of italy.  I was thinking of flying to Pisa with my wife, picking a bike up from the agency in Luca, join the tour for a 3 day ride through tuscany, going through sienna and up to bologna for a factory tour, then ditching the bike and going down to the amalfi coast for some sunshine.  I'm not really much for organized tours and sight seeing, but from what I've heard, riding in Italy can be quite challenging and a guide could steer you in the right directions. 

I hadn't heard that the factory rents out some bikes.  DantheMan, do you have any of those details?

[DanTheMan]

I hadn't heard that the factory rents out some bikes.  DantheMan, do you have any of those details?

Yest they do, i believe its from the factory store, which is right by the factory. I think the prce was the same no matter the model. One guy had a Hyper, then traded it for the SF.

[Christian]

bluemoco - All excellent questions.

I won't be going alone, but I'm not 100% sure of the group size yet. I may venture out on my own if no one else wants to rent a bike and/or visit the Ducati factory.

I suspect I'll stay in/around Bologna and do day trips. It seems like Bologna is a nice spot, and it'd be nice to have a place to store my stuff while I shoot down to other places.

I'm not sure if I'd rent a bike for the whole two weeks. I don't think I'd ride it that much, but it might be nice to have it at hand. I guess cost would be the main factor there.

I'd love to visit Venice, and I keep hearing Florence so I'll add those to the list.

A race would be awesome but it would depend on my travel companions. I'm not sure I'd have as much fun on my own.

And yes I will definitely visit the Ducati factory. Any info you have there would be awesome. Is it a one day thing, or worth going a few days to take it all in?


DanTheMan - Thanks for the hotel suggestions! The price you mentioned gives me a good place to start, too.

[DanTheMan]

And yes I will definitely visit the Ducati factory. Any info you have there would be awesome. Is it a one day thing, or worth going a few days to take it all in?


DanTheMan - Thanks for the hotel suggestions! The price you mentioned gives me a good place to start, too.

Half day, they'll walk you through the factory 1-2hrs, then you can geek out in the museum. And another 3 hours in the store  So plan a full day of it.

no prob!

[mitt]

The autoroute is a good way to get from point A to point B as fast as possible (typically 150+ kph ~ 90+mph).  But, DO NOT use the autoroute exclusively.  The best scenery and towns are off the route, on little 2 lane highways.  Just look at the curves around here:



mitt